The Joy of Movement: How exercise helps us find happiness, hope, connection, and courage by Kelly McGonigal

How to Change Your Mind About Exercise

The bestselling author of The Willpower Instinct presents a science-based guide that shifts focus from why to exercise to how to enjoy movement.

Exercise boosts health and longevity but often feels like a chore. Kelly McGonigal shows that movement can be a source of joy.

Using neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, combined with stories and philosophy, McGonigal reveals how movement connects to self-expression, social bonds, and mastery. It also combats depression, anxiety, and loneliness.

She shares global stories—from Tanzania’s hunter-gatherers to Juilliard dance classes for Parkinson’s patients, London volunteers blending fitness with service, and extreme wilderness races—highlighting human hope, cooperation, and resilience.

This book offers a fresh perspective on exercise, showing how movement is essential to happiness and humanity. Readers gain practical insights to use movement for greater joy, meaning, and connection in life and community.