Aiken 1

Chase Aiken

Professor Evans

Writing 2

28 January 2024

Proposal

This project gives me a chance not only to get into a subject that interests me but also to

work with that subject in a way that I have not before. The piece of literature that I will be

translating is Role of Physical Activity on Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Review by Aditya

Mahindru, Pradeep Patil, and Varun Agrawal

(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9902068/). This article discusses how physical

activity and exercise play into everyday life and stress. The article goes over many different

types of exercising, like yoga, weightlifting, and even just walking. It also talks about the effects

of those activities on mental health and wellbeing by going into different chemical reactions in

the brain. The audience for this piece is anyone interested in working out themselves or people

like personal trainers who want to further their understanding. This article was written very

recently, in 2023, so everything is up to date, and it was composed by the three graduate students

mentioned above. This piece aims to inform the intended audience how physical activity can

help their mental wellbeing.

The genre that I will be translating into is lecture notes, which can include images, is

usually a bulleted or dashed list, and will help the writer remember things in the future or help

them with studying. The audience for this piece is the writer, along with some of the writer's

friends who need the notes to help them study. I chose this translation because I want to get

better at taking good notes, and translating this particular piece will help me in the future because
 Aiken 2

I can always come back to it for reference. I plan to learn how to translate from an IMRaD article

into a different genre and learn about that specific genre along the way.

Translation into Lecture Notes

Physical Activity and Mental Health 3H:

Lecture 1/28 Notes:

Topics are bolded, Subtopics Italicized

ABSTRACT:

● Physical Activity Powerhouse:

● Positively impacts both physical and mental health.

● Inactive individuals face higher morbidity rates and healthcare costs.

● Therapeutic Exercise:

● It is recommended for tackling health challenges and promoting mental

well-being.

● Empirical studies highlight links to positive mental health traits.

● Body and Mind Harmony:

● Nonclinical investigations reveal notable effects on self-concept and body image.

● A comprehensive review delves into physiological and psychological

mechanisms.

● Hormonal Harmony:

● Regular physical activity enhances the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.

● Mental Health Marvel:

 Aiken 3

● Exercise's impact on depression and anxiety is particularly pronounced in clinical

populations.

● Diverse hypotheses explain the intricate link between physical fitness and mental

well-being.

● Sleep, Savior, and Psychiatric Shield:

● It aids in sleep improvement and alleviates various psychiatric disorders.

● General exercise elevates mood and enhances overall quality of life.

● Yoga and Substance Cravings Management:

● Exercise and yoga assist in managing substance cravings, especially for those

with limited therapy access.

● Psychotic Symptom Alleviation:

● Increased physical activity shows promise in attenuating psychotic symptoms and

treating associated medical comorbidities.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND:

● Ancient Wellness Roots:

● Physical activity traced to the Indus Valley in 3000 B.C. laid the foundation for

modern yoga.

● Vital Health Role:

● Well-documented literature highlights the crucial role of physical activity in

healthy living and health disorder management.

● Holistic Fitness Boost:

● Frequent exercise enhances strength, endurance, and overall fitness for a

functional lifestyle.
 Aiken 4

● Disease Defender:

● Exercise significantly reduces the incidence of chronic illnesses like

cardiovascular disease.

● Quality Living:

● Regular exercise improves overall quality of life and relieves various health

conditions.

● Substance Support:

● Exercise aids in addressing substance use disorders, contributing to efforts like

smoking reduction.

● Global Standards:

● Worldwide guidelines recommend "150 minutes" of weekly exercise for

substantial health benefits.

● Disease Reduction Impact:

● Following guidelines can lead to a 20%-30% reduction in many chronic diseases.

● Efficiency in Motion:

● Even a small amount of exercise yields significant health benefits, emphasizing

efficiency.

REVIEW:

Methodology:

● Exploration Approach:

● Investigates physiological and psychological processes during exercise for mental

health enhancement.
 Aiken 5

● Employed targeted search terms in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline,

focusing on recent references.

Impact on Mental Health:

● Positive Findings:

● Growing evidence supports physical activity's positive impact on mental health.

● Systematic evaluations reveal improved mental health outcomes with both brief

and extended exercise.

● Psychological Effects:

● Studies highlight enhanced mood, self-esteem, and reduced stress tendencies

through exercise.

● Regular exercise correlates with an improved frame of mind.

● Neurochemical Boost:

● Physical activity triggers the production of opioids and endocannabinoids, which

are linked to pleasure and reduced pain sensitivity.

● Cognitive Benefits:

● Exercise positively influences attention, focus, memory, cognition, language

fluency, and decision-making for up to two hours.

● HPA Axis Optimization:

● Regular physical activity improves the functioning of the

hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, regulating cortisol secretion and

restoring hormonal balance.

 Aiken 6

Exercise and Mental Wellness:

● Immunomodulatory Wonders:

● Exercise optimizes catecholamine, lowers cortisol, and reduces inflammation.

● Global Insights:

● Research globally links exercise to mental and physical health improvements.

Yoga for Mental Health:

● Ancient Wisdom in Science:

● Yoga, an ancient practice, has been studied for its therapeutic benefits, particularly

in the West.

● Mind-Body Harmony:

● Yoga's mind-body interventions show promise for neurosis spectrum mental

health issues.

● Physiological Boost:

● Yoga activates neuromuscular systems, stimulates the limbic system, and reduces

sympathetic tone.
 Aiken 7

Exercise and Schizophrenia:

● Complex Challenge:

● Schizophrenia treatment challenges are met with promise in increased physical

activity.

● Aid for Symptoms:

● Exercise shows potential in alleviating psychotic symptoms and treating

comorbidities in schizophrenia.

Exercise Against Alcohol Dependence:

● Combating Substance Abuse:

● Exercise effectively supplements treatment for alcohol use disorder, mitigating

health consequences.

● Cravings Management:

● Exercise and yoga help manage substance cravings, providing a positive

replacement for use.

Physical Activity and Sleep Quality:

● Crucial Sleep Benefits:

● Regular exercise positively impacts both quantity and quality of sleep, enhancing

overall well-being.

● Age-Related Positives:

● Exercise contributes to better sleep quality, which is particularly beneficial with

age.

Exercise in Depressive and Anxiety Disorders:

● Global Mental Health Challenge:

 Aiken 8

● Exercise offers potential relief for depression, a significant global burden.

● Endorphin Connection:

● Exercise triggers endorphin release, showing promise in alleviating depressive

symptoms akin to traditional antidepressants.

● Endorphin Elevation:

● Physical activity triggers the "endorphin hypothesis," releasing natural opioids,

reducing pain, and uplifting mood.

● Ageless Mood Boost:

● Exercise enhances mood and diminishes depressive symptoms across all age

groups, including children and adolescents.

● Global Validation:

● Worldwide research affirms that physical exercise surpasses control groups,

proving an effective remedy for depression.

● Yoga's Serenity Impact:

● Most yoga forms, emphasizing breathing and self-awareness, positively influence

depression and overall well-being.

● Exercise for Unipolar Depression:

 Aiken 9

● Meta-analysis reveals exercise's notable impact on unipolar depression, especially

compared to no intervention.

● Anxiety Adjunct:

● Systematic evaluation suggests exercise as a beneficial adjuvant treatment for

anxiety disorders, though less potent than antidepressants.

CONCLUSIONS:

● Mental Wellness:

● Exercise positively impacts mental health, particularly in schizophrenia.

● Yoga Synergy:

● Yoga enhances outcomes when paired with exercise for schizophrenia.

● Sleep Quality Boost:

● Regular activity significantly improves sleep quality.

● Alcohol Recovery Support:

● Exercise, alongside medical therapy, aids alcohol dependence by reducing

cravings.

● Depressive and Anxiety Relief:

● Physical exercise proves effective in alleviating depression and anxiety.

● Clinical Integration Priority:

● Integrating exercise benefits into clinical practice is vital, emphasizing structured

therapy and professional training.

 Aiken 10

Genre Translation Reflection (IMRaD to Lecture Notes)

This first writing project was a challenge. There were a lot of ups and downs that I went

through during this project, from finding the right IMRaD article to doing the translation and

even choosing what genre I wanted to translate to. But, in the end, I successfully translated the

IMRaD article I found into lecture notes. I thought translating to messages would be a breeze,

but it wasn't. There were many intricacies I had to follow, such as how many notes I decided to

"take," what type of information from the article I would include, and what kind of format I

wanted to use. When finished, the notes took up a lot of space, almost eight pages. Still, I believe

that having in-depth notes is essential for studying and remembering ideas in the future, whether

you're studying for a test or just staying informed on a topic. The new audience that my lecture

notes addressed was myself and anyone "studying" the subject I chose, which was the effect of

physical activity on mental health. So, anyone looking to study that topic could use the lecture

notes I created from the IMRaD article. The audience changed only slightly from the IMRaD

article. Because the article was a study done on people and published by post-grad students, their

audience was either students studying anything about the topic or their colleagues who were also

interested in the case. Overall, the translation was made more accessible because of the only

slight change in audience.

I chose the genre of lecture notes because I want to become better at taking notes and

following a specific structure when taking notes. My notes have always been all over the place,

and if I could translate an entire academic article into notes, this would make taking informative

notes easier. When reading Kerry Dirks' Navigating Genres, I was intrigued by the example of

the country song and the "bending" of genres. The fact that country songs have certain aspects

that make them considered a "country song" really stuck with me. Also, all genres have parts
 Aiken 11

characteristic of that particular genre, but those characteristics can be bent slightly while staying

in the same genre. This really stuck with me; while I didn't choose to bend how the lecture notes

were created, I still followed along with aspects of lecture notes. Those included a bulleted list

with separate indents for smaller and larger ideas, images or drawings to help further

understanding, bolded topics to make it easy to find certain things, and short, concise sentences

that form a bigger picture. My lecture notes would hit my intended audience because that

audience was me. I noted how I would learn and retain information the best using the

characteristics above.

Integrating information from the IMRaD article into my lecture notes was relatively easy.

I removed any fluff the report provided and broke it down into main ideas. The lecture notes are

still long, but that is because the IMRaD article was even longer. I kept most of the necessary

information, pictures, and diagrams because they provided extra insight in notes. I did this

because notes need to include all relevant essential details, such as main ideas and examples, to

be helpful with studying. I left out a lot of the fluff that was added and anything that was

repeated. I really didn't have to add anything from the outside, either. This was because the

IMRaD article was already super in-depth. It was just chipping down the paper and rebuilding it

into a bulleted list. When reading Lisa Bickmore's Genre in the Wild, what really stood out to me

was that "genre does not stand alone." This meant that even though I was making something as

simple as lecture notes, there was more to it. Those notes work within a system. For instance, I

created many different types of messages like Cornell notes or a simple bulleted list. But there is

also an overarching genre, notes in general. So, I took ideas from different types of notes to

create my lecture notes, which worked well.

 Aiken 12

Some of the significant challenges I faced in this genre of translation included what

information to include, the translation length, and just finding the article to translate. While

reading Kara Taczak's Reflection is Critical for Writers' Development, I was introduced to the

idea that "Reflection allows writers to recall, reframe, and relocate knowledge and practices;

therefore, it must be worked at to be most effectively learned and practice" (79). This really

helped me through the process of translation. While looking for the article I wanted to translate, I

reviewed about 4-5 pieces that needed to be corrected. I decided they weren't right by reflecting

on them. After reading, I would recall what I learned, and I chose the best article because I

recalled the most from it. I overcame the other challenges of what to include in the notes and the

length of the notes by looking at my past lecture notes along with the notes of some of my

friends. I then used what I learned from that to craft my genre translation.

The concerns I kept in mind while translating to my new genre were the change in

audience, the difference in structure, and the change in content. While the shift in audience was

minimal, I still had to change some of the wording due to the original audience being post-grad

and me not being post-grad. I had to make things simpler and easier to understand without

changing the meaning. While translating, I had to remember the structure of the notes. This was

a significant change from the IMRaD article. I still used the same topics, but I changed

everything else. I took out the fluff, only took the vital information, and turned that into a

bulleted list that was easy to understand. Content-wise, I kept things mostly the same, but I

refined them and didn't change any important main ideas. As I said, I also kept the pictures and

diagrams. I kept the photographs and charts because of McClouds, Writing with Pictures. I didn’t

realize so much information could be relayed through a simple diagram, or picture surprised me,

and McCloud reinforced that. It just fit with my new genre, so I kept the pictures. The skills I
 Aiken 13

used to complete my translation included reflection on the IMRaD article, my writing and

deduction skills, which helped in choosing and manipulating the information from the article,

and recognition skills/ By recognizing what it meant to be lecture notes, I was able to craft my

own from the paper. Overall, this was a very enlightening project. I didn't know how it would be

to switch genres, but I was thoroughly surprised by how it went.

 Aiken 14

Works Cited

Bickmore, Lisa. “GENRE in the WILD: Understanding Genre within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems.”

Pressbooks.pub, 1 Aug. 2016, pressbooks.pub/openenglishatslcc/chapter/genre-in-the-

wild-understanding-genre-within-rhetorical-ecosystems/.

Dirk, Kerry. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1.

Mahindru, A., Patil, P., & Agrawal, V. (n.d.). Role of Physical Activity on Mental Health and

Well-Being: A Review. PubMed Central (PMC).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9902068/

McCloud.“Writing With Pictures Clarity, Persuasion and Intensity.” PDF Download

Taczak, Kara. “Reflection is Critical for Writers’ Development.” PDF Download