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We know that now more than ever, there is a growing disconnection between parents and their teens, corporates and their employees, and human interactions in general.
This can cause stress, frustration and many arguments within families and the work environment.
gwunspoken looks at the challenges people of all ages have in their relationships with one another and provides experience and advice, allowing all parties to have a voice.... and feel heard.
Join us to hear corporates, parents, educators, teens and the latest advice of how we can in fact live the life we love, in making authentic interactions, because we know... authentic connection is everything.
gwunspoken
Boosting Emotional Resilience: The Surprising Power of Movement
Can a simple walk around the block be the key to unlocking emotional resilience? Imagine finding a remedy for stress and mood dips that doesn’t involve medication, just movement. As we usher in the new year, I invite you to explore the overlooked power of regular physical activity as a tool for emotional strength. Reflecting on a compelling study, we uncover surprising results that show exercise alone might trump medication in enhancing mental health. Through personal stories and reflections, we discuss how enjoyable activities like dancing, gardening, or a friendly game of basketball can significantly uplift your mood.
While the holiday season is bustling, it's crucial to remember the rejuvenating effects of movement amidst the chaos. Prolonged sitting can drain your energy, but even short bursts of activity can work wonders for your mental well-being by lowering cortisol and boosting endorphins. It’s not about achieving perfection but starting with small, consistent steps towards a more active lifestyle. We share practical tips for integrating movement into daily life, encouraging you to set goals and use journaling to identify stress triggers. Consider this episode a guide to harness the transformative power of physical activity, turning it into a sustainable practice for better health and emotional resilience.
www.in8code.com
Welcome to another edition of GW Unspoken, where we discuss stuff we don't typically talk about but probably should, and welcome back. If you are with us and up to date with the weekly episodes, then it's a happy new year to you and I hope you've had a great Christmas time and New Year's. And I was talking to someone just the other day and they were saying thank goodness, it's all over, all that prep and the stress of getting Christmas ready and it's over and done with for another year. But I think at the time we can always pause and just celebrate the things we do have. And that's the secret to happiness, isn't it? It's actually acknowledging and enjoying the things we actually do have, no matter how big or small that might be compared to what we don't have. I think we need to keep that in the back of our minds. Having a bad day and just being grateful for what we do have often will get us out of the slum. Look, we're continuing our episodes of Innate Code, the eight things that we believe look at ultimate health or allow you to become ultimate in health and we're up to episode six in our movement episodes, and today I want to talk to you about movement as a tool for emotional resilience, and we know that that's probably the key we talked about this the other day in the family that often we'll buy things or we'll do things based on our emotion, not based on logic. So, for example, if I asked you how to become fit or what you actually really need in the household for food or assets, often we can answer that question when we sit logically and think about it to survive, because everyone wants to survive and thrive. But the problem is that we often go on emotion. So I think one time way back I came home with a coffee machine. I was actually out for a washing machine and the salesman did a really good job of getting me into saying how great the coffee would make my life and maybe he's right. But yeah, $700 later I came home with the wrong appliance, so I wasn't very popular back then. But again, I think it's another emotional thing. So we know that the secret to really good health is a true, authentic connection. Unfortunately, we're losing a lot of that, I believe, with our social media. Kids are being stuck on Netflix. I know in our family it's been a bit of a battle during the holidays to get kids out and about. You can actually see their mood change when they do come outside and shoot some hoops or kick the soccer ball around, muck around with the dogs, because the actual movement gives them endorphins. And look, today we want to talk about movement as a tool for emotional resilience, so we're exploring how it can help us emotionally stronger and also more resilient through your day-to-day, I guess, life.
Speaker 1:And did you know that people who engage in regular physical activity are now 25% less likely They've actually proven this 25% less likely to develop depression or anxiety and enough. I've talked about this before in an episode, but I know when I was doing some study. They're talking about how, when someone's going through anxiety and depression, they had three groups and one group had medication only, one had medication and exercise subscribed and the other one had exercise only. And they took these trial groups through six months same situation, same demographic, socioeconomic status and they tried to keep the control groups as similar as they could. And what they did they came back and I think don't quote me, but it was roughly around the people on medication was about 55% happier, like they became out of depression or anxiety, state better, the people who had depression, anxiety and medication and exercise something like 60% improvement. So it was better obviously with exercise and the drugs and the medication. The people who just exercised was something like 68%, 70%. So exercise only across the board. Of those people the sample size, I think, was big enough it was over 1,000. They actually showed that exercise was the thing.
Speaker 1:Now the problem is with us, and you're probably aware of this yourself. You think about yourself when you've been feeling a bit lazy or tired or no energy or you're feeling really down mentally. We don't feel like exercising, we don't feel like moving. Logically, we know it's probably going to make us feel better. We're going to feel better ourselves, we're going to feel like a winner. We got outside and did something, but unfortunately we actually don't do it because we don't feel like moving. And because we don't feel like moving, what happens? We don't move, we still have our anxious or depressive state or feeling down. We then feel like we may be a bit of a loser because we didn't have the guts to get up or the mental tenacity to get up and move. And again, it's spiral effect. So if you think about it just for a second, what is something as simple as a walk or a few stretches could help you better handle life's challenges and look. By the end of this episode, I hope you feel inspired to take the small but powerful steps towards using movement as a tool for emotional balance, and maybe a few little tips and tricks to emotionally get yourself moving, rather than just relying on our logical brain, which often lets us down. All right, I want to pitch you this, pitch you this.
Speaker 1:If you've had a tough day and work is overwhelming and family responsibilities are piling up, or you're a student, you're getting stressed out and you're feeling on the edge, you sit down, you scroll on your phone, or maybe you binge watch a TV show or a series. Does the stress really go away? Maybe at that time. But when the episode or scrolling stops, what happens? Probably no improvement. In fact, probably the feelings just linger. So why it's? Because your body hasn't had a chance to process that stress. Now this is really important. When was the last time you felt overwhelmed by stress? How did you handle it? I know how we handle it here at home. Often we blow off. We blow off, just blow off the handle, blow up the Lux, get cranky and then think why the heck did I just snap? For no reason Did yours actually involve movement or were you stuck in the same place? Keep that experience in mind as we explore how movement can be the emotional reset button you might be missing.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about why this happens, because I guess this is the stuff that I love because, neurologically, when we are stressed, our bodies produce this hormone called cortisol and everyone goes, oh, that's a negative thing. Cortisol is so negative. Well, it actually has a purpose. In the old days, when we were in our fight and flight or freeze, if we were going to be attacked by a bear or whatever we were, cortisol would kick in fast and give us the energy quickly needed in our muscles to move away from that danger or freeze. Maybe a snake's gone past we're supposed to freeze, apparently, and it'd slide right past, hopefully or fight, go and attack that and try and get rid of the problem. So it's useful in short bursts like we do need to react quickly to danger. But when cortisol builds up over time it becomes completely toxic. And look, we see this a lot in our students these days and we see it a lot with adults because of the stress of work, the stress of finances, the stress of, maybe, students or children on their social media and the lack of connections, it becomes toxic over time. So it leaves us feeling anxious, irritable and often exhausted. And what happens when we're exhausted? Often we don't address the problem. We just want to just let it go and say, hopefully it'll pass.
Speaker 1:Okay, now I want you to think about this. Have you noticed how your body feels when you're sitting for hours on end? Maybe your shoulders are tense, your jaw is clenched and I don't know for sure. Energy just feels zapped. You feel absolutely flat. That's your body begging for movement. It does not sound logical, but it does. It wants to move. What do you do when you notice those signs of stress? Do you push through or do you take time to move and release the tension? I want you to be honest with yourself here. It's a question worth asking you. This is for you. What do you do? I know personally I struggle if I'm sitting down too long, and I can easily get in that habit, especially on school holidays, just to relax and watch a whole day of cricket and then feel like crap by the end of the day by just sitting down.
Speaker 1:Here's where movement comes in Just 20 minutes of activity, 20 minutes of walk, yoga or even some light stretching. It can reduce cortisol levels and release endorphins, and we all know endorphins are your body's natural mood lifters. They make you feel good and sustainable for longer. It helps you feel calm, clear and probably helps you be more capable of handling anything or whatever comes your way. So again, let me ask you another question. Ask lots of questions today, because I want you to actually really resonate with you.
Speaker 1:What's one movement activity you actually enjoy? Not what you think you should do, but something that genuinely feels good, and we've talked about this before. People say, oh, I need to go for a run, or I need to go for a long swim, or I need to get on the rower or the bike. And if you enjoy those things, go for it. That's fine, that's awesome. But if you don't enjoy it, don't do that. It's probably not sustainable. The feeling of run is high. When you go for a run and you stop and when you finish and you've got four or five minutes later, you get these natural endorphins for your body and you feel awesome. That's great. If you can push through the run at the start, run at the start. Again, remember, our body's not logical. So what's something is that it's fun For my wife for our anniversary.
Speaker 1:It was our third year. Leather is the third year anniversary. I know mine boggles but I bought this crazy little indigenous backboard of a basketball hoop. It's a little tiny plastic one that keeps inside I said synthetic leather with a ball. It's just to help her, when she's doing her work from home, to get up and actually move and shoot some hoops. And plus the kids and I and we all run past and do games with that and now it's a bit of a fun time where the kids and I shoot hoops. Whoever gets it in first. The other ones have to do pushups and it's just, it's fun, it competitive and it's actually getting us to move and our mood and our little jokes and our family connections from something so small is improving bit by bit just by doing that.
Speaker 1:All right, so what's something you can actually enjoy? Again, not what you should do, but something that genuinely feels good. Could you join a dance class? We're thinking of doing it this year. Join some dance class. Something completely random gardening if you love gardening, get outside, even perfect environment. It's so good for your mental health. A short jog, all right.
Speaker 1:I knew I read a book. I was trying to think what it was now. Yeah, wasn't the 5am club? I don't think something else. There's one recently. I have to get back to you with that one, but remember it was an entrepreneur who was dressed up as just an everyday person. You couldn't tell just by superficially looking at this person that they were an entrepreneur. But he would just do push-ups I think it was 10 push-ups or 20 push-ups on the hour middle of conversation, middle of meeting. Bang Didn't stop him. Everyone thought this guy's crazy. But then they'd go well, hang on. He's successful in relationships, successful with money, successful in business, helping other people. I can't really judge him. Maybe push-ups would help me. All right, it's amazing how we think All right.
Speaker 1:So if nothing comes to mind for you, start small. You know what's one challenge journal today? Your entry, and I'd like you to keep doing these journals. It's really important to write things down. You know, every New Year's we write down 100 goals. I've done it really specifically for the last four years, I think last year I got to a goal. I think 79 out of 100. And some of them are pretty big goals on there. Some I missed out, but hey, I wrote them down and could see them and every week I'd work through, walk past and reiterate making sure they're fresh in my mind. And some of them like to exercise more, some of them to eat healthier, some of them to drink more water, some of them to actually surf more touch base with friends or old friends, just small ones. And it's amazing when you look at that stuff it actually tinkers your brain, maybe even subconsciously, to make action to do those things.
Speaker 1:So for your journal today, number one reflect on three situations this week that left you feel emotionally drained. What did you do or what didn't you do? How did you respond? And then write down how might movement have helped that situation? All right. Number two write down one activity that feels calming or empowering to you Now. Plan a time this week to try it and notice how it makes you feel. Remember, we're all about humans. We are feeling creatures, not necessarily logical creatures. So how did it make you feel? Now it does make you feel good and it does give you those endorphins a chance that you're going to keep doing that and that can have a compound effect over time to better health. All right.
Speaker 1:And number three think about a time when movement helped you process stress, like when you were completely stressed. What did you do? And then, suddenly the stress was gone? Did you go for a walk around the park and have your headphones on listening to relaxing music? All right, what did it do for your mood or mindset? So just remember, it's not about doing it perfectly, it's about starting All right. Consistency is the key. So what small steps can you take today to improve your overall health and to make sure that your emotional resilience can be improved by movement? Thank you for joining us in GW Unspoken and we look forward to the next episode, where we talk more about how movement can affect our social and emotional wellbeing.