Mental Toughness

On: Self, Family, Community

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We are all linked, it is one of the joys and pains of humanity. We are nothing more than mammals that tell stories, and make tools, but far too many of us forget that and think we are above and disconnected from the rest of nature.

Reconnection with what supports and upholds us is vital for all of us, and all of us. No person is an island, or can exist for long as one. Neither should we. As the wheel turns, and peace becomes war, light, dark, the fragile nature of nature is revealed to those who recognise it.

What has this got to do with promoting optimal physical and mental health? Everything.

Unless we take time to listen and reconnect with our body’s requirements, we cannot develop. If we cannot develop, we cannot support ourselves. If we cannot support ourselves, we cannot support our families, our communities and the wider world.

For example, regular mobility work means less risk of injury, which leads to less time off work, or training. Improving your diet means better health and less need for medical support at some point in the future. And, if you are seen to be doing these by others, you might inspire them to try as well, another unintended benefit.

Looking further out, if we can help our family reconnect then we can have a positive influence on them as well.

And so on.

We must reconnect and re-engage with our selves, then our family, then the community, all the time holding onto the natural environment that supports us.

If you feel you need any help working though musculoskeletal issues that could be holding you back from being an asset, please contact us to see how we can work together. And then our skills can be used to help improve you, and the positive changes can roll on.

On: Simple

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Simple is not the same as easy.

In fact, most of us complicate things, because simple is hard work.

If you look at the goals most of us want to achieve, they seem simple, yet we fail so often. Partly through our own weakness, partly through temptation, and mostly because the simple route is the hardest.

Want to get stronger, slimmer, richer, have better relationships? Good. Admirable goals. Now go work at them.

Stronger? Train, not just exercise. Sacrifice something important to get there.

Slimmer? Be careful what you wish for, lets change that to optimise your metabolic health. Now don’t have the take away and exercise regularly.

Richer? Spend less than you earn, clear up your debt burden and be creative with investing.

Better relationships? They take a lot of work, mostly on yourself.

All simple goals, all challenging and resource consuming.

And seek support. We can’t help with the financial or relationship goals, although being healthier and more resilient can have huge positive benefits in all aspects of your life, but we can support you with getting stronger, healthier and more resilient.

Contact us and see how we can help you upgrade.

On: Consistency

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You are what you do.

Not what you think, read, talk about or present online. They all play a role in your self talk, but they are not you.

You are what you do. Just as your body is made up of what you consume, your mind is as well.

Choose your inputs for your desired outputs.

Want to be functionally more effective? Model those who are, with applied thought. Want a different path? Observe, reflect, change and do.

Not everyone has the physiology to be an Olympic athlete, not everyone has the mental capacity to be a theoretical physicist, but you are far more capable than you think.

So find those current boundaries and explore them, supporting yourself with good inputs, solid relationships and measurable outputs.

We are here to help you start that journey, from physical therapies to starter PT concepts.

Upgrade the mind, optimise the body.

Beyond 3 basic skills

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Previously, the 3 basic movement skills were raised.

These were:

  1. Getting off the floor from lying on your front
  2. Getting off the floor from lying on your back
  3. Walking at least a mile carrying a load

These use the primal movement patterns and the vast majority of us have been able to do them since the age of 2.

We can therefore advance these and actually start to develop them as a physical practice to improve our health, with very little other equipment.

If you have not exercised for a while, or have pre-existing medical conditions, please do consult your GP or practice nurse for a health check before starting any program.

As a test day, start by going for a brisk walk, sufficient to get you slightly breathless after 10 minutes, then aim for a mile, or 20 minutes. Once in a safe place and once you are warm, get on the ground. First, from your front, get up. Then from your back.

If that was challenging, or you struggled to get up, your first month would be simply practicing until you can do 10 from both front and back.

Once you can do that, you can add some more load.

With nothing more than a couple of bin liners, a reel of strong tape, an old rucksack and a bag of builder’s ballast (sand / gravel mix), you can create all you need for a very effective workout.

Fill a bin liner with a few kilos of the ballast. Tape it into a strong, short sausage shape and place this in another bag for safety. Create a few of these, of differing weights.

Once you have the weights, put sufficient in your rucksack to equal 5-10 kilos then do a 30 minute walk at a brisk pace.

Once back, adjust the load in the rucksack to about 2-5kg and perform 10 front get ups with the bag on. The, taking a sausage across your shoulder, perform 5 with it on the right before doing 5 on the left. As you get stronger, increase both the load in the rucksack for the walk and the getup challenge.

You should find that that provides a decent workout and can act as a gateway to more training techniques.

The basics of positive mental health

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Firstly, if you reached this via a random search on the internet and are feeling stuck, buried under unmanageable pressure, in a corner or suicidal, breathe.

If that is you now, if you have a plan, if you’re looking for ways to end your life, if it’s so dark that the relief of knowing how is a comfort, stop. Please. Call a mate, phone Samaritans, if you think you’re going to OD or have, get yourself to A&E.

If you need to self harm to relieve the pain, to give you something to focus on, try ice cubes. Squeeze them in your hand and feel the burning cold. Put down the sharp blade and open a window.

When we, as professionals, talk to people who’ve cut or attempted suicide after we’ve stabilised them, they almost all regret it. Most attempts are a cry for help, to get attention, to put down the enormous burden, to ask someone to take over, just for a while, to deal with the crap life has handed you.

If this is you, I’m sorry. I have no idea what demons you’re fighting but I do know that so many have been there before you and there is a solution, somehow. But the never ending darkness is not it. There are charities who are there to support you, pathways in place to show you that, however dark it is now, there is a way forward.

Please note that this is not about mental illness. This is not about PD, psychosis, mania or depression. These are the kind that leaves you debilitated and requiring professional assistance. For those who have such things, it is important that the rest of us do not stigmatise them, help support them in any way and be conscious that we are all a few steps and some genes away from their situation.

For the rest of us, who live every day with our own mental health, it is thankfully starting to become more commonly talked about in recent years. The typical English attitude of stiff upper lip and crack on is slowly becoming more less expected, but the underlying causes of poor mental health is less commonly discussed.

Positive mental health is much more of a holistic approach, a way of recognising that body and mind are inextricably linked, that we can influence those around us and by intercepting negative trends, and that we may be able to prevent or minimise darker times.

The sketch above shows the basic pyramid of mental health.

Positive health choices are obvious in retrospect. Avoiding drugs that effect mental state (alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, illicit chemicals), taking regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, getting sufficient rest.

Regular life patterns play a more subtle role. We all have a circadian clock, a biological rhythm that governs eating, sleeping, and even more complex processes. But we also have a human need for regularity. For work, for seeing friends, for doing things we enjoy. If we neglect this, or it is removed from us, we soon notice its absence.

Positive relationships make more sense. We have all had relationships that drag us down, that make us feel less than we like to be. These can be personal, romantic or work, but their effect is pernicious and corrosive.

We can tolerate shifts in any one of the points for a period of time, for example poor health choices by eating too much, drinking too much or not resting enough, but if we also have a few unsupportive or negative relationships and no regular life pattern then we are in a slippery slope to poor mental health.

Mental health is a gift to be nurtured, shared and to be grateful for.

One day. 

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One day you may need to run. Not in your trainers, Lycra and fitted top. Not after a good warm up, chatting with your friends and on a sunny day. 

It will be when you are least prepared. 

Maybe it’ll be raining. Or after a long day. When you’re wearing a smart suit or carrying a shopping bag. 

It might be for a bus, or to stop a child running into traffic, or to escape danger. It will be a sprint from the start, and unrelenting. 

Practice. 

Get a pair of boots, sweatshirt and pair of old trousers. 

Find a hill. Or a field. 

Take the luxury of a warm up. 

Then sprint. 

Try to hold a hard pace for a minute.

Walk back to the start to recover. 

Do it again. 5 – 10 times. 

It never gets easier. But you are more prepared. 

Ask the right question

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To get a useful answer, it is important to ask the right questions. 

    Rather than adding extra effort, look at what you can take away. 

    If you can only see 2 paths, look for a third. 

    If you’re trying something new, has anyone done something similar before? Even a different discipline offers guidelines.

    Does it actually need to be done?

    What one thing, done today, will have the most impact? 

    Can this be a yes or no, rather than a maybe? 

Try one next time you’re stuck and see if it helps break the restriction.

When the going gets tough;

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Stop.

Breathe.

Think: Do I really need to be putting myself through this, is there a more efficient way?

 

If you’ve been banging your head against the same problem 42 times, perhaps the 43rd attempt won’t solve it either.

If its a workout, or a programmed training session, then dig in buttercup, the outcome is worth the effort. The same if its a challenging work scenario with a defined goal.

But if the task has no defined goal, no finishing line and seems apparently insoluble, then perhaps you need to take a break and reflect.

It could be that someone has been down that route before and talking to experts could save you hours of time.

It could be that “we’ve always done it that way” isn’t actually the best anymore.

And it could be that, however good your intentions, the goal isn’t going to fit your long term plan.

Stop, breathe, think.

Then get going again.

 

 

Out there

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Out there is your dream job.

It isn’t.

Out there is your perfect partner.

They aren’t.

Out there is your perfect body, if you just take this supplement and do this five-minute exercise.

Nope.

Out there is a realm of possibilities.

Wrong.

Out there is a fantasy place, a modern dream  to placate the meek, invented to sell the next quick fix or short cut “hack”.

A sheen of glamour to disguise the truth.

Reality says there is no such thing as a dream job. There is the something that you are well suited to doing, where your unique talents and skills can be applied. It may take you years and several false starts to get there, and it will require hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Reality says that there is no such thing as a perfect partner, the soul mate who will happen to walk around the corner and into your life. There may be someone who is supportive, loving and with whom you click. They may be with you for years, or for a short time. And maintaining a relationship takes hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Reality says there is no such thing as a perfect body. Just the one you have been given. We can change it, support it and develop it to its best potential but you may never be a size 8 if your skeleton says otherwise, you may not have Rich Froning’s abs is you don’t have his genetics. And any change takes hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Right now is a realm of fantastic possibilities. Dreams can become ideas can become plans can become reality.

And out there is a whole team of people, be they friends, professionals and expert sources who are willing to help you achieve.

But it all requires hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

One way or the other

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Momentum – the force that allows something to continue or to grow as time passes. 

Inertia – the tendency to remain the same. 

Starting something is tough. There is always a reason not to do it, a task that’s more important, an article that needs to be read. 

In physics, we have the concepts of inertia and momentum, as defined above (roughly). These apply everywhere in life, from starting the car to changing a habit. 

Starting takes energy and consistency, you need to give the job attention and drive. 

But once it’s rolling, it takes far less to keep going. 

So, put some energy into your big goals and watch them become easier to achieve. 

And, if you need professional advice or support, ask.