Pathwaytofree

If exercise releases endorphins and reduces cortisol, what is a good substitute for when we have an injury and can't exercise?

If physical pain from an injury makes us cranky and irritable, what is a good solution for that? My mind keeps wanting to run to an unhealthy distraction so it doesn't have to sit with the pain. Just like with emotional pain.

I am shocked at how quickly my mood has fallen back into old habits. I knew exercise & yoga was helping me feel better, but I didn't realize how much until now that it's temporarily gone.

I look forward to reading everyone's suggestions.

zjw

I run a lot and when i cant run I'll use a rowing machine or bike. Thankfully i've always been able to do either of those even with the worst of pains.

But this thread is spking my curiousity because one fear i have is that if i ever could not run i might promptly go back to drinking or worse. It really does wonders for me with maintaining my sanity and all. I cant imagine life without it even tho its not always all that easy to get out there and do it.

simple walks are good too.

Ghostlight1

I'm injured and still exercise.
I don't know what your injury is, but I work around mine. By that I mean doing exercise that doesn't involve my injured back.
I ride a stationary bike, I do pushups and arm lifting weights.
Can you exercise around your injury?

CRRHCC

Finding, "High Value," behaviors such as exercise, is one of the most difficult parts in recovery. Journaling can be another valuable behavior. I bet you felt better (empowered) just writing your thoughts here, because you are regaining control of how you feel, in a direct healthy manner.. Exercising other body parts, as noted above might be possible but we all need to find purpose and values in life.

entropy1964

I don 't know about you but when I spend time with friends I can laugh with, just be with, I feel that same or similar endorphin 'thing'. I don't have many friends, but I do have a few that I can just be me with. 2 are actually long distance so I skype and I usually feel some relief.

I am getting a few treatments for cancer (...I'm fine) and they make me sick for about 2 days after. It sucks. But I just give over to it....chill in bed, watch tv, read, rest. May as well. So I just had treatment number 2 (and my dog just had surgery so he's chillin too). I think like anything, acceptance and surrender to the process make it much easier.

Learning to rest when injured is a hugely important coping skill. So good on ya.

MindfulMan

What is the injury? Also wondering if it's something that can be worked around. If it is literally an ankle, a non-weight bearing exercise can be substituted, like swimming or possibly a recumbent bicycle, or weight training the upper body.

Stayingsassy

I just live in the bathtub.

Sobriety and grief. Just the bathtub.

Does water soothe you? Being immersed in water calms me.

Pathwaytofree

-I injured my knee. So I'm not sure what exercises I can do. Can I use a bike?
-I will try to find some upper body stuff I can do at home.
-Swimming would be great but I don't have access to a pool.
-I'm not a bath person but maybe I should try it again. I know a lot of people love to take baths.
-I should try to journal. My fear is that it'll feed into depression/anxiety??
-Flickaflip, sending you and your dog healing thoughts.
-Ghostlight, what is your injury?

aasharon90

I like my pool for exercise, however, because
it's still Winter, it's too cold to be in our pool
to exercise. So, i'm waiting patiently for warmer
weather to get here.

Having a hot tub or whirlpool with warm
water, even some kind of pool with warm
water to exercise would be great theraphy
for sore muscles or those needing to exercise
after injury or surgery.

Just being able to move in water for me is
the best form of exercise to keep everything
moving smoothly as I get older.

And it makes me feel good. Feel Strong.
Feel confident. Feel positive in mind body
and soul.

I'm also a lover of bath water. It's soothing,
relaxing at anytime of the day. It definitely
keeps the chill off my bones when nothing
else works. Add a little Dr. Teal's or Baby Bath
and i'm good to go.

Delilah1

My daughter is a really strong cross country and distance track runner, and had two stress fractures in her hip last year. She did a lot of aqua jogging, her coach gave her a belt, but they also have them at the gym, or you can order one online. I didn't it with her s bunch of times, and you can get s decent workout depending on your stride count.

She also used an anti gravity treadmill, but I know those aren't available to everyone.

Ghostlight1

Hi, my injury is I broke my neck about ten years ago. I go to a pain management doctor, but I've seen a bunch of orthos.
I have an exercise bike and some free weights. I just started getting serious about exercise about six months ago.
I can ride the bike, do sit-ups, lift the weights a little and do push-ups.
That's the extent of it. But I feel so much better physically
I do what I can. It makes me feel better mentally and physically.
Oh, and I do have a friend whose a trainer, so that helps.

Grungehead

My passion has always been playing golf, and I almost always walked when I played except on the very hottest days of the summer (or on a day where taking a cart was mandatory). I've had 2 open heart surgeries, and after the 2nd one my sternum never really got back to 100%. The golf swing puts a lot of torque on the sternum and upper body so I gave up playing for several years. During that time I found it helpful to immerse myself in activities that took a lot of focus to keep my mind occupied, including puzzles and card games. Really any kind of hobby or activity that takes a lot of concentration really helps keep me "stimulated" so to speak.

Last year I decided to try and get back into golf. I went to the local driving range and started getting my game back into shape and my sternum seemed to tolerate it fine as long as I didn't overdue it. Unfortunately I developed tendinitis in my left wrist after a few weeks and it took most of the rest of the summer to heal. By that time I was busy with looking for a new house to buy which happened in October.

I moved into the house last month and it has a "greenway" maintained by the town I live in with a 1mi paved path that runs right behind my house. Remembering how beneficial walking was after both of my heart surgeries I decided to give the walking trail right outside of my back yard a try. I started walking it last week and have been doing 2mi on the days I walk (5 out of the last 7). I had forgotten how beneficial getting regular cardio can be. I feel great after just one week of walking regularly and could see how an injury would be a real letdown, not getting those natural endorphins released regularly.

Grymt

"...practice Vipassana or mindfulness or insight into the rising and passing away of phenomena on the mind – body like sensations, feelings, mental formations. Simple equanimous observation of the impermanent, no-self, unsatisfactory nature of reality, as it is, from moment to moment."

Try stretching. Stretch for 30 seconds because the first 15 seconds are needed in order to let the muscles relax the automatic reaction to stretching. Bathing in body temp water relieves pain.

There are three types of sensations or feelings. Pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. There are three types of reactions: Craving, aversion and delusion. These are impermanent, not-self and unsatisfactory. Anicca, Anatta, Dukkha. There are three solutions presented : suppression, expression and equanimous observation.

Suppression and expression while temporarily providing relief in fact perpetuates the problem. It will need to be dealt with again and again.

Training the mind to calmly observe the defilements (craving, aversion or delusion) as they arise and ultimately pass away is called the Middle Path (or Noble Path) and ultimately leads to the complete eradication of these defilements. Pain becomes (what it always was, is and will be) a vibration that rises and passes away like the bubbles in a pot of boiling water. Don't block this passing by reacting with aversion to the pain. That ensures the pain will remain as pain. Practice Mindfulness of Breath (Anapana Sati) and Insight into Mind Body Phenomena (Vipassana) and be Happy, Peaceful and Liberated.

Chaz22

Weightlifting...I did it through 9-knee surgeries and you can easily work around your injury.

Redmayne

On 8th Sept., 6th 2016, with eight years of sobriety behind me, I suddenly found myself the subject of an emergency life saving operation,followed by five weeks in a medically induced coma. The after effects of which cannot be understated as you lose all you#r physical abilities, suffer reduced mental ability and are lucky if you retain your memory.

The most basic things practised by us all are, literally out of reach and I had with the help of physiotherapists to be taught,with about as much ability of a newborn child, how, at 70, to live again!

I was discharged from hospital on Dec., 5th of that year, then in av wheelchair,but able to walk, with aids, a short distance and had daily visits from local authority care workers for a month just to check on my needs.

Oddly enough I soon got back , in a limited fashion, into leading my independent lifestyle. I've never been good with compliance but life was, I'll admit challenging, both physically and mentally.

Two years on and I'mm still recovering and 'there are good days and bad days' but I was warned that my recovery from what the surgeons described as 'a very stressful, traumatic experience' recovery from which would be a long, slow process, taking years not months or weeks,

I can now walk , unaided about half a mile and potter about my flat. I have engaged people to take care of certain essential services, shopping, washing and ironing etc.

The worst thing in all this is my having to deal with my local medical center who despite receiving a copy of my Handover Notes from the hospital suddenly, last year decided to involve me in a number of interventions,instigate by them over blood tests, five in all! Which lead to unresolved concerns about my levels of cholesterol. Odd, when you consider all the surgical procedures ,evento the point of draining my liver,when the surgeon and his team were dealing with their concerns about a line of sepsis invoked immediately after the emergency operation?

Asa final result of which,only last week I've had to email the Practice Manager using firm,diplomatic language, reiterating events, of which they were already, or at least should have been and pointing out, using the words of the surgeon. Making the point that, if it was ok by them,I was a person, a human being not a commodity to be used by them to occupy their to in order to justify their existence in what we k#here in the UK call the NHS, the National Health Service and that if they couldn't offer me some constructive help, advice or assistance in restoring both my physical and mental health, I';d prefer it if hey'd case their, to me, pointless interventions.

Since then - silence...and now I can get on with my own recovery and offer my gratitude to all whoi.ve contributed to this very useful post, thank you

Pathwaytofree

That sounds like quite a challenging ordeal you went through. Wishing you best in health, Redmayne.

Hopeful528

Mindfulness Meditation
Guided positive meditations
Listening to classical music if its not a trigger
Being by water, waterfalls, in nature, releases positive ions and endorphins
Breathing exercises
Laughter through comedy on tv, youtube at the comedy club

Hopeful528

Art, make clay or other things you can use your senses, play doh finger paint, paint by numbers,
prayer beads or mantras , affirmations
hope you feel better soon

Hopeful528

visit animals or watch things like orangutan school on discovery channel