How many times do you exercise a week? What kind of workout do you have? Are you consistent or do you find that you are easily distracted? I find it hard to stay motivated for activities that hurt my body and feel like work. Thus, my exercise routine gets limited to the bare necessities.
When I read the following article I realized it was true. Being a manic depressive as I am, I am continually fighting my moods to begin with, if I can not find something enjoyable, it won't be in my schedule long.
I thought back to the time when I was the healthiest weight. I was playing tennis against the wall across the street from my townhouse at the school. I enjoyed it thoroughly even though it was a vigorous activity. I felt good, and it kept me energized throughout my day. I was focused on the sport and had no time for mindless meander or negative thoughts. When I was playing baseball with my team a few years back I was in a better frame of mind on a steady basis. I had more patience, more enthusiasm for life and where I wanted to get to, and honestly felt like I could and would get there.
Then I stopped sports and became even more depressed. At the time I had no correlation to the idea that the lack of a physical activity I enjoyed and my outside circumstances were indeed intermingled.
I am on the hunt for an indoor tennis group this winter and come spring I will be on the roster for the coed baseball team in my neighbourhood. Time to find the harmony in my life again.

Are You Exercising Your Way To Stress?
Copyright 2005 Christopher Green

You’re right, the headline is a very strange one! Exercise
is vital to maintain good health and most of the time, the
benefits of exercise far out-weigh the drawbacks. But if
you suffer from a stressful or a depressive illness,
exercise can actually make you feel worse. But how can this
be?

I’m sure you’ve heard the following statement over and over
again: exercise can help you to beat stress, or alleviate
anxiety or boost a depressed mind. This is only true in
part. Because many exercises can actually worsen these
illnesses. And even if you perform exercises that can help,
these exercises will only help temporarily.

The reason many people believe exercise to be helpful in
combating stressful and depressive illnesses is because
when you exercise vigorously for longer than 20 minutes,
your body floods with endorphins. These chemicals give us a
buzz, and this is why it is widely believed that exercise
can cure stress, depression or anxiety.

If you’re suffering a stressful or depressive episode,
you’ll know that no matter how regularly you exercise, the
bad feelings return. The only way to beat these illnesses
is to treat the root cause – flawed modes of thinking.
Exercise, though great for our bodies, simply doesn’t do
anything to address modes of thinking.

When my anxiety was at it’s worst back in 2000, I exercised
4 times a week. For 2 days, I’d perform weight-training
exercises. These exercises are the type of exercise that
can actually make you feel worse because you have time to
think about all of the issues and problems you have in your
life at the time. I’d also warm up and warm down on bike
machines or cross-trainers. Again, you can perform these
exercises easily so you can think about your problems.

For my other workouts, I’d perform instructor-led circuit
training sessions. As you’re listening out for instructions
and performing sequences of exercises at a high tempo, you
don’t have time to dwell on your troubles and worries. The
problem is that once you stop exercising, you return to the
modes of thinking which lead to stress, depression or
anxiety.

As soon as my workout had finished, I’d perform flawed
modes of thinking, that made me anxious and depressed.
Exercising did very little to stop me performing these
flawed thought processes.

Do be aware of what’s happening when you exercise.
Exercises that don’t require much concentration may have
you brooding over your troubles as you perform them.
Jogging, walking, exercise machines, weight-training are
all examples of such exercises. Instead, try ones that are
more intensive or competitive so your whole concentration
is required. Circuit-training worked for me, so did sports
like soccer and badminton.

The idea is to give yourself a period of time where you’re
not thinking about your problems and worries. And of
course, you’ll do your body a whole heap of good too!

The point here is to understand that exercise can only
provide temporary relief. The only way to find permanent
relief from your suffering is to understand and address
flawed modes of thinking. And, just as physical exercise
benefits our bodies, mental skills leading to better modes
of thinking will bring enormous benefits to our minds.

The following quote sums it up in a nutshell:

“Thought can make you, thought can break you.” - Swami
Sukhabodhanada

Until next time.


----------------------------------------------------
Chris Green is the author of “Conquering Stress”, a
special program which will show you how to conquer stress,
depression and anxiety without taking powerful drugs. For a
free e-course please click here =>
http://conqueringstress.com



www.ulosefast.com

Learn how to lose those unwanted pounds and look and feel great



"Learn What "All Natural" Weight Loss Supplement World Medallist Swimmer, Paul Callis, Swears By - And Learn How You Too Can Experience Almost Immediate And Permanent Weight Loss Results!"


Find the Perfect Holiday Gift at Amazon.com Gift Central






Mesothelioma