Feeling Overwhelmed? This Everyday Habit May Cut Anxiety Risk By Up To 50%
Key takeaways
- Author: Ava Durgin May 06, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen.
- And while therapy and medication remain essential tools for managing anxiety, this study suggests movement might be one of the most powerful (and accessible) preventive tools we have.
- The more they moved, the lower their risk seemed to be.
Why this matters: practical guidance grounded in recent research or expert insight.
Author: Ava Durgin May 06, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.Image by Ana Luz Crespi / Stocksy May 06, 2026I’ve always turned to movement when my mind feels heavy. A long walk when I can’t stop overthinking, a strength workout when I need to burn through stress. It’s never felt like a coincidence that I think more clearly afterward. Now, science is catching up to what many of us intuitively know: regular movement might not just ease anxiety—it could actually help prevent it.
And while therapy and medication remain essential tools for managing anxiety, this study suggests movement might be one of the most powerful (and accessible) preventive tools we have.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine looked at over 80,000 adults and found that people who were physically active had significantly lower odds of developing anxiety symptoms or disorders over time. The more they moved, the lower their risk seemed to be.