Exercise as the only form of Stress Management

For many years, exercise was my only form of stress management. 

Having created a busy, go-go-go lifestyle with high expectations of myself, my stress levels were definitely high. Though I wasn’t able to accept this at the time, I deep down knew I was exercising a little too much. 

But why not. Exercise was a great source of stress management, endorphin release, empowerment, and allowed me to be strong and lean… which are/were obviously highly desirable traits. 

The only issue was that my body was running out of energetic capacity. Between the long and demanding days, and then the extra oxidative stress incurred by training, my body wasn’t able to recover fast enough. 

Eventually, physical pain, digestive unease, and mental disarray started to catch up. 

This affected my mental and emotional health. 

But because of the go-go-go, high expectation lifestyle, I had to keep going. 

In addition, just as your life requires you to be on your a-game, I was a Personal Trainer with a full client load. I was motivating, and outputting any and all energy my little cells had… and I was spending very little time restoring that energy. 

There was no time. To soften. Bathe. Get massages. Just BE. 

With support from a number of educated, inspiring women, I gradually re-patterned my Nervous System to feel a sense of ‘stress-management’ through non-fitness related activities,

I was able to rid-off the recurring shoulder tension, bloating,  overwhelm, and reconnect with parts of myself that were disowned and numb.

The term stress management eventually left my vocabulary and doing activities like movement meditation, slow stretching, long baths, self-fascial work, and breathwork became part of my life.

Not a reactive, bombarded life, rather a dynamic, cyclical life - where I have times of extreme energy output, which is then followed by restorative, lower-expectation activities that allow the fascial network to soften, and Nervous System to down-regulate. 

In addition, these slower, more nourishing activities allowed me to connect with my yin side (the feminine side).

When women are in their Yang energy (masculine) doing, planning, executing for a a prolonged period of time, their nervous systems become overstimulated and dysregulated… leading to tightness, depletion, and disconnection. 

Since you are on your own journey, my general message to you today is to simply continue tuning in and noticing.

Always reminding yourself to avoid shame-based, self-judgements.

From there, I encourage you to seek support.

For myself, allowing myself to receive support was dearmouring of so many old generational stories of trust, money, worthiness, and helped me reshape my relationship with time. 

I hope this message was supportive to you as you explore these new layers of your health, wellness, and fitness. 

Feel free to connect or share where you are at in your journey.

I am here to support you in adopting new habits for the season of your life you are in. If you are curious, send me a message with any curiosities.

XO

Asma

—————————

Asma Kassam, BHK, CSNA, CFST

Kinesiologist, Fitness & Mobility coach, Certified Sports Nutrition Advisor, Fascial Stretch Therapist, and Women’s Health Advocate

Re-focus sessions: Take the guess work out, get clarity and direction on how to move forward on your goals.