The next bipolar express stop looks a lot like our first…
That’s because it includes exercise – just in a more meditative form. My first post about ways to help manage bipolar symptoms praised the wonders of my loyal elliptical machine because it’s been there for me since around 2012. Rain or shine. Clean gym clothes or not. No hours of operation to consider. No one potentially stealing it from me by the time I get to it. Ready to ride within moments upon rising from sleep. (TWSS?) I absolutely love it because I have no excuses not to use it. It’s served me extremely well, and served as the perfect low impact cardio through low back injuries and dislocated shoulders alike.
That said, cross training is important.
And I found that in no better place than… trail running.
(Nothing like getting primal is some mud…)
Trail running is magical in a layer of ways.
First, there are the obvious physical benefits. Running is great for cardiovascular health. Also, running on a dirt trail is far better for the spine and joints than asphalt and concrete are. Also-also, I’m always getting the benefit of always working different muscle groups as I traverse uneven terrain with its elevations and various descents. I don’t get that on a treadmill or elliptical. Then, there’s the fact I learned early on (when I gassed out five miles into a run in a state park): I can’t ever quit early. On a treadmill or even my dear elliptical machine, I can just stop whenever I feel like it. Not so on a trail. I either have to finish up that loop, or go back the way I came. Even if I punk outta running, I still have to walk. No heading straight to the car and going over to Whole Foods to binge on “health food” that’s actually probably worse than what I’d have gotten had I gone to Hardy’s across the plaza. Caveat? Just don’t make the mistake I did when I was starting and use the wrong shoes. After a year of using gym intended kicks, I made the switch to Asics – who make an actual shoe intended for exactly the purpose of running trails.
(If I were smarter, I’d update them to the latest model each year – I stretch it to more like two…)
The second aspect to the wonders of trail running is totally different.
It’s what happens on the inside. When you’re running on the trail, immersed in nature, something magical happens. You recalibrate. All the noise in your brain fades away. You’re in synch with everything that’s real. Now, that might sound a little airy fairy. But, to put it simply, all I knew was that when I’d end a run… I felt better. I felt more whole. Like my soul had come back into my body. After years of running trails for reasons I didn’t even understand, and one diagnosis later, I now get it. It’s actually quite simple. Jogging in nature is the embodiment of a grounding exercise the experts tell you to do. When you’re entering an anxious state (or for people like us, hypomania or mania, maybe), you tune into the world around you.
The idea, they say, is to seek out five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. In the confines of a sterile building, it sometimes feels difficult to do this. Yes, I can see the computer. Yes, I can smell the coffee. But this is all anxiety inducing sensory input that reminds me of documentation I have to do, the patients who are late, and the smell of the coffee I need to survive the next eight hours. Out in nature, all the sensory information is pleasurable. The sunlight you can see glittering between the trees. The smell of fresh petrichor after last night’s rain. The sound of yester-storm’s rain drops falling from leaves. And because running during all of this forces you to breathe in an even and steady way, you’re also hijacking your central nervous system to be calm, while bathing your brain in serotonin (’cause you’re working out). It only recently made sense. But all along I knew. Following every trail run I’ve taken since 2014, all I knew is I left the woods feeling better.
And if you’re on the fence about giving it a go, that’s all you need to know too.
Keep reading for another wonderful workout that has helped me “combat” bipolar…