Exercise
The Healing Power of Exercise: Four Workouts to let go of Sadness, Anger, Hopelessness and Overwhelm
By
May 31, 2008 - 1:47:40 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - You may be feeling despondent, angry or hopeless. You may want to look inside to discover why you are suffering from these intense states of being.

Walking: Going for a walk at moderate speed and asking yourself why you feel despondent will be a way to address this kind of emotional pain.

You ask yourself, "Why do I feel so despondent?" It doesn't take very long to understand that you feel very sad because your mother, who you were very close to, died two weeks ago.

You begin to have vivid memories of her final days as you reach the mid point of your walk. Suddenly you feel a gut wrenching pain beginning in your stomach that gets caught in your throat. You begin to cry for the first time since her death. It feels exhausting and relieving at the same time.

Crying seems to unlock the sullen grief that you have been carrying around. For the first time in ages you feel like things are going to be alright.

You feel that for the first time you are dealing directly with your mother's loss. Walking has helped you break through the shock of her death. You realize that your grief process will last for a while, but you are now a willing participant in this process and this gives you comfort.

Running: You realize that you have been in a rage for several days and you cannot seem to pin point why you feel so angry.

Today you decide to run, starting slowly and gradually picking up the pace until you are sprinting for the finish line. You ask yourself, "Why am I feeling so angry?" About midway into the run a mental picture of a friend betraying you comes into view. You wonder why he deceived you so.

You become aware of the anger as it is felt in your stomach, neck and shoulders. You notice that as your anger intensifies, your pace increases. You notice the rhythm of you legs and hear your feet hitting the pavement. You are so enraged that you begin to cry out of frustration.

As you begin the final portion of your workout, the rage is still present, but you are amazed at how strong, confident and athletic you feel. At this moment you feel assured that eventually you will find a way to resolve this betrayal.

Tennis (hitting the ball against the wall): You have been feeling hopeless for a while and you cannot seem to shake it. You decide to go out and practice your forehand by hitting balls against the wall.

You start out stroking the ball softly while you ponder this sense of hopelessness. You remember being hugged passionately by your boyfriend. One day, out of the blue, he tells you that he doesn't love you anymore.

You make believe that the ball is your ex-boyfriends head. Your hopelessness transforms to anger. You wonder how he could have been so insensitive. You were blind sided and angry at yourself for not noticing any signs of his discontent.

You then switch to your backhand and you notice the hopelessness change to anger then to sadness and then to feeling OK about yourself. This cycle is repeated throughout the rest of your workout and you feel a little better because the hurt feelings are being released.

Exercise can both heal and help you get relief from emotional pain.
As an alternative, you may be looking for immediate relief as opposed to facing the pain. There is a healthy way to accomplish this.

Cycling: You are overwhelmed by your job. You have been spending many hours trying to figure out how to survive a very hostile work environment.

You have had sleepless nights while attempting to resolve this situation in your head and you are afraid that your friends are tiring of listening to your woes.

You get on your bike and soon you feel the wind blowing into your face and the blue waves of the ocean as you pedal past the beach. You focus on the cars around you and you feel empowered as you bike up steep hills.

During the hour of your bike ride, thoughts of your dismal job don't enter your mind. When your workout is over, you feel refreshed and thankful for the respite.

Exercise has the power to heal emotional pain as well as provide relief from your anguish.

Psychotherapist Bob Livingstone has helped millions heal their emotional pain during the past twenty years. He has been instrumental in assisting victims of emotional and/or physical violence recover from trauma and no longer be victims. He is a featured contributor to DrLaura.com, Beliefnet.com, Ediets.com, Selfgrowth.com and SheKnows.com. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book The Body-Mind-Soul Solution:  Healing Emotional Pain through Exercise (Pegasus Books, Sept. 2007). For more emotional healing visit www.boblivingstone.com.

www.HealthNewsDigest.com







© Copyright by HealthNewsDigest.com