Barto

I ran across this today. It is a short article about a study regarding exercise and stress, anxiety, and depression.

http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts....EDH_070815_005

Introvrtd1

Whenever I felt jittery or shaky, exercise made me feel worse.

Of course this was more than likely due to alcohol related anxiety/panic.

I must have stirred up the toxins left in my body and reintroduced into my bloodstream, if that makes any sense.

Intro

historyteach

To feel the best we can, it's important to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
Physical exercise raises the "feel good" neurotransmitters in the brain.
Overdoing it *may* have been the problem, Introvrtd1. Then, you've strained the muscles and are more at risk for injury. Just a thought here.
But, I know when I care for the four parts of my self, I am doing much better. Everytime.

Shalom!

Barto

I think that’s what this article is about, gentle exercise in moderation – stuff like Tai Chi, Yoga, and meditation.

I like to think of the physical, emotional, and mental as subparts of spiritual.

scarlati

I do Tai Chi, meditation and run 30 miles/wk. These things definitely help with the anxiety, but only if I do them every day.

DaVinci2

Until June of this year I was a powerlifter for 4 years. It never affected my anxiety until I had my panic attacks return in February.

Exercising can be taxing on your central nervous system. Many people think that exercising means hitting the gym 5 days a week for hours a day. That's actually the wrong approach and can be very counter-productive. 3 good days in the gym, with a proper routine (Either splitting the days up so you work each group hard one day, and another group the other OR work each MAJOR muscle group hard each day but for shorter durations) and each gym visit should last no longer than about an hour. Any longer and you're either doing something wrong, or your being lazy. Or, in my case, having to deal with panic attacks and anxiety which made me leave the gym entirely after 4 years of straight good hard training.

Barto

I plan to continue doing some yoga, tai chi, and walking. I’ll probably know more about the affects when I get down to the 1mg mark. I’m cutting down from 2mg. That’s the plan anyway – for purposes of seeing whether or not I still need the meds.

DaVinci2

Good luck and keep us posted!!

yourgirl

I spent way to much of my life taking prozac for depression which gave my AH ammunition for mental abuse. Names like psycho rolled off his tongue more oftten than my name. I realized the root of my depression was living with him as an AH and me as co-dependent. Thank god through al-anon and places like this I know I am no longer depressed. I would say that daily exercise is my new Prozac and that is part of me taking care of me.

Lilya

Thanks for the topic, Bart, and thanks everyone for your good input.

I swim every other day, walk and practice yoga and oriental dance. I cannot begin to say how much this has helped my peace of mind. I also think it´s important to have some variety, if not, the same activity can become boring.

Good exercise can be as good as an anxiety drug, combined with meditation. It also helps you stay in shape and that helps the self-esteem as well.

I took some self-defense classes from an ex-police officer in Paris. It was excellent and it really helped to deal with my anxiety. Otherwise, I really agree with the article that competitive sports can be stressful. It would be for me.

Love and light,

Barto

I do some self defense, but we never look at it as competitive. We look at it as survival training. When I was a bit younger, and sparring and grappling, that was certainly competitive. It’s tough to articulate the difference, but it is there in the philosophy. Anyways, very cool that you are doing these things and that they are working. I love them all.

I believe I can cut way down on, or stop entirely, my anti-anxiety medicine if I can just stop caffeine (provided I do these other things). I can stop caffeine for a while, but I almost always go back to it – sometimes for no other reason than I'm bored. The stuff makes my ears ring, and costs me sleep time, etc. Is that crazy or what?

Anyone else with anxiety have this type of caffeine issue?

Lilya

Thanks, Barto.

About the caffeine, I´m in semi-denial about it. I´m raised in Paris where coffee is THE THING. You walk the streets there and you smell the aroma of coffee everywhere.

I know coffee can be a big trigger, but for me, only if I´m anxious. Then I should not have coffee, only tea. The problem is, I cheat and drink coffee when I know I shouldn´t. It makes the anxiety worse.

There have been periods in my life when I stayed away from coffee for health reasons, but it didn´t make any difference. I was anxious just the same.

If you feel caffeine is a trigger for you, try to give it up and see if you feel the difference. Try decaf or tea. If you feel bored, check out some herbal tea. There are many fun varieties in green tea.

Love and light,

Barto

I suspect it messes up my head worse than the anti-anxiety medicine, but it is the rage here in the US, too. Everyone is drinking it – even the church going, non-alcoholic, [and otherwise] non-drug abusers. Some of them just drink the heck out of it.

Lilya

Well, they get my vote then, because I´m a semi-pro coffee drinker.

Love and light,

Barto

LOL. Espresso?

Lilya

Espresso? You bet.

Love and light

Barto

It doesn’t always love me back though. I hear it has less caffeine than regular coffee, despite its richer flavor.