The Importance of Movement - Saara

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Angus podcast. How I survived the series. In these mental health episodes, I'm creating a space for real conversations about the things we often keep to ourselves, our struggles, our healing, and the stories that shape who we are. Hello, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today on another mental health discussion. Um, before we begin, can you give yourself a little introduction?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Hi, I'm Dr. Sarah Happenin here. I'm the owner and founder of Performances Happenin. I'm a performance psychologist, a speaker, the creator of Move at Work Challenge, and my background is in kinesiology and health promotion. And I also have a master's and a PhD in sports and exercise psychology. And I help individuals and organizations improve mental health motivation and performance using science-backed strategies. My work focuses on reducing burnout and helping people thrive with ADHD and neurodivergence both at work and at life. I do individual coaching and organizational efforts and basically brain and body training to help humans have optimal performance and success in their life.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Okay, awesome. Thanks for the lovely introduction. Um now the goal of this podcast is to talk about you know personal stories about mental health. Um, would you say that you struggle with mental health? If so, uh, what has your journey been like?

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So my struggles with mental health are very similar to other high-achieving women um who feel like they have depression and anxiety and all sorts of other things. Um for me, one of my very first times at a therapist, um, I was going for depression and kind of mentioned that I think I might have ADD before it was called ADHD. This was probably in like 2013. And uh was told I was too successful as a um you can't get a master's degree if you have ADHD, which is not true because a lot of my clients are doctors, uh, lawyers, professionals, entrepreneurs, CEOs, like ADHD is a phenomenal superpower once you know how to work with your brain and not against it. Um, but yeah, I was told, no way, you can't have that. And uh here's an antidepression, here's an antidepressive like medication. And I took that and didn't really work for me. Um, and then fast forward, I was fairly depressed at that point. And my husband said, Why don't you just go do personal training like you did in college? Like that seemed to make you happy. Uh, that didn't make me very happy because I have to influence humans and help people to actually feel better. So I got back kind of into personal training, and that helped with my depression a lot, and then started my own company and organization. And then what happens is fast forward, you can't be a PhD student for 10 years. So I had a year left, and my supervisor's like, okay, you need to finish. So I opened up my research, and at that point, I've been I'm an internationally published peer-reviewed researcher in motivation and optimal procurement performance. I've published journal articles at that point, but I opened my dissertation and had to read the same paragraph over and over again, and it felt like it just wasn't going into my brain, and I got really scared and I said, holy poop, uh, it feels like my brain is broken. So then I got a brain scan, and at that point was diagnosed via brain scan with uh depression, which I knew I had, and I'm sure you know this, but once you have depression, you have a 99% chance of having another depressive episode. So I was aware of that. Um, I also had depressed with anxiety, which I was like, oops, I don't have that. Um, and then I got COVID a couple years later, and yeah, I totally had anxiety, but I was self-my coping. Um, I have a fitness company and I'd been an athlete. Like I found out 12 days before the Olympics I was going like I was self-medicating myself with uh movement, which is scientifically proven to be as beneficial for depression and anxiety as meds. But so I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression and at that same time ADHD. Um, I also got diagnosed with traumatic brain injury in all lobes of my brain, um, because I've had multiple concussions, more than 10, uh, because my sport, I was a diver, and I was also an ADHD child who is sensation sensation seeking all the time. So, of course, very active in getting myself into um a lot of accidents, I would say, and caused head trauma. But yeah, my coping for my anxiety and my ADHD and my depression has been through movement and then also personal development and understanding about how your brain works. It's probably why I pursued a master's and PhD in performance psychology, but sports psychology specifically, but psychology, and now I really enjoy helping humans so they don't have to go through the same struggles, integrate systems, and basically learn how to work with your brain and not against it. Um, because if you are ADHD, then you've probably been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and usually once you manage your ADHD, those things are also managed. Um, I have lots of specific stories about my mental health, but I also just talk about it all the time to reduce stigma. So let me know what follow-up questions you have.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Wow, I love how you utilize your own mental health journey to help other people. I think that's awesome. And yeah, I think talking about it is the best way to get rid of stigma, which is the goal of this podcast as well. Now, what would you say is your favorite coping mechanism or strategy to deal with uh mental health?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Hands down, my very favorite strategy for mental health is movement, and a lot of people have a negative connotation with that word because of physical education, all that stuff. So, first, my um a few things. We tend as humans, right, we tend to have this all or nothing mindset of it has to be an hour in the gym or whatever. That is not true. Um, I actually created a program called Move at Work Challenge, which is five to seven minutes of movement and mental health training. You can do at your place of work. Uh, and I was featured at the National Institute of Health last year for a business showcase. But movement, as I said in my previous response, is as beneficial for mental health as medication for anxiety and depression. And because we tend to have this negative connotation with exercise, what I want the people listening is to replace the word exercise in your brain with movement. Okay, how can you find movement in your day and movement that you actually enjoy doing? So walking outside is great. Uh, the sun is great for vitamin D. Um, being in nature, even if you live in the city, like to look and to see trees and to move your body while looking at nature. I know it sounds woo-woo, and I now it sounds like that it can't be that easy, but legit it can be. And one minute of movement is a thousand percent better than zero minutes of movement. So we got to really ditch that all or nothing thinking of like something is better than nothing. And where can you start being one percent better than you were the moment before this moment, than you were yesterday, than you were last week, because everyone in their brain thinks that you have to have all these crazy huge changes, and that's not how sustainable life change works, right? Like, I've been coaching humans and high-level achievers for 26 years in three different countries, um, from Olympic level athletes to like CEOs, and change happens 1%, and it also happens your mindset is driving so much of that. So if you think that movement or exercise is going to be hard and you can't do it, then guess what? 100%. It is going to be hard and you can't do it. But what if you change your mindset to be maybe I enjoy movement, maybe movement is fun. Can I challenge myself to move every day? So movement is the number one recommendation, and then number two is from the self-determination theory, which is Desi and Ryan's, it's one of the main motivational theories and has been around since the 70s. Um, Desi and Ryan created it, but there's three basic psychological needs uh competence, autonomy, and relatedness. So I'd really dig into that relatedness is for mental health or movement or any of the things that you find challenging, which mental health and movement are both challenging, relatedness means are you surrounded by other people who are thinking like you, doing like you, or being like the person you want to become like, right? Because they say the five people you surround yourself with the most. And nowadays I will also say what you expose yourself to. So what are you scrolling? What are you looking at? The five things that you expose yourself to the most, whether that's media or actual humans, are gonna influence your thoughts, actions, and therefore your behaviors. So for mental health, how can you surround yourself by other humans and also get more movement in? Those would be my top two tips for mental health improvement, sustainable life change, behavioral change. Um, but yeah, it all starts with mindset and being 1% better, so that a year from now you won't even recognize yourself, and it didn't seem so hard when you were in it.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Well, really well said. Um, I think also if people find something that they enjoy in terms of movement, then that's also uh beneficial, right? I think people need to like what they do in terms of physical activity. Like going to the gym for some people is a chore. But like you said, it doesn't need to be an hour in the gym every day. Now, can you elaborate on what physical activity can do to the mind? What are its benefits?

SPEAKER_00 11:20

100%. I love that you said that because right movement dancing count. Like, go ahead and put your favorite song on. They say the happiest music that you'll experience in your life is like whatever you were listening to in high school. So, like, blare that music for me. Uh, I really like jock jams because that was 90s and 2000s. Um, but yeah, move your body. The benefits of movement, especially for someone who isn't a mental health funk, let's say you're feeling really S H I T T Y, um, is movement is one of the quickest ways for immediate brain state shift, right? So movement is like one of the most underused levers in all the things that you in the of the tools in your toolbox. So right away when you start moving, your body is meant to move, right? We're not meant to sit still, and the average human is like seated for ridiculous, I forget what the stat is, like 12 hours a day, and it's the fifth biggest preventable cause of death. But once you start moving, you're gonna get dopamine. Um, for ADHD or neurodivergent humans who are lacking, um, basically, the definition of ADHD is like how dopamine works in your brain. So that's the neurotransmitter that is responsible for motivation for you to do things uh for task initiation. So, movement is gonna increase your dopamine. Movement is also gonna increase your norepinephrine, which is good for attention management and alertness and awaken. It's also gonna increase your serotonin. So, this is like your happiness neurotransmitter. Uh, this is gonna help you stabilize your mood. Also, when you move, you reduce your cortisol. And cortisol is that stress hormone. So if you feel like you're doing a whole bunch of things, even if you're exercising and eating right, and you have like that, I call it the stress belly, this cortisol belly. If you feel like you're doing everything right and you're still like holding on to weight, I'm going down a rabbit hole, but I'll be back, I promise. Um, in your belly, that's usually because your stress hormone is high. When your stress hormone is high in your body, um, everything else gets put on the back burner, right? Because you're not going to be able to process carbs, fats, proteins, all your macronutrients the way that you're supposed to, because your body thinks that you have a tiger chasing you, even though it's just a work event or a phone call or that ping from your phone, right? All those little things increase our stress. So exercise helps reduce cortisol. That's the hormone that you want low. And then the neurotransmitters that you want high are serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, right? And as we mentioned, like it doesn't have to be an hour in the gym and it has to be something that you enjoy. And I would suggest having piquing your curiosity, like looking for movement that you maybe might enjoy, whether that's TRX or Pilates or whatever it is, or going for a walk with a friend, like it doesn't have to be these huge things. And especially for um ADHDers, which is the humans that I usually work with, when you start moving moving, you're gonna get a big hit of dopamine, which is really nice. So for brains like ours, this is gonna help you improve your working memory. Um, this is gonna also help with like cognitive flexibility, which that's your ability to like adapt and switch tasks and go from one thought to the other. Um, and it's also going to help ADHDers have less impulsivity. Impulsivity. Oh my goodness, that word sounds really weird coming out of my brain. It's gonna make you be less impulsive. Um, you'll be able to increase your control, right? So maybe you're not gonna shout out the answers as soon as they come, you'll be able to kind of pause before you take action on things. Uh, the blunt truth is that if someone with ADHD isn't moving regularly, they're operating at a disadvantage that they don't need to accept. And it can be as simple as like going for a walk for 20 minutes. Um, but regardless of neurodivergent type, uh, movement is gonna help with anxiety and stress regulation, as I said, scientifically proven to be as beneficial as medication. And this is because movement is gonna help you basically get out of that cortisol response. So fight, flight, freeze, and now they have a new one uh fawn, right? So it's gonna downregulate your sympathetic dominance, so you're no longer in that like cortisol spike, stress, ah, life is gonna get me phase. Um that will help you get into more of what they call like the parasympathetic, the rest and digest state. So it will also be easier for you to have recovery, to sleep better, um, to be more calm. And one of the things that's great about movement for neurodiverse humans is it helps to improve your interception. So I know for a lot of ADHD and autistic humans, this is like your awareness of your internal state. So it's not necessarily gonna like 100% improve it, but it will be of benefit. So maybe you it's challenging for you to like be able to tell when you're hungry or when you have to go to the bathroom, or these like internal cues that your body is giving you that you're maybe not paying attention to, maybe because of your neurodivergent. But movement is gonna help you kind of um fight your own overstimulation and help you be more regulated um from a mental health standpoint, like from depression, movement is gonna help you increase your BDNF, your brain-derived neurotropic factor. So this helps you support brain plasticity. So this is the ability to make new connections, to have new thoughts, to create your new life, um, to have your new mindset, right? Because we know that from neuroscience that the brain is neuroplastic. That just means you can learn new things. There's no age limit on that. Um, oh my gosh, so many things. For ADHD years, also, it's gonna help you reduce rumination, which is you know, when you have that thought and it just keeps circling and you keep thinking about that, you spy well on that thought over and over and over again, and you can't get it out of your body or out of your brain. By moving your body, you'll be able to come on, brain. Uh, ruminate less. There we go. Uh oh my gosh, I have so much more. Like increase your confidence, have better energy. Um, movement is also going to allow you to change your mindset, right? Because a lot of humans that I work with want to improve their life, right? Because I teach optimal human performance. Part of that requires an identity shift. You need to move your body and start telling your brain different things, right? And then our brains look for evidence and continue thinking a certain way, or not. But movement is a really great way to regulate your energy. And once you've used up some of your energy on movement, it allows your brain to be happier and healthier, and you can have more creativity and problem solving and divergent thinking and pattern recognition recognition. So it's going to movement is going to help your brain enhance the default mode network activity, right? This is why a lot of people get their best ideas on a walk or when they're moving their body, or for me, a lot of my really good creative ideas are coming when I'm like in the garden, moving my body, like gardening counts as exercise. And I think once we redefine what we think exercise as, so think of exercise as movement, and where do you get joy or interest or fun from moving your body? I think legit that is the secret to living a happier, healthier life.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Wow, so it can do a lot for us. Um, would you say that it's as beneficial as taking medication or even better?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, for sure. And the nice thing about exercise is I mean, unless you hurt yourself, there's not really any side effects that are negative. Um, there is no medicine that exists in the world without any side effects. So a hundred percent, um, I would always recommend exercise or movement before medication. Um, and of course, medication has a time and place, and it is a tool. Um, I myself have tried six different meds for ADHD, and none of them have a magic wand. And for my brain and my neurodivergence, um lifestyle modification makes much more of an influence than medication does. But medication is just a tool. Everyone thinks you're gonna take it and it's gonna solve all your problems, and depending on what the problems are. For some people, yes, it does help. But yeah, no, movement and exercise is scientifically proven to be as beneficial as medication for both anxiety and depression.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Yeah, people say that uh medication works, but only when uh paired with uh something else, so like uh therapy or uh movement. So I definitely agree with you. Now, if you can give advice to someone who might be, you know, not motivated to move or to get help, um, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 22:01

That's the real challenge, right? I would say the biggest thing I would recommend is you you gotta prioritize yourself. Everyone wants to be saved, no one is going to do it for you. And if you think the way that you are currently thinking, you're not gonna change, right? So you have to decide to choose yourself first and put yourself first. And when you are depressed or when you're experiencing anxiety or when you're in a mental health slump, it is challenging to do anything, right? And you have to start making decisions from your future self, the person you want to be, versus the person that you are in that moment when you can't shower, when you're stuck in bed, when you're extremely depressed, right? It has to take a little bit of gumption, of oop to take action to make a change, even when it's hard. And that means doing challenging things, right? And stepping up for yourself and taking action. And the first step is changing your mindset, which is easy to say and hard to do. So my advice is an identity shift, and you can take a pen to a piece of paper because this is how you have new neurological connections happen in your brain, and write in the current present tense, I am blank. Whatever that is, what is the thing that you want to accomplish? I am energized, I am happy, I am mentally feeling good. So that is step number one. Step number two is you say that out loud. So your brain hears it, your ears hear it, the vibration you're trying to bring in bodily reactions, the vibration in your voice, you can hear it. Then you read it, you say it out loud, and your brain will start looking for evidence to make that true. That is the first tiniest step, but also start thinking of making decisions from your future self, the person you want to be, not the person who's in that deep dark depression or who's having incredible anxiety or who can't take action to get out of bed and be awake and alive and all those things. It starts with prioritizing yourself, deciding to choose yourself first, and giving yourself permission, and then doing a mindset shift of knowing that if you don't do this for yourself, no one is going to come save you, right? We are so used to everyone nowadays wants an easy fix. It's up to you and the way that you think, your thoughts drive your beliefs and your actions, and then your results. But it does start with you, and the decision is that you matter and that you want to be different, and you are going to do things differently, and you can get out of this because when you're in that deep dark coal, that's all you see, right? And you have to have that belief that things get better on the other side, but that that does not happen by accident, right? You are in charge of your life, you're in charge of taking action. Magical things don't happen in real life, right? You have to prioritize yourself, and for so many humans, that is such a huge, huge challenge. But decide that you are worthy and decide to prioritize yourself.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Well, that's all really great advice. Um, I agree that worth is a decision that needs to be made, and taking those baby steps um to better yourself is essential. Um, listen, I'll end it here. Thank you so much for joining me again. Keep doing the great work that you do and take care.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Thanks, Daniela, for having me. That was fun. Uh, if your listeners want to find me, I can be found all over the internet at drsara s a r a dot com. Have a beautiful day.