27. The Healing Series, Part 3; The Healing Power Of Motion
Updated: 6 hours ago
**Please note: In this post, I do not write about specific traumas. I never write any explicit details.**
Potential To Release and Refuel
A great deal of my healing has taken place with the help of motion. I don't mean being athletic per se, but literally moving. When I am still for too long, my thoughts build up to a point of discomfort, and anxiety loops without outlets. This is not only really uncomfortable emotionally, but begins to also feel bad in my body. I've experienced the difference between how my mind and body feel when I'm predominantly sedentary and how they feel when I incorporate regular motion into my life. I'm not about to run a marathon or win any trophies, but I am active, and I've learned that being active is crucial to my well-being.
The types of motion I seek out for myself can be so simple, yet surprisingly helpful. During the past decade, I've incorporated this more and more as a priority within my life, to the point that nowadays, it is a standard of daily self-care. Some of my favorite forms of motion include versions such as walking and jogging. They are relatively accessible for me, and the fact that they don't require any special equipment makes it all the more likely that I will seek them out. I don't need special gear or specific field set ups to just walk or jog.
Walkies
You know how dogs need to go out for walks every day? We humans can benefit from talking walks as well. Here are some of the benefits I experience from taking a walk:
1. Release: This is how I expel physical energy in a healthy and safe way. Without a physical outlet, a lot of negative energy can build up and feel incredibly uncomfortable. Having a consistent and reliable way to free energy has been a sanity saver for me.
An especially fantastic asset of upright motions like walking is that the back and forth motion of each side of the body taking turns to move stimulates both sides of the brain. This dual-sided brain stimulation is actually the key ingredient in the very successful modality of trauma therapy called EMDR (which also entails a great deal of other factors and the skilled familiarity and trauma training of practitioners).
2. Thoughts: When I'm out walking, it supports me to think through memories, thoughts, feelings, perceptions and keep processing instead of getting stuck looping. Again, I believe part of why it works so well is related to the dual sides of my brain being activated. It's also the literal process of keeping myself moving forward that helps me sift through more information to process than I am sometimes able to do while seated. My body moving sets the example for my mind to keep flowing too.
3. Fresh Air: It can smell so good outside, especially the scents from certain trees and flowers. It's fantastic for my lungs to get out of circulated indoor air. Also, and very helpful for me, it cues me to bypass shallow breathing for deeper breaths. For a person who tends to hold my breath without realizing it, it's great to spend time in an activity where that can't inadvertently occur.
4. Nature: If I could choose to walk indoors, outdoors in a city, or outdoors in nature, I'd pick nature every time for the amazing potential of connecting with the natural world and finding a type of peace and connection that I experience only in these settings. Plants, animals, rocks, and water are all my teachers. I am sometimes better able to hear my true self when I'm with them.
Jogging
Just like walking, jogging is another type of low-impact motion with some major benefits. Here are some of the perks I experience from going for a jog, in addition to those previously listed in the walking section:
1. Breath: Jogging supports my lung health by requiring me to take in more oxygen than I normally do when just walking. Any time spent working with more air is a gain for me. It offsets all the hyperventilation that's accompanied so many panic attacks.
2. Heart: My cardio health is also supported through jogging. It strengthens my heart by giving it an opportunity to really get pumping. The more it is able to do this without becoming overworked, the better indications I have that my heart is strong. Although the physical heart and energetic heart are different, keeping my actual heart in good shape supports my ability to love, both myself and others.
3. Strength: This is a muscle building opportunity. Not body builder muscles, but strong and active ones, that might not bulk me up visually, but add some major stability and support to my bones. The more I jog, the more I am able to build my endurance and the stronger I not only become, but the more I am reminded of actually feeling strong.
4. Empowerment: It feels great to feel powerful through motion. There's nothing like moving faster than normal to create a freeing feeling for me. It's especially wonderful to be able to move with speed because it feels like an extreme dismantling of self-associations from my sexual trauma when I felt frozen. It's empowering for me to guid myself, and determine my route and pace.
Other Opportunities To Move
There are other forms of motion I enjoy that are mostly gear free. Movement can take all sorts of forms. It's great to try out different versions of motion and figure out which ones are comfortable, enjoyable, and accessible.
Visual Inspiration
Wind and Water Power
To Continue Reading
Please see my next post about finally reaching closure with my PTSD.
Go to: 28. Relief!
Comments