So this week is not a crazy training week for me. I'm backing off a bit to sort out my priorities and re organize my life after a crazy week of unexpected and unfortunate events. Something some of you who know me personally may know, I suffer from clinical depression and anxiety. This has been an ongoing fight for the last 10 years of my life, however its only since I found fitness that I've found ways to manage it. Its been a dark week, but I find giving myself something to focus on helps me from being consumed by the darkness that's been lurking in my mind all week. So by focusing on activities I enjoy and doing things like starting this blog and re-evaluating my business has kept me in decent spirits. Ive had a couple of sad times but the difference between being sad and depressed is that sadness goes away and depression consumes you. Thankfully through the coping tactics I've learnt over the last few years I've kept my head above the depression fog. Anyway this wasn't meant to turn into a mental health blog, but as I was writing this I started thinking about all the people I know who also suffer with depression and how I wish I could explain what a difference fitness has made to my mental state and way of mind. It hasn't cured my depression it will never go away but what it has done is given me purpose. Something to work on when I feel like I'm slipping into that horrible depressive state.
So with that said I suppose I should share what my favorite exercises are when I feel depression sinking in. First one is walking, whenever I'm feeling down, I ALWAYS make sure to take my dog for a walk. He was bought as a companion animal when my parents got divorced so having him around in general makes me feel better. Necro loves walking, even with 3 legs, so taking the time to take him out and seeing him so happy makes me feel instantly better. I find walking almost therapeutic, you get a lot of time to think over issues then with every step you leave those issues behind. I know a lot of runners have expressed they run for this reason as well sometimes. The little track I walk with Necro isn't very long however, includes some massive inclines. So it's short enough for his 3 legs to not wear out, but also challenging enough that my calves are always burning at the end and my bums sore the next day. The walk is about a 3 kilometer loop, it takes about 30-40 minutes, depending on if we stop to talk to all the baby animals we walk pass. This is my go to exercise for a quick pick me up. Usually I follow this up with either a small body weight workout or pole practice to tire me out a bit more. Heres a full summary of what I did to feel better.
Walk with dog - 40 Minutes
Pole Practice - 1 Hour
Teach Sexy Legs - 1 Hour
Teach Bendy Back - 1 Hour
It goes without saying teaching always puts me in a better mood, I absolutely love the feeling of contributing to others fitness journeys. And the girls at Pole Princess all work so hard, rarely do I take a class where I don't see their legs literally shaking. They kill it every week and seeing them push themselves through my workouts inspires me more than they know!