Mental Health Awareness Week is May 13-19 this year. For 2024 the theme is ‘Mental Health Movement’. Movement can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing, whether it’s running, doing some gentler activity or even fundraising for charities like MQ Mental Health Research.
MQ Ambassador Dr Esther Beierl (pictured above) is a data scientist, trial statistician and psychometrician in psychology and mental health research (currently University of Cambridge, formerly University of Oxford), yoga teacher and Personal Trainer. She also has personal lived experience with mental health conditions.
In this story, Esther shares her experience on why movement has been so valuable to her mental health.
Do you feel safe in your body?
A few years ago, my brilliant therapist asked me if I felt safe in my body. I was taken aback. I have never been asked this question.
Spoiler: I didn’t feel safe in my body.
That’s when I realized that one of the main reasons I couldn’t recover from my mental health issues is the lack of integration of the body into my treatments.
Compared to so-called “first-line” treatments for the most common mental health conditions, such as psychiatric medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, research is lacking on body-engaging approaches to improving mental health.
Mental health struggles are not just “in [my] head’, which is a common mistake, but also emotional and embodied experiences.
Anxiety and PTSD keep my stress levels constantly high. This is because I worry about future catastrophes as I am always prepared to flee or fight for my safety to avoid re-experiencing past trauma. When I panic, I am extremely tense, my heart beats and I think I am going to die. Depression makes me experience my body as a big, heavy bag, unable to move. My history of eating disorders led me to reject my body and disable myself.
In the end, my mental health conditions not only made me feel like I had lost my mind, but they also made me feel disconnected from my body and my emotions. I was aware that I have a body, but I couldn’t feel inside my body. I felt emotionally numb and frequently distracted.
The independence of my thoughts, emotions and sensations makes it impossible to influence emotions or access sensations from a cognitive point of view. Whenever I find myself “stuck” in this way, that is the call to move my body.
Freedom from unconditional positive regard
My therapist’s unconditional positive regard gave me security in our therapeutic relationship.
The relationship with my therapist allowed me to explore areas that previously seemed terribly unsafe, such as working with my emotions and feeling sensations in my body.
Exercise has always been a source of great pleasure for me. Among other approaches, my therapist and I use somatic and emotional integration techniques in our work together to enrich my exercise routines to support my mental health.
Science of movement
There is a solid body of research showing that regular aerobic exercise and endurance training Compared to no exercise, it not only improves physical health but also mental health.
There are fewer studies that investigated the effectiveness of yoga on mental health outcomes. Meta-analyses (which combine results from multiple studies to identify overall effects and improve scientific evidence) suggest that Yoga can improve depressive and anxiety symptoms. compared to psychoeducation, attention control techniques and no intervention.
There is Neurophysiological and neurochemical reasons why exercise makes us feel good.. There is a lack of research on the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that explain why and how exercise improves mental well-being.
Move the body, calm the mind
Aerobic exercise, resistance and calisthenics training, and yoga improve and maintain my mental health for different reasons.
Whether I practice strong, dynamic yoga or more restorative yoga, moving from one pose to another with my breath calms me. Even teaching a yoga class gives me this effect.
Yoga achieves this unparalleled connection of the mind, body, and spirit triad (in whatever way spirit makes sense to the individual). I am particularly hooked by Ana Forrest’s yoga styleallowing me to do some of the work towards healing and growth myself.
When I ride a road bike or swim, I clarify my thoughts, which opens me up to more creative ways to solve problems. I increase the intensity, such as cycling or swimming faster, when I want to relieve stress or need to vent emotions, such as anger. There is something magical to me about moving my body in the water. Swimming or diving creates a feeling of weightlessness. Symbolically, I feel the heavy burden of my mental health issues lighten as I feel connected to nature.
Resistance training and calisthenics helped me develop self-confidence. I also can’t deny that, as a woman, it feels empowering to be able to do weighted pull-ups. I feel euphoric when I stay face down, for example doing a handstand. The purpose of training myself is not to achieve a specific yoga or calisthenics pose, although that could be a welcome side effect, nor to work towards any other physical goal. The purpose is to focus on enjoying being in my body.
Non-negotiable meetings with myself
I consider my exercise sessions as important meetings. I don’t cancel important meetings. These sessions allow me to connect with myself and my body, which, enhanced by working with my therapist, makes me feel safe.
My movement practices have made me physically and mentally stronger, healthier, and happier. Although I still live with some of the diagnoses, I am much better equipped to deal with them.
Our thanks to Dr. Esther Beierl for sharing her story, which makes clear how much research can help us understand why movement is so beneficial for mental health.
Esther is fundraising for MQ mental health research during Mental Health Awareness Week (May 13-19, 2024) when she teaches free yoga classes and collects donations.
You can find Esther on social media at the following addresses: X @EBeierl, Instagram: @estherbeierl, Substack: @estherbeierl
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