I picked other for mood because one doesn't describe the way i feel……….
I am feeling lost, confused, happy, tired, full of life, ready to go, and so on and so on…….
My blog today is about the importance of excersize and mental illness. I know that when I excersize I feel a bit better. I personally use this as part of my treatment for my OCD. If I feel an anxiety attack coming on I amp up my day with either yoga or some good cardio. It has been proven that excersize releases endorfines into you body that helps balance the chemicals that are out of wack inside your body. Even if you are home bound you can still do a small work out regiment. If you have a physical disablility they have found that moderaite streching can cause a raise in your heart rate and also release natural pain killers.
When I started to use excersize to help my anxiety I was 265 lbs. That was about 5 years ago.I now weigh 162 and am as stong as ever. i have done this with several dissablities myself. I was born with bad feet. At the age of 13 and 14 i had bunions removed from both of my feet. I have cronic stress fractures due to 3 extra bones in both feet. At 19 I had to have a bone repaired in my right foot that never completely devoloped and I was at risk of tearing the end off the bone due to the fact that this bone had a major ligament attached to it. If it would have torn off I woud have not been able to walk. At 23 I had partial reconstructive surgery on my left knee. The procedure was called an open trillua. At 24 I bulged 4 disks in my lower back. I now ride my bike about 75 -100 miles a week I do yoga for 2- 3 hours 3-5 times aweek.
Has this cured my OCD……. Not at all but, it has helped me a lot in this area. with the regular excersize and yoga i find i am able to rest better at night. It has given me healthier options to relieve my need to complete compultions. I can clearly organize my thoughts and recogize my obsesive thinking.
Other atributes are I have lost over 100 lbs. i have relieved the pruessure on my disks in my back. strengthend my leg that i no longer have knee pain and have become an adrenaline junkiein a good way. Myself confidance is higher and my vengance to face my OCD is stronger. I also have gained a very positive out look on life!!!!
I hope that this brings insperation and hope to those who are looking for something because……………………. Here it is this is something that everyone should try.
~Kate~
Good for you Kate. I'm glad for you. Now to deal with me.
This is awesome Kate. I'm very happy for you. I just absolutely cannot help but warn everyone, however. While, you are correct in the face that excercise DOES increase endorphines (sp?) which in general makes you feel better (happier). You can get addicted, and it can stem from OCD. I had an eating disorder, which can be triggered from OCD, trauma…..etc. I excercised way more than anyone should and couldn't stop. Since I had a bout of OCD when I was young….I've experienced traumatic events in my life….maybe a combination is what brought it on. But, I struggled. I started as just going on a diet…eating less and healthier. I bought a treadmill and just went crazy and couldn't stop. I no longer suffer from that anymore, but it was an absolute MISERABLE time in my life. I lost an insane amount of weight, was in therapy and on the verge of being admitted to the hospital. I was at my lowest. For some reason, just like the rest of my OCD has worked all my life a "light switched" flicked and I was okay again. I struggle badly now with contamiation issues and I think I am miserable, but not near as low as I was then. I think excercise is wonderful, and does help you feel better. But, like everything….moderation. If you start to feel yourself feeling like you HAVE TO ……sick, in pain…anything, but feel like you HAVE TO anyway……stop, slow down. For some reason, I saw this comment and I really felt like I needed to share…..in hopes that this might help somone. If not, then I'm just rambling and I'm very sorry. Kate, I certainly do not mean to down play exercise AT ALL!!! I think for health reasons, physical and mental…it's a wonderful thing, and I'm SO glad it's done good things for you. Thanks for sharing….and thanks for listening.