Laughter Running Away...

[braden101]

Everyday for the past 5 days or so, after work, no matter how tired I am, my pain or my anxiety levels; I have put on my trainers, headphones (Pearl Jam today) and gone for a sunset jog along the coast.

Leading up to and as I start the run, my groin flares up, my back hurts, I feel stiff, awkward, my breathing is irregular and my mind is racing and I couldn't pinpoint one thought/emotion if I tried (Pretty much how I've felt on and off all day)

Around 10 minutes in, I start to sweat, my heart is pumping, all my aches and pains start to disappear, my breathing becomes automatic, I can feel my body working how it is suppose to. It's not being controlled by nervous energy and fear, it is doing what it is designed to do with no real influence from my mind, it is instinct.

Throughout the run, my thoughts just seem to become easier and easier to manage, emotions are are easier to recognise and I feel like life isn't as complicated as I make it. I feel like I could almost close my eyes and just drift away.

I think that has alot to do with my anxiety, it is built up energy, nervous energy, fear. Sitting at my computer after a stressful day thinking about my pain, my stresses, isn't doing anything to release that energy and it is why i can't relax anymore...I needed an outlet and i think i have found it.

Even through all the ups n downs throughout the day, good days and bad days, no matter how stressed out and angry I get throughout the day, I know that all I have to do is put on those trainers, plug in my headphones and that place is waiting for me.

Just thought I'd share an experience, for anyone that might just need that extra push to get back into exercising.

 

[North Star]

Thanks, Braden! Exercise has long been my mental health program. If I don't exercise regularly, I can really feel the pressure building. And I know I can't think of one time where I've ever regretted exercising after I've finished something. Not once.

Thanks for offering your encouragement!

 

[Eric "Herbie" Watson]

Leading up to and as I start the run, my groin flares up, my back hurts, I feel stiff, awkward, my breathing is irregular and my mind is racing and I couldn't pinpoint one thought/emotion if I tried (Pretty much how I've felt on and off all day)

Around 10 minutes in, I start to sweat, my heart is pumping, all my aches and pains start to disappear, my breathing becomes automatic, I can feel my body working how it is suppose to. It's not being controlled by nervous energy and fear, it is doing what it is designed to do with no real influence from my mind, it is instinct.

Throughout the run, my thoughts just seem to become easier and easier to manage, emotions are are easier to recognise and I feel like life isn't as complicated as I make it. I feel like I could almost close my eyes and just drift away.

I think that has alot to do with my anxiety, it is built up energy, nervous energy, fear. Sitting at my computer after a stressful day thinking about my pain, my stresses, isn't doing anything to release that energy and it is why i can't relax anymore...I needed an outlet and i think i have found it.

Awesome Brandon101, you have gained a powerful tool and an outlet for all of that nervous energy. This is one Great post that all of us can take notes from. The body doesn't want us brooding over every ache and ill we have. It wants to move and enjoy life. WE get in the way with our obsessed thoughts. If we take our mind completely off the physical and completely into the psychological then we will have great success. So many of us turn our thoughts inward as we grow in knowledge and we get stuck on physical thoughts often enough. If we we're to turn our thoughts inward in a non- judgmental way and meditate thinking on higher truths then thinking inward is the way but when we don't think on higher truths and we turn our mind inward we often ache and hurt cause we have been conditioned our whole lives to "Get that Checked"

No see, all we have to do is let the automatic nervous system take care of the body. Mother nature has a way of fixing things a lot better than we can. We're conditioned to try and fix what mother nature or our automatic nervous system intends to fix and we just get in the way interrupting our internal balance.

What you have accomplished is great for your recovery because you know now when you just get off the physical thoughts and just do what you want to do then the body just takes care of itself. I love your post. Thanks
Bless You

 

[Forest]

I think that has alot to do with my anxiety, it is built up energy, nervous energy, fear. Sitting at my computer after a stressful day thinking about my pain, my stresses, isn't doing anything to release that energy and it is why i can't relax anymore...I needed an outlet and i think i have found it.

Thank you for sharing this, Braden. It is so important in TMS healing to reconnect with what we love in life and give our poor systems a break from all of the tension. It is the classic "Rage/Sooth Ratio" that Dr. Sarno described on page 29 of The Mindbody Prescription. We need to find things that soothe us, and exercise sounds like it fits the bill for you.

I just moved this thread to the new Laughter is the best medicine subforum. I can move it back if you like, but I think that aside from being beautifully written, your post really exemplifies the point of that subforum. Specifically, it draws attention to the importance of tipping the rage/soothe ratio back into the "soothe" side.

I hope to rename the forum to capture this broader emphasis, but first I think I'm going to take a nice leisurely walk around my neighborhood. It's a nice warm day, and a beautiful time to enjoy it.

(realistically, with all of the ongoing projects it may be quite a while before the forum gets renamed. Google might disapprove of renaming things, so I want to see how it is actually used, etc., before making any changes.)