Our Roll & Recover instructor at #lifetimefitness likes to say that we keep our "issues in the tissues."
He means that our energy & emotions & issues impact and/or are held in our muscle tissues. It could be physical ailments, the body compensating for pain or weakness somewhere else, impacting more than where the original injury/stress started.
It could be mental/emotional ailments, whether we're pushing ourselves harder or not training correctly because we're distracted, or because we are really just wound that tight or stressed out, it's impacting our muscles & physical body.
I love it! (I'll also confess to having flashbacks to my coaches training program ;) ) How often do we think about the impact different aspects of us, our lives are having on other aspects? When you have a physical ailment, is your first question about your mental health/stress? Or even vice versa for the regular trainers out there---do you immediately recognize and acknowledge the impact a physical ailment is having on your mental stress level?
He repeatedly tells us during the class how recovery isn't a once a week game; it's a daily or at least twice a week game. Of course, he's encouraging us to use the roller on our muscles and then stretch them, to keep the tension from building up and ideally release some that's been there. I try to physically stretch a little, after every run and then a longer stretch a couple times a week.
I am now looking at what I'm doing to mentally release the tension; how often am I rolling out my brain/emotional muscles? I've noticed so far that I have a lot more routines or practices on getting myself mentally/emotionally ready. Some of those may serve as recovery. I'm still discovering.
I'd love to hear what came up for you, if anything. Do you have particular practices when it comes to physical or mental recovery? Would you like support coming up with some practices? DM me!