Mental Health

Over the course of my life, I have suffered from depression and anxiety. Up until I started to run, I had never found a therapeutic mechanism in my life to cope with my feelings. Over the past year, I have coped with my anxiety through the deep thoughts I have during my runs. Since I usually am running alone and with music, my mind tends to wander so much. I have learned so much about myself through running. If you think about it, since our minds have become constantly entertained by media, we tend to focus a lot more on how everyone else is living than ourselves. Since so much of our attention is focused on how everyone else’s life is seen online, we tend to distract and ignore our own feelings in the process. I can admit that I do tend to ignore my feelings when I don’t want to deal with them. Running has made it impossible to ignore my feelings and I am happy about that. By running, I am able to think through my thoughts and even realize when I am being too dramatic about a certain situation or need to make a change in my life. I wanted to discuss this topic because I know I must not be alone in feeling this way. I ended up doing some research and found that so many others have noticed a change in their mental state through running. According to an article written on runner’s world, without regular running, the underlying fabric of our lives—our friendships, our marriages, our careers, our odds of being something other than miserable most of the time—will fray.” Running keeps people’s minds balanced. I have been able to maintain a healthier lifestyle overall through running. After this marathon, I honestly can’t picture my life without running. I have never been this content with my life. Running has helped me think about things in a smarter and more mature way. I have made changes in my life for the better because of the long, sometimes tiring runs I have had. If anyone feels like they are suffering in any regard, I think they should turn to running because that can be a form of medicine for you, that is not only healthy but beneficial for your well-being. If anyone would like to discuss this topic, I am more than happy too!

This was only a month after one of the hardest periods of my life thus far. I wanted to share this photo because after this race, I was so happy. This moment in my life, is one of my best memories because of how I felt. I felt not only accomplished but happy with the time and work I put into running my first half marathon. Although this was only eight months ago, I have grown so much since. I have running to thank for that.

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a18807336/running-anxiety-depression/