Without a post workout cool down. Any mental health benefits are LOST.

We've all been to the gym. We all know the trainers telling us to "cool down". We know the importance of stretching to avoid physical injury.

Yet, it goes deeper than that. If your intention to work out is more than physical, it energises you and enlivens you - and you are using it to support your mental health. Then you NEED a cool down. Non negotiable. Let's look at it through the lens of anxiety. Vigorous exercise helps us to embody. This means, we get out of our anxious mind, and into the physical sensations of the body - we feel our heart rate, we begin to sweat. We also release a load of happy hormones into our blood stream. Energetically, we are actively moving stored trauma too, which is at the root of our anxiety. Old emotions which are sitting in our tissues. We are moving our body, which gives them an avenue to move out of our system. If we consider things as energy and frequencies too, when we are moving vigorously, things are vibrating at a higher rate. Because of all of these things - hard and sweaty exercise makes us feel better. Also, for an anxious mind, we feel like we are being productive because we are actively shifting the energy. Whether we are addressing the root cause or not, achieving something physical gives us a confidence boost. Now. To really reap the benefits. You need to include a cool down. Often, we are anxious, because there is so much we feel we have to do, to control and to not feel the anxiety. Exercise gives us a temporary relief, a boost, and then, we go immediately back to doing mode. Often, we are exercising, to gain a new perspective, and then we rush onwards - ready to retackle what we were doing before. With the elevated state from the exercise however, this is the optimal time, to sit in silence. In doing so, in gentle stretches or complete relaxation guided by calming diaphragmatic breath, we allow our physical body and energetic body to recalibrate and harmonise. In essence, we ground. We take a sacred pause to recalibrate before rushing forwards.

This may sound obvious, yet the subtle difference is this recalibration is not coming from the mind. We are not taking this time to do a "to do list" with our fresh perspective. We are just giving our body some space to settle, and, AFTER, we have relaxed for 15-20 minutes, then we can do the to do list. By giving our brain and body a period of "nothingness" - aided by gentle stretching, and conscious breathing, we are ensuring that the positive effects of our workout, the old emotions and things we have shifted, can be properly cleared, integrated, and recorded by our system.

An Ayurvedic Perspective

When we are anxious, we have too much vata in our system. Vigorous exercise increases this. So while we may feel temporarily relieved, anxiety will return if we keep vigorously exercising everytime it comes.

So what does this mean?

Vigorous exercise should be avoided?

No no! Not necessarily.

It just means, that this is another reason we must follow it up with conscious relaxation.

If we repeatedly turn to vigorous workouts for anxiety, over time, we will get more imbalanced with the vata dosha. However, calming breaths and stretches decrease the vata dosha - so it is less likely to get aggrevated.

From this perspective, a longer and gentle walk, in nature - is better than an intense gym workout for peak anxiety episodes. The nature will counteract the increased vata dosha, and the gentle pace will be less abrasive to our already aggrevated vata.

Trauma perspective

A root cause of anxiety is unaddressed emotions in the body. Aka - trauma. Trauma can be shifted through intense exercise and movement, yet physically it is stored in the fascia of the muscles. Stretching a body part for 3 minutes, works on the fascia, and releases trauma. Exercising first will put you in a more positive mindset to then sit and gently be with whatever is present. Any exercise regime which is designed for mental health benefits and trauma relief, must consider balance in the movements it incorporates. Vigorous exercise may shift trauma, but we also must learn to sit in greater moments of stillness, to allow the emotion to calmly move through.

Sooo... let this be your permission slip to truly indulge in the cool down. Maybe even skip the stretches and jump straight to a guided relaxation on youtube or spotify.

Indulge in a moments stillness. The time which you may fear that you will waste, will be regained with more presence, calm and subsequent aligned actions.