Besides offering a wide variety of physical benefits, exercising is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve the state of your mental state. In fact, just 30 minutes of regular exercise, 3 to 4 times a week, can have noticeable benefits on your emotional and mental well-being. You’ll be more relaxed, sleep better, and you can find it easier to focus.

Here are just a few of the many benefits exercise has for your mental health.

1. Reduced stress, tension, and anxiety.

While a 30-minute jog won’t exactly erase all of life’s problems, that half hour of exercise, when done regularly, will help ease stress, and relieve frustration, helping you lead a happier and more productive life.

Exercise can also be an escape from the daily grind, working as effectively as a visit to the spa would, except you’re actually burning calories and breaking a sweat.

2. It Stimulates your Brain.

When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins, the hormones that give runners that ‘natural high’, and the feel-good sensation gym buffs are familiar with. These same endorphins also stimulate your brain, encouraging better concentration and sharpness for day-to-day tasks.

Exercise also promotes the production of new brain cells, and prevents reduced mental function associated with aging. Feel better and get smarter at the same time, you can’t beat that.

3. Get a Better Sleep

One of the most noticeable benefits of regular exercise involves the quality of your sleep. If you suffer from insomnia, exercise helps relieve tension, allowing you to relax faster and get a deeper sleep at night. If your job involves sitting down for many hours, exercise gives you that much needed break from your sedentary lifestyle. Helping you feel physically tired and needing a rest—this helps to make you fall asleep faster.

These are just 3 of the many benefits of sleep to your mental health. The key to getting the benefits of exercise is consistency. Don’t worry about putting in several hours every time you go to the gym, instead, thirty minutes a day of exercise over a long-term period is enough to gain dramatic results.