My Mental Health Story Part 6 - Lets Talk Exercise

The first part of this post, I put on Instagram this afternoon, directly from my phone, but I thought it might be a good addition to my story, so here goes.

I often wonder if I will ever be completely recovered from my mental health problems, as there are days I still struggle.

This weekend hasn’t been the best, as it was two years on Friday since we lost our beloved mother. She was a wonderful woman.

I struggled this morning; I didn’t want to get out of bed, as I simply CBA. I was happy to stay there all day and not bother.

But I didn’t - I got up, had my Weetabix, got changed, and headed off with 3 friends, and here is what we did: not bad for 4 guys all over 63; yes, I was the youngest. The local cafe was too busy, so we did it non-stop.

Feeling better? You will trust me

The upside is I’m home, the bike is washed, and I’ve had coffee and a sandwich, pretzels, and peanuts. Showered, changed, and feeling completely different from the guy who was lying in bed this morning with the CBA feeling.

My two-wheeled companion for the 41 miles - A Titus Roadrunner

Everyone is different, but for me physical exercise is one of the best things you can do to help your mental health, and it doesn’t have to be 41 miles either. When I was working, I woke early one morning feeling worse than I did this morning, and I went for an 8-mile cycle route around town, and that was enough to kickstart my day - I just felt so much better.

If you’ve not tried exercising to help your mental health, please do; I’m sure you’ll notice the difference.

The choice of exercise is entirely yours and can be as simple as walking. Good luck, and I'm sure you’ll be just fine. Please also remember you don’t have to have mental health issues for exercise to help your mindset. It just helps you feel better

And that is where my post ended, but I wanted to add a bit more, so here I am. Everyone will deal with their mental health problems in different ways. My next post will be about the course I went on to help me deal with my situation, and a lot of what we were taught was about keeping occupied. That in itself will be different for different people; for instance, I have never been able to get into Sudoku, even though I’m good with numbers, yet I’m sure people who like it can keep themselves occupied for many hours.

I struggle to remember what I tried to do to help myself, as what will be apparent from the course is that in the end I just wanted to get away! However, I know I tried, and I also know that one of my more content times was sitting in the sun in my back garden doing nothing, yep, nothing except relaxing and being on my own. It was my little safe haven where no one could get to me, annoy me, or even talk to me. It was just me doing the complete opposite of what we had been taught on the course. No books, no music, no nothing. And that probably shows that we are all different in how we deal with our issues, because it was the opposite of what the so-called experts were telling us to do!

And that is why exercise may not be for you either, but if you haven’t tried it, please do. As mentioned in the post, it’s not just about mental health; it even helps with mindset and just not feeling great, because there is a difference, as I know. That CBA mood in the morning can all be changed with doing whatever exercise suits you: cycling, running, walking, gym work, gym classes, or whatever your preference is because, in my opinion, it should ideally be something you enjoy doing. Let’s be honest, enjoying yourself can only be good for you - at least I certainly think it is.

Thanks for reading

DJ