Category: healing

Exercise to Reduce Anxiety

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Exercise and Happiness

Exercise and fitness are like a tug of war for our minds. For instance, part of us envisions ourselves getting stronger and fitter, while the other half prefers to sit on the couch and watch Netflix. 

Negative thoughts about exercising include:

  1. Why put more effort into my life?
  2. I’m fine doing less work
  3. Working out requires effort; I’m already tired from my job
  4. I won’t lose weight
  5. I’ll probably get tired within five minutes of exercising
  6. I don’t see any results
  7. It’s too much work

Right off the bat, our mind comes up with negative thoughts and reasons as to why we shouldn’t exercise. This is because it’s easier for our mind and body to relax and not put in any effort. The problem is that we can’t obtain the benefits of exercise and fitness if we don’t make an effort. Some people try to get away by exercising here and there; inconsistency leads to inconsistent results. Eliminate your negative thoughts about exercise with the following positive thoughts listed below.

Positive thoughts that we need to start having regarding exercising:
  1. Hard work pays off
  2. My mental health will improve
  3. My body-mind connection will improve
  4. I will feel more confident and better about myself
  5. My discipline will improve
  6. People will compliment me on my improved physique
  7. I will have more confidence in my ability to work hard
Exercise and Fitness for Our Mental Health

You see, as with anything that requires hard work in life, negative thoughts often get in the way of succeeding. Negative thoughts have to be intentionally replaced with positive ones until our attitude shifts and the process of exercising becomes easier. Also keep in mind that exercising is also great for our mental health and you’ll feel much better after a workout.

Exercising helps us to overcome our sadness. When we feel depressed, working out helps our mental health. Exercising is a distraction from negative thoughts that accompany depression. Rather than focusing on feeling worthless, you devote your energy to breaking down your muscles to become stronger. You transmute your negative thoughts into physical energy. Your mind becomes distracted and focused on exercising; it has no room for depression. With constant repetition, you overcome your depression and become mentally sturdier. Your mental health benefits just as much as your physical health when you stay in shape.

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Working Out Even When We Have No Drive

One of the most challenging tasks throughout the day is working out when you have no motivation. I’ve felt the experience of having days when I lack drive and motivation to workout. Everyone has experienced those days when you feel drained and you have no idea why. You feel like you’re dragging yourself throughout the day, carrying your own weight but as if you lack the strength to effectively do so. Not only do you feel your body drained of energy, but your mind feels mushy as if all you want to do is pass out. But even passing out is a difficult task because that takes effort to actually lay down and put your day on hold. When you have no motivation to exercise, it often feels like you just want to quit.

“When you have depression or anxiety, exercise often seems like the last thing you want to do. But once you get motivated, exercise can make a big difference.”—Mayo Clinic Staff

But quitting gets you no where exciting when it comes to that realm. The more you allow your lack of motivation to prevail, the harder it’s going to become to get back into a solid routine. That’s because it’s not easy to work out. You have to power through even on the days when you don’t feel like doing it. That’s because if you can get through those days successfully, you often end up with a renewal of energy and interest for your next workout session.

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Not everyone can afford to just put their day on hold and take a nap as they wish. These are also the days when exercising is the absolute last thing that you want to do. You almost feel that even if someone were to offer you money to exercise, you’d still find the energy to say no; the only energy you do have. So why do these days occur and how can we prevent them?What you don’t want to do is power through on those days and not enjoy it one bit. This is because it will lead you to burning out rather quickly. But as with anything in life, you need a balance of different activities.

There are many reasons as to why these days occur in the first place:

  • Fatigue from work
  • Fatigue from lack of stimulation
  • Depression
  • Lack of motivation
  • Poor sleep hygiene
  • Stress
  • Drug consumption
  • Simply a bad day

The more honest you are with yourself, the easier it will become to prevent these types of days from reoccurring in the future. But when you are too tired to analyze why, just remember that you can always rely on a quick sugar fix to get your day going and allow you to continue your exercise routine. At the end of the day, exercising will burn off your sugar consumption, allowing you to have effectively tackled your day in style and good form!

Finding Pleasure Outside Your Home

Just take a look outside your window . . . do you see a street? There you go. That’s where you should go exercise. If there’s a park near your home then that’s even better! Now that it’s “almost” spring and the temperature is rising, it’s quite lovely to put on your Apple AirPods and go jogging outside. Forget the treadmill; it doesn’t beat nature. Leaving your home to exercise is actually really good for your mental health.

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Exercising in nature really helps to clear your mind and escape the confinement of your house. Allow the fresh air and brisk breeze surrounding the trees to guide your way through the park; feel the air rushing into your lungs as you increase your pace to the beat bumping in your eardrums.

Don’t become a sloth. Your lack of motivation plays with your sanity by gaslighting you. It’s very easy to fall into the habit of waking up late on the weekends. After all, you have just worked 5 days in a row, and the last thing that you want to do is force your body into some annoying exercise routine. But waking up early to exercise actually feels quite amazing, once you actually get going with it.

The thing with sleeping in on the weekends is that you feel rested, but it’s a different kind of feeling than exercising early in the morning. When you wake up late, you have the tendency to lay around the house and maybe just relax on your couch; your mind continues to want to rest. But when you force yourself to wake up early on the weekends in order to exercise, you feel tired at first when you wake up, but afterwards, you feel amazing!

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It feels much different to exercise in the morning than in the afternoon. In the afternoon, you still feel good after a nice workout, but you kind of also feel a little tired, considering that you just spent half or more of your day doing things. When you get home from exercising, you kind of just want to relax and maybe even stay in for the evening. It comes down to preference. But the important thing is that you are exercising!

Anxiety Causes and Things I Had to Do to Lessen It

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Please note that I didn’t write to cure it because for some people there is no cure. Anxiety may be in part genetic. So, what are some other causes: alcohol and drug abuse, chronic pain or injury, stressors or uncertainties, personality, unhealthy eating and little to no exercise, traumatic events, or diabetes, cancer, or other physical medical conditions like thyroid disorder.

So, according to my therapist, what are some things I tried that alleviate anxiety?

  1. Deep breathing
  2. Progressive muscle relaxation or the body scan from head to toe
  3. Taking a walk even around the block to begin
  4. Listening to soothing or upbeat music
  5. Drinking chamomile tea
  6. Practicing yoga or stretching
  7. Journaling
  8. Limiting caffeine & avoiding alcohol and/or nicotine
  9. Exercise such as running or swimming
  10. Get plenty of sleep by aiming for 7-8 hours in a room without electronics, preferably dark (for melatonin) and slightly on the cool side
  11. Meditation by either sitting on a chair, on the floor, or laying down to get the incredible benefits for reducing and managing anxiety
  12. Questioning your worries by asking: Is this thing that I fear likely to happen? How can I be sure? What evidence do I have? If it does happen, how does this affect me? How would someone else view this worry? Is there another possible outcome or explanation? Is this fear solvable? What can I do to solve it at soon as possible?
  13. Immerse yourself in nature by getting daily doses of fresh air and sunshine
  14. Aerobic exercise reduces cortisol levels (stress hormone) and anxious thoughts thereby making you feel happier and calmer.
  15. Give up on perfectionism by setting goals and striving for completion with the time allotted. Then submit and move on. No looking back.
  16. Cut back on sugar, which can cause or contribute to many health issues and chronic diseases, including mental health disorders like making anxiety or depression worse. Remember, sugar quickly releases energy, but it is followed by a sudden crash, which brings on even more sugar craving.
  17. Eat an antianxiety diet such as vegetables and whole grains that give a slow release of energy and are stable on blood sugar, helping to control your sugar cravings.
  18. Avoid foods from conventional farming that use chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and other toxins that your body needs to eliminate. Visit a farmer’s market.
  19. Avoiding processed foods are loaded with additives, preservatives, colorings, flavorings, and other chemicals that also cause a lot of extra work for your detox organs.
  20. Detoxify your body with techniques that include eating plenty of high fiber foods, i.e., root vegetables and whole grains, Epsom salt baths, quality sleep, sauna sweating, drinking enough water, hot shower for five minutes then immediately followed by a brief cold shower.
  21. Eat a healthy and balanced meal, i.e., that avoids essential nutrient deficiencies with B vitamins, Vitamin A and C, magnesium, zinc, iron and selenium, and omega 3 fatty acids that aid the body and mind in functioning correctly.

Is jealousy a powerful driver in my life or is it simply a negative emotion?

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I was definitely a jealous child wanting the “normal” that all the other kids had in their lives. Then I turned into a jealous adolescent who wanted to keep the friends I worked so hard to get. It was all a fear-based lie. So, it never lasted. I subscribe to Maslow’s Hierarchy, where one cannot attain a higher level without first establishing a foundation.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

I never had the solid footing to build on as a kid so anything I did socially growing up was a lie. I lied to myself most of all. But like I wrote in a previous post, Karma kicked my butt. For me, I think my physiological needs were met when I was married, not by my ex-husband (Oh, God, NO!), but by starting my family i.e., having my kids. They grounded me. They gave me the need to exist and have a voice. I slept better, ate well (eating disorder went away), exercised more, and read voraciously, predominantly about spirituality. My mind calmed. I saw the marriage for the travesty that it was and strived to get out of it.

Then came safety which I achieved for the kids with the help of many a therapist or the clinic social workers they recommended. One extremely helpful one encouraged me on a path back to college. There is where the honest social relationships came into play. I learned how to be a friend while I was still learning how to be a parent, but I had excellent role models in the social work field. I’d found people in my life who shared my passions and my beliefs.

I still had a chip on my shoulder due to dysfunctional childhood. That disappeared only after a college professor and psychologist told me to write about the pain. I did. And POOF—it was gone! Although, she thought I still buttressed myself with a pseudonym. It took me another decade to extinguish that misrepresentation.

Switching jobs to architectural drafting temporarily for financial reasons gave me the self-esteem I needed. I connected with people and joined groups and took part in conversations to the best my mental health would allow at the time.

That brings me to now, and self-actualization. I’m finally in a spot where gone is the false facade, and in its place honest, safe, successful relationships. Even my mental health is improving. I know it will never go away or be cured; but it’s well-controlled medicinally which clarifies my thoughts and actions. By that I mean the schizophrenia; the OCD is still a security blanket; and the social anxiety still kicks my butt.

So, when I got asked the question: Is jealousy a powerful driver in my life or is it simply a negative emotion? My response is both. Fortunately, it drove me to be a better person. Moreover, I’m able to see it for what it is now, an ugly, negative emotion that needs to be tamped down. It was a lengthy, drawn-out process that had to happen in order to get me to where I am today.

Are my worries five, ten years ago, still relevant concerns today?

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A whole range of mental health issues are acquired or maintained through the development of delusional beliefs about ourselves and our world. Even the most common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, are rooted by ingrained, strongly held delusional beliefs about ourselves or the world. Uncontrollable worrying is extremely common. Just think: Are my worries five, ten years ago, still relevant concerns today? And will they still be our worries in five, ten years from now? So, which delusional (not reflected by reality) beliefs do we chronic worriers hold now?

1. “I’m a born worrier.” or ” I’ve got to worry, so don’t even try to change me.”

2. “If I worry about something, it’s likely to happen.”

3. “Just because something I worried about in the past didn’t happen doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future.”

4. “Worrying will prevent bad things happening.”

5. “If I’m anxious about something, it must mean it’s a threat or a problem, so I should worry about it.”

6. “I must think through all the possible things that might happen otherwise I won’t be prepared.”

7. “If I let other people know what they do makes me worry, they will change their behavior.”

8. “It is better to spend a lot of time thinking about a problem than making a snap decision.”

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woman in white dress shirt sitting on brown wooden chair

I realize it’s not simple or easy but these delusional beliefs have to be analyzed in the safety of the therapist’s office. It may not be something we look forward to but it is our goal for better mental health and positive repercussions.

We must take baby steps.

babe steps

Instead of telling ourselves, “This could never happen for me,” we must ask ourselves, “What can I do to bring this closer to me?”

It doesn’t have to be a huge step. We don’t have to make it happen all at once. But we need to do something — at least one small thing — every day to get closer to the life we want. We need to do one small thing to get closer to being the person we want to be.

To do this, we need to get clear on the end goal.

So, let’s make a list of why we want something, get committed to the end goal, and then get transparent on what small steps are needed to take each day to get closer to it.

  • What do I want?
  • Why do I want it?
  • Why do those reasons matter to me?
  • What is the end goal? How do I want to see myself a year (or more) from now?
  • What can I do today to get closer to that?

Every day that we make a small step is a success! We’re proving to ourselves that we can do it when we want the end result badly enough to commit to it.

And in so doing, we build up our self-confidence. Other people’s limiting opinions on what we’re capable of no longer have any power over us. And neither do the limiting thoughts we used to have.

baby steps

Believing in ourselves doesn’t mean saying, “I’m 100% finished with my self-growth, and I don’t need to change anything or learn anything more.”

When we know the truth about ourselves, we know that we’re born to keep growing, keep learning, and keep contributing.

When we believe in ourselves, we know we’re worth the investments we need to make in our personal growth.

We know we’re smart enough, strong enough, and capable enough to do what is needed to do to become the person we want to be.

It doesn’t mean we’re not enough as we are. Being enough doesn’t mean we have permission to stop growing; it means we have what it takes to keep growing.

Because we do. We need to believe in that, first of all. Then build on it.

And may our courage and unshakable belief in ourselves influence everything else we do today.

Giving Ourselves Permission Fail at Something

failure

Self-doubt is essentially about the fear of failure, and when we practice self-confidence and move forward anyway, we build on that confidence — just as we build courage the more we step up in the presence of fear.

The most successful people have failed more times than most people even try. The danger is mostly to the ego, but that can recover.

Giving ourselves permission to fail in an endeavor could lead to something great; if we don’t make it the first time, we get to learn from what we did wrong. Then we can try again at that same challenge or pivot and apply what we’ve learned to another similar task or something altogether different.

When we fail — and if we’re actually trying and taking risks, we probably will — but can’t focus on the failure itself but on what led to it and what we can learn from the experience.

Those who become the people they want to be, choose to focus on what they can learn from their failures instead of getting stuck in a failure is inevitable mentality.

What this mentality says is “maybe other people could succeed at this, but not me…whatever I do, I’m bound to fail.” But again this isn’t based on fact but on a fear-based assumption.

The fact is that if we survived this failure, we can learn from it and do better next time – at the same challenge or a different one.

And we owe it to ourselves to keep moving in a growth-oriented direction.

You-make-mistakes.-Mistakes-dont__quotes-by-Maxwell-Maltz-43

We are not our mistakes. What determines our outcome and the person we become is how we handle those mistakes.

The idea of living a care-free life…

landscape nature africa boy
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I’ve learned it’s not possible to live carefree as we are all bombarded with constant energy in the form of responsibilities, happenstances, negative outcomes, even castoff of other’s energies even though they might be well-intentioned.

But consistently working to attain it is a serendipitous journey in and of itself replete with rewards for all five senses. Partaking in the reverberations of rhythmic sounds, meditating on serene sights, immersion with thought-provoking textures, a reverie of delightful tastes, or basking in memory-laden scents offers some carefree moments into my life.  It’s necessary, especially with a negative mental health diagnosis that makes one fight for every bit of peace possible.

I’ve seen fellow sufferers in a cocoon of pain and fear that which they cannot escape. For many years, I’ve been told I’m fortunate to have been able to consume coursework, especially in spirituality and healing, to the extent that I have because it allows me a degree of foresight, and insight, not available to many with my diagnosis.  For that reason, I work happily towards carefree moments: glimpses into serenity if you will.  I make time for insouciant moments with my devil-may-care attitude.  Granted I’m not always so happy-go-lucky but losing myself on the journey is its own reward.

Remaining Calm

Buddha

Remaining calm is a constant endeavor of mine. I think it’s because of my mental health diagnosis for the most part in that I’ve experienced how easy it is to have a psychotic episode. For that reason, I’ve learned my triggers and the quickest way to chaos for me is nervous energy.

So, I took classes at the UMN’s Center for Spirituality and Healing in just about every course offering they had. Whether it was Optimal Healing Environments to Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction to Spirituality and Resilience or The Art of Healing. The common theme throughout was living in the moment and experiential journeys focused on calm centeredness.

So my workdays are filled with yoga stretches, artistic diversions, meditations, thumbing through positive quotes on Instagram, and bringing it all back to the moment. I can’t fix yesterdays, can’t control tomorrows, and so I focus on today, specifically this moment. And everything about it is geared toward serenity. I need it to stay sane. I need it to remain positive. I need it to move forward. Breathe.