There’s no question that so much is continuing to happen around us. I don’t know about you, but I find myself vacillating between hope, joy, and energy one day, and anxiety, loneliness, and despair on another. And it’s extra fun on the days that activate all those emotions hour by hour, isn’t it?
The most consistent word I can come up with to describe how I feel is: scattered. I feel mentally, emotionally, and physically scattered. Sometimes I’m drained, sometimes I’m energized. Sometimes I don’t know how I am feeling or who I am. In times like this, my emotional savior has always been movement; my physical savior has always been a number of recovery modalities. But figuring out which to lean on when everything feels all over the place is a bit trickier.
Throughout my time in fitness, I’ve discovered how important it is to really listen to your body and not to push yourself into exercise or activity that would only be more of a stressor. It’s also super important to check in with your mental health to figure out what will soothe your soul. Right now, amid a global pandemic, an all-enveloping news feed, and an incredibly polarizing political and social divisiveness, listening to your entire being is even more imperative. So how do you disentangle all of this and figure out what you really need?
What I’ve discovered is, you have to redefine what it means to listen to yourself. Stop. Look. Listen. Feel. And keep listening and keep feeling until you’ve really taken a full, honest inventory of your needs. An essential part of this involves letting go of that little voice in our head telling us what we should be doing based on things like set plans, expectations, or societal pressures. We need to learn to ignore that voice and instead allow our actual physical, mental, and emotional needs to dictate our actions.
After years of leaning on movement to help me work through grief, identity crises, breakups, degrees, repressed trauma, and all the other ups and downs life throws at us, I’ve found that there are a handful of recurring scenarios that tend to appear during these times, where I want to move my body but am feeling too scattered to know what’s best in the moment. Here’s what I’ve found to work best for me in each of these moods.
1. Working out when I’m mentally beat, but want to move
In this scenario, I’m mentally exhausted or emotionally spent, but my body is craving movement. Think back-to-back Zoom meetings, hours of being glued to election news, or an emotionally draining phone call. My body needs to move, but my mind is distracted—I might feel frustrated, upset, sad, or annoyed. When this occurs, here’s some workout tips I keep in mind for working out when stressed:
Keep it simple: Maybe skip intricate choreography, agility drills, or tricky trails. Anything that requires extra footwork, extra vigilance, or extra caution can be saved for another day. It’s easy to potentially put yourself at risk for injury when you’re feeling distracted, and it’s just not worth it.
Find your happy place: I go to one of my many happy places that I know will bring me peace. Opt for the outdoors if possible, anything with great scenery and fresh air. Let Mother Nature coddle you while you sweat.
Take the metrics out of it: These are the times I don’t worry about a PR in any capacity. An untimed run, hike, walk without worrying about your pace is great. This saves me from any extra stress or pressure that I just don’t need when I’m already struggling.
Turn up the music: Find a virtual class or playlist that has your favorite style of music or the best music for your mood. Or maybe make your own playlist. That very act puts me in a better mood, since music can transport us back to great memories and forward toward new opportunities. Then sink into the music.
2. Working out when my mind wants to move, but my body is drained
In this scenario, I’m feeling vibrant and energetic mentally and emotionally—my mind is fairly focused—but my body is feeling less than optimal: sore, tired, overworked, or bothered by some nagging injury. It’s been a “good” day or week (in quotes because the bar now is so much lower, is it not?), but I know I can’t handle anything too intense, so here’s what I do:
Take it down a notch: Instead of running, walk. Instead of a power yoga class, try a yin class. Take a recovery ride. Again, this is not the time to try to PR in speed, strength, reps, or anything other than PR for listening to your needs.
Get social (but stay distant): If your emotional energy is high, spread that good juju. Socially distance walk or hike with a friend (yes, you need to wear masks) to spread your good energy. If socially distanced won’t work, pick up the phone and call them while you walk.
Activate your brain: Since your mind is in a good place, take advantage and give it something to focus on. Play an audiobook or podcast while doing a light jog, ride, or walk. This might also be a time to dive deep mentally into the type of training you’re doing from a theoretical side. Get into the “why,” and the nitty gritty of doing certain movements. I particularly like to look at injury prevention videos from seasoned physical therapists to find things to add to my routine based on imbalances I know I have.
3. Working out when I’m physically and mentally exhausted
In this scenario, I’m completely drained, both physically and mentally exhausted. This is extremely recognizable and reasonable, and in this case, here’s what I do:
Take a rest day: Really. Or at least a super-light day—think foam rolling or mobility work if you had power yoga or running in mind. If you are a habitual mover and shaker, your body will likely thank you for this.
Take a walk: As I’ve said previously, I’m a huge fan of walking, and I think it can do wonders for your mental, emotional, and physical health.
Do the self-care things: Take a bath. Foam roll. Stretch. Or take a yin yoga or meditation class.
4. Working out when I actually have no idea how I feel physically or emotionally
In this scenario, I’m not sure how I feel physically or mentally. It’s pretty self-explanatory and incredibly familiar, because, 2020. In this case, here’s how I approach my workout:
Be meticulous with your self-inventory: Take an extra moment (or many) to truly take inventory on how you feel. Maybe do a meditation first. Then reassess. If you get a clearer, truly honest picture of where you’re at, maybe you select from the examples in the scenarios above.
Trust your intuition: If I’m still unsure and I had a workout already planned, I make a judgment based on how that activity sounds to me now versus when I made the plan in the first place.
Give it a go: Start an activity without any expectation or pressure. Try five minutes and see how you feel. If it’s made me feel better, I keep going. Maybe I just needed to get over the mental hurdle and now I’ve found my stride. But, if I’m not feeling it, my body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, or I’m still distracted, I might try some other type of activity or something else altogether.
Opt for something energy-producing rather than depleting: Again, this might not be the time to go for incredibly intense workouts. This is where I choose something that I know usually makes me feel energized rather than wiped out—like yoga or a walk versus HIIT or strength and conditioning classes.
Now, these are obviously not the only scenarios that might creep up. As we’ve all learned, anything can happen at any time, and there’s no telling how that might affect us mentally, emotionally, or physically. Sometimes even picking one of the potential options is too much for me to handle, so I like to have an idea of one particular activity per scenario that I know I can fall back on. I have a specific beach I like to go to which will generally cure any of those scenarios, a walk I know I can take at the drop of a hat, some self-care options ready to go, and a meditation that I know will always help.
Movement is my savior and it tends to be what alleviates my stress, but movement can also put stress on the body. This is why it is so incredibly important to pay attention to what is best for you in that given moment or situation. If you, like me, generally look to working out when stressed or when things get hectic, hopefully these strategies will be useful. And if you are someone who feels like movement or even the idea of a workout just brings you extra stress, honor that. Take it easy. Forget the movement and move on to something that serves you better.
The key is to listen to yourself, be prepared, and most importantly, go easy on yourself. Seriously, skip some workouts! Your body and mind will thank you for the recovery. It’s a pandemic, the country is in political, financial, and social disarray, and while there’s hope on the horizon, everything is just a lot. It’s okay to put the competition away for a bit and bring out the compassion instead.
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