EXERCISE - BOREDOM
MOVE MOVE MOVE!
Back to body!
What you learn yourself in your avoidance and distractive ruminations is basically to cut off your true feelings. It may sound harsh, that’s because it is so. You numb yourself which functions as a wall of protection. The numbing we’ll dive deeper into the next chapters but what is important for now, is that numbing boils down to feeling less. But feeling less on one side also means feeling less on the other. You don’t want to become a living corpse to escape trauma. You are alive and want to stay open for the experience of life’s beautyhood.
One of the key ideas in this website is that instead of rumination, you decide to move! Exercise is fundamental for any human being but even more so for refugees who are waiting in an asylum camp. So you move move move! And it can be anything. Reconnect to yourself through the body, through physical activity (and also through breathing). In moving you can take matters into your own hands! You do, you decide, you set the rules, you create the dynamics. You are self empowering yourself by taking responsibility for yourself. This will further fuel your motivation in overcoming trauma. You are making your mood, playing with neurochemicals, moving away naturally from that chatter inside your skull!
In movement, you get the benefit of instant relief, instant mood change and pleasure. You go from mind to body, go from past to present. Going back to the body gives you also a sense of control over yourself, over movement, over what is happening to you. This type of control feels good. Perhaps it’s something you didn’t have in a long time — especially when certain traumatic events occurred. Movement builds confidence and builds on hardwired programs in the human brain that are good for you. Certain parts of the brain get shut off and others are activated. The default mode network is out of order and the juicy parts of the brain start dancing. Use that feature of the human brain.
Football would be the most obvious and best example, it can do wonders for individuals and groups. But there are many other ways that suit your personal interest. If we take yoga for example we see that you become more rooted in your body. There is more sensory experience. You go away from the talking in the head. As a consequence–especially in exercising with more people–you become more open and connect easy which is a big step to prevent isolation (isolation is detrimental in your trauma struggle). I’ve been practising yoga with a small group of refugee women and it is just an example of something beneficial that puts you back to the being. And I’m not referring to the ego-yoga with tight outfits and standing on your head. Just down to earth and relaxing. No past, no future, no judgements, just being yourself in the body.
Whatever you do that keeps your body moving is helpful. Any movement will do but if you haven’t got a clue then keep in mind that daily walks can be extremely helpful. There will be a specific exercise on walking in the “Talk with the IND” chapter to give more details since it’s a great way to disconnect and work on your mood. Also, if you can then go dancing. Dance, dance, dance by yourself, with others. Dancing is really good for your health ad can bring a big release of negative energy. Also go running, cycling or swimming if that’s possible. Play volleybal, play football, start a mini-olympics at the camp. Ask the camp manager, ask the coordinators to facilitate all kinds of exercises. And if the kids like to play hide and seek you play with them, if they play football you play with them, anything that gets you to move is essential. And if you can combine it with nature it works even better!
INTENSE
Following up on movement there’s a book called The body keeps the Score written by Bessel van de Kolk, a Dutch expert on trauma. It actually is the best selling book ever written on trauma. What The body keeps the Score basically means is that the body and mind are not two separate entities and that they impact each other constantly. In that sense, what you have stored in your mind as a memory–as a traumatic event which can be “relived”–means that the body will respond to that memory, to that reliving. This you might know from former chapters but the surprising thing is, is that old (traumatic) events that are deeply stored in the brain can find a way out when you physically release certain parts of the body. As if certain memories coincide with the parts of the body where that tension resides, as if these memories pick a part of your body, a muscle, and decide to stay there and create tension. Then when you exercise and activate or relax that muscle, there is a release of stored energy.
Research shows that high intensity training can improve outcomes following a traumatic event, even years after the event happened (source). If you can, if you have the possibility, then go for that workout, go running, go swimming, go cycling and exhaust yourself. High intensity training means you give it all you got and then take a short rest before you give it all again. It works on intervals and it can really exhaust you. As an example let’s take running. You jog for let’s say 5 km’s and within that timeframe and distance there are a few 80% to a 100% sprints. You go until it hurts, until you feel that you have really gone all the way. There is quite some research on this type of training (called ‘hiit’) so you can dive into it online and see what works out best for you and your situation.
Interestingly if you do the exercise it will show you the interrelatedness of body and mind and how much impact you have on working consciously on a better mood. You work on biological cause and effect which can help a lot when you overcome trauma or simply have an off day. Exercise in general is essential for man. Exercise makes all kinds of healthy chemicals, neurotransmitters and hormones dance in your brain. That much so that you can become addicted to it. It’s the only addiction we recommend.
People who feel more connected to nature report greater life satisfaction, happiness, and meaning.
follow body follow nature
Observing your behaviour, observing your thinking is difficult in the beginning and it might affect your motivation to work on your trauma. it’s one of the reasons why we mention so many times to go step by step. A less arduous way is that you first follow the body, like in the former exercises, and also the breathing. When we engage in physical activity and when we observe the body and its breathing we are entering this concrete part of nature that is never ruminating, that is always in the present moment where there are no difficult thoughts or a shouting monkey.
Using the body and going into nature is a strong combination to combat rumination. The physical is a good exercise and going into nature in itself is a good exercise but now you take best of both worlds. You absorb the open energy that’s available to anyone by taking a nature walk outside. It can even lower rumination up to a 100% as you become more present and aware of your surroundings in nature. A simple walk in nature impacts your mood significantly according to research.
You have to realize that nature is deeply ingrained in our beings, it is part of us and can bring relief. These uplifting feelings and emotions we get from nature were vital as we developed ourselves as a species because we daily interacted in nature for our survival. Of course we feel awe, respect, beauty, strength, and wanderlust in nature. It’s the closest friend for a brain developed for survival. We suggest you use that hardwired capacity and immerse yourself into nature when possible. In the beginning you might think it’s bogus but give it a serious shot before you conclude. Do it for several weeks. Exercise and/or chill in a forest, have a bbq in the parc, go to a lake, cycle to a forest, run in a forest, run on a beach or just sit silently and watch a tree. You will feel better afterwards. And don’t believe me! Experiment and see for yourself.