The role of physical exercise in emotional well-being: A psychodynamic perspective

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Abstract
This paper seeks to bring a psychodynamic perspective to bear on some non-pathological meanings which exercise may carry for its participants. It is informed by two core ideas: first, that it is possible to identify positive embodiments of psychological phenomena (as well as the negative embodiments described in the better-known pathological forms of psychosomatic symptoms and illnesses); and, second, that such positive embodiments are likewise linked to early object relations and may be discussed and understood in similar terms. In sketching out an area of interest which has previously received little attention, the paper draws upon research from the field of psychology and upon clinical examples as well as upon relevant psychoanalytic literature.

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