There are many reasons why people take up running. Many do it in an attempt to lose weight, and count calories with every step they take. Others want to tone their muscles and improve their cardiovascular health. Some may be in training for a personal challenge they’ve set themselves – a marathon, perhaps. Some simply run because they enjoy it. However, there are a growing number of people who run because they find solace in the road. These people have discovered that running has the power to aid all manner of mental anguish, from depression to anxiety and addiction disorders. Here’s how.
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind
Of course, part of this effect comes about because improving physical health naturally has an impact upon the health of the mind. The body and mind are not two separate things – they are part of a fully integrated entity, and what you do to one has a definite effect upon the other. Losing weight, for example, has been proven to improve mental health for a variety of reasons. One of them is improved self-esteem, but it is also believed that a better-functioning body has its mirror in a better-functioning mind. When blood is pumping strongly, fat stores are not too burdensome, the muscles are in good condition and the lungs are well accustomed to drawing in plenty of oxygen, your mental state benefits as a matter of course. You’ll have more energy, and generally feel better in yourself. However, there is, it seems, slightly more to it than a simple body/mind mirroring act…
A New Passion
Addicts are one of the groups which may benefit a great deal from taking up running. Often, addicts begin a relationship with problematic substances because of perceived inadequacies elsewhere in their lives. If they feel insecure and lacking in self-esteem, for example, they may take up drinking in order to give them artificial ‘Dutch courage’ in social situations – which progresses to such an extent that they cannot possibly countenance facing other people without their chemical crutch. Others drink or take drugs to ‘fill a void’ – the nature of which varies but often relates to a basic lack of self-compassion. One of the major tasks of substance-abuse therapists is to persuade such people to fill that void with self-compassion rather than with substances. One way in which to ease someone into such a mindset is to encourage them first to replace the substance and ‘fill the void’ with running rather than substances. It’s shockingly effective. Firstly, the running becomes a new ‘obsession’ which replaces the substances in the first place. Secondly, achieving on the running track, beating personal goals, and gaining health naturally makes people feel that they’re worth something, and start treating themselves with a little more respect.
‘Mental Downtime’
Running is not a brain-dead sport. It requires considerable mental fortitude at times. However, it is not ‘stressful’ in the same way that office deadlines are. The challenges presented by running may not be easy to overcome, but they are relatively straightforward. They are the kind of challenges that the most ancient parts of your brain were designed over long millennia to overcome – and it relishes the opportunity to do so. For your higher mental centres, however, running provides a much needed chance to engage in some ‘downtime’ – particularly if you get yourself into a comfortable pace and good rhythm. Far from what it sounds like, ‘downtime’ is by no means time wasted. Certainly it leaves you feeling rested – but this is not because your brain has been idle. Far from it. Instead, it has been using the trance-like state into which you can enter during running to cease focusing on niggling issues and engage in a thorough psychological sort-out. You may find your mind ‘wandering’ as you run. This is a good sign – it means that your brain is (figuratively speaking) sorting through its cupboards and putting everything in order. Thoughts flow cleanly through your mind, and the lulling rhythm of running makes you much less inclined to pounce on problems and force your mind to gnaw endlessly at them. As such, your mind has a good spring-clean, and you return from your run feeling much more rested, stress-free, and resolved than before you left. It’s a great anxiety-killer!
-this is a freelance article by Helen Rainbow