FIVE-WEEK WORKOUT TO BOOST YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
WORRIED ABOUT LOCKDOWN LIFTING? HARLEY STREET PSYCHOTHERAPIST ZOË ASHTON, WHO’S WORKED WITH THE LIKES OF PIXIE LOTT AND BARRY’S BOOTCAMP, GIVES YOU A FIVE-WEEK WORKOUT TO UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL
THE WARM-UP
Warming up the muscles is essential before exercise – it’s no different for your mental health workout. Within this programme, the main muscle groups are self-esteem (core stability) and boundaries and vulnerability (your psychological range of motion).
Self-esteem
Everything in the Mental Health
Workout comes back to self-esteem – it’s the foundation, the core stability. If that’s out of shape, everything else is problematic. Self-esteem is fundamentally how you feel about yourself and something very few other s see because we’re so adept at pretending.
EXERCISE #1: Look in the mirror, observe and repeat three times: ‘I notice I feel (_____) about my (_____) and I accept myself anyway.’
EXERCISE #2: Watch the self-talk. Use the mantra ‘I am equal’. You’re not going to diminish your own self-respect. Take shame, blame and power out of the equation.
Boundaries and vulnerability
If your self-esteem is your core stability, then boundaries and vulnerability form the range of emotion protecting it. The more practised you become at feeling vulnerable and managing it through boundaries, the more flexibility and opportunities you will have. You’ll then see a reduction in anxiety and panic.
EXERCISE: Identify the boundary that needs setting, imagine and practise what you’d like to say and do to set that boundary, then go back to the situation or person and set it. Feel the feelings, hold your position. This can be the hardest part.
THE WEEKLY WORKOUTS
The weekly workouts create structure so you know what you’re doing in your week, where your exercise and therapy is going, and can carve time out for self-care. This involves:
1 x therapeutic space per week
Identify what this space will look like and whether it’s a one-to-one with a professional or a group session. Really, it’s any space where, for an hour a week, you can be reflective enough to be gaining insight about your mental health workout journey.
TIP: If you’d rather do this alone, you can create time in your week for self-reflection but in this context, self-reflection is not therapy.
2 x social events per week
For lots of people, social events bring up certain thoughts, feelings and behaviours, so they’re a good opportunity to assess your mental health, which is why I refer to them as your technique check-in. People often don’t realise they’re cancelling social events and isolating or overdoing it and not spending any time on their own. I’m encouraging people to find balance.
TIP: Your social arousal levels are a helpful way of diagnosing early changes in your mental health. Keep an eye on how your desire to socialise or be around others changes.
3 x 30min of exercise per week
This means cardiovascular exercise but it’s about tuning into your body and connecting the mind with the body so you don’t use exercise to simply escape your feelings.
TIP: Think about: what is your self-talk during exercise? How do you feel skipping a workout?
4 x self-care per week
Self-care is essential. It’s the fuel that sustains you. A long and luxurious bath is seen as a form of self-care but really it’s creating a space to feel calm and relaxed so you can focus on those parts of you that need your attention.
TIP: Ask yourself, how do you define self-care? Why do you practise self-care? What do you want to get out of your self-care practice?
THE DAILY WORKOUTS