Mind over Matter

Mind over Matter

I have heard this saying a few times, but the last couple of month’s people have been saying it quite a lot to me and I finally realise how powerful your mind can be and we set the limits for our success.

Last year I picked up a running injury, not 100% sure how I did it but I was running up a very steep hill in Brighton in a race and it’s been injured ever since. I have seen physios, sports therapist and the last couple of months have moved onto a chiropractor, I had no idea what a chiropractor did until I turned up. They click you into place, they twist you in weird shapes and generally poke/prod you.

My chiropractor is annoyingly positive, she is full of energy and always happy, don’t get me wrong I really like her and we have great banter, she knows the last few months I have been down in the dumps…so annoys me all the more! She has been trying to get me up and running again and has given me homework to do like knee/thigh stretches and the one that to me at the time sounded stupid was to walk every day and imagine that I am running, imagine that amazing feeling you get as you are running and after, I walk to work every day so this was something I could do every morning. She told me how about how powerful your mind can be, if I keep imagining myself running then it will help the healing process, so I have done this the last couple of months and sure enough I am back into jogging and working my way back to running!

I would say that my knee injury and not being able to run did really tip me over the edge a few months ago, it’s the headspace I loved the most, just putting my headphones in, forgetting about everything and just being in the moment was the best feeling. Exercise is such a powerful medicine, being outside in the fresh air, getting your body moving and the feeling of achievement after releases so many endorphins. I completed a couple of 5km runs and one 10km (which was the best moment ever) and was loving collecting all the medals and achieving better times each time.

I felt so disheartened that I was trying my hardest to get back running, I was getting sports massages, doing acupuncture and getting x-rayed but nothing seemed to be working so it did really get me down. I eventually just threw the towel in and it all went downhill from there, I felt defeated by my mind and body and that’s when the black dog really sunk its teeth into me. I told myself that I couldn’t run so I stopped trying, if you tell yourself or someone tells you that you can’t do something you start to believe it, so next time you are beating yourself up think ‘I might not be able to do this NOW, but I will keep trying!’

But now I am in a more positive frame of mind and have had my body clicked around I am back into the light jogs and keep telling myself ‘I can do this’ instead of feeling down and it has seemed to have an amazing impact. If you keep telling yourself over and over you can’t do something, you aren’t good enough and you are rubbish/stupid you are going to start believing it. You can be filling your head with negative thoughts subconsciously, try and take notice of what you are saying to yourself and if you find yourself being negative, challenge and fight it. You should never underestimate how powerful your mind can be, so fill it with positivity and see what results you get! It’s working for me so it can work for you too!!