Exercise Exorcism

One of the things that makes working out more complicated is that we are not simply bodies.  We’re also great big bags of emotion and thought and experience.  All that mind stuff can either help or hinder our workouts.  The good news is that we can use various techniques to ensure that things go in the “help” direction.

 

This last week, one of my clients (who actually suggested this blog post, so I’m not violating privacy here) showed up to her workout just after a pretty major disagreement with someone.  That meant that she had tons of adrenaline and energy flowing through her, but that her ability to focus was somewhat impaired by anger and frustration and hurt.  We dealt with the demons by performing exorcism by plyojacks.  (I have not tried to exorcise any actual demons and I don’t recommend trying that at home, with plyojacks or any other exercises.  Consult a professional in case of actual demon possession.  That is well out of the scope of my practice.)

 

In other words, we channeled all that (negative) nervous energy into cardio.  It took about a minute.  Her heart rate got up, which made her breathe heavy instead of the shallow breathing of stress.  The air and floor took the pounding without damage.  The work was just hard enough that there wasn’t room in her brain for all the icky thoughts.  And, as I keep saying over and over, cardio is a proven mood-improver.  We broke the cycle of Bad Stuff and were able to get on with the rest of the workout.  At the end, she had accomplished a lot with her body and her mind was in a calmer state.

 

Sometimes, I need to take a client in a different direction.  A person shows up with the low energy of sadness.  We can go gently, then, adding in some breath-focused exercises from the Pilates repertoire that help soothe and then energize.  We focus on exercises that are familiar.  We don’t go for the big challenge, but for success.

 

To be clear:  I am not a therapist, doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or mental health professional of any kind.  I am a personal trainer and Pilates instructor.  Nothing I do is a substitute for professional help with mental health issues.  Exercise, according to science, can help with some mental health issues, but please talk to the appropriate folks to get the real help you need.  My purpose here is to suggest complementary behaviors, not to treat or correct any conditions.

 

When in doubt, just keep breathing.