These days we seem to prize all the wrong things. Does any of this sound familiar:
Good session last night?
Yeah, I beasted myself, could hardly walk out of the gym!
Wow, good job.
Is it really a good job? In my opinion, if there is one thing that most people do not need to add to their life it would be overly stressing their system during a workout.
or a more general scenario
How are you?
Great, manic! You?
Yes, same. Ah well, better than the alternative!
Really? I know that we all need enough to keep the lights on and food on the table but do we really need to prize being manic?
Late nights, massive workloads, exercising and overtraining ourselves to a frazzle, being manicly busy and stressed are the new chic, and we are paying the price.
1 in 3 young people today suffer from a mental health issue. It takes the average person 10 years to seek help for it. Some don’t make it the 10 years.
In the UK 6 out of every 10 women are on medication for anxiety, depression or stress. Men are not far behind.
The WHO says that by 2020 depression and anxiety will be the worlds number 1 disability.
The Centre for Disease Control states that sleep dysfunction is already at an epidemic level.
I bet none of this surprises you.
Some people of course need medical intervention. But self help is also paramount. Breathing and moving correctly are the oldest, simplest, cheapest, most ‘side effect’ free option available to us.
The main aim of a workout, even (or especially), a walk, for me should be to relax your muscles, mind and spirit. I know that it doesn’t sound sexy, but it doesn’t have to be music, mats and soft lighting either. You can work hard, at a high tempo and even high adrenaline, but what counts is where you put your focus.
When you focus on managing your breathing properly, applying natural correct movements, releasing muscle tension and doing a conscious recovery, even intense workouts can be relaxing and beneficial to your overall health.
Oh, and its not enough that breathing and moving properly are a once or twice a week thing. You need to be doing them daily, every moment and movement is a chance to remove stress. Life is putting stress into us all day long. We need to rediscover what children and the animal kingdom do naturally. We need to learn to let go.
If you are interested to learn more the Systema Health book below outlines breathing and movement exercises that can be done solo and incorporated into daily life to have a big impact on your health, fitness and wellbeing.
Finally, inspired by my friend Dan Furlong, I would say this: if you know someone that you think is suffering, ask them about it. Even better go our for a walk and talk. It may just make the difference.
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