I enjoy running, but…

…I’ll also be the first to tell you that running isn’t for everyone.

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As I waited at the crosswalk, my neighbor stopped to talk to me the other day. “How many miles a week do you run?” He asked.

“Thirty this week,” I replied. 

“Not me,” he said. “I don’t run anymore.”

“I enjoy running,” I said. “But it’s not for everyone.”

Running is good exercise—for me, but it’s not for everyone. Some people aren’t physically able to run. Some people don’t have a physically safe place to run. Some climates are too harsh for running outside (too hot or too cold). Running hurts some people’s knees and backs and other things. Some people have injuries. Some people cannot see. Running is sometimes contraindicated by health conditions like long COVID, or eating disorders. In short, running is actually bad for some people.

God made our bodies to move. Running is the way I prefer to move mine right now. If you see me running, don’t envy me. Please don’t say, “I wish I could do that” and then do nothing. Do what you can. Move your body in whatever way is accessible to you. Enjoy living in this earthly vessel. Just please don’t do nothing. Movement is a gift, and that’s what I want to testify to, whether on the run or not. Movement is a gift from God, good for our spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional health. Enjoy movement, whatever form it may take. Just move if you can!

Metabolizing Trauma

My clinical supervisor and I had a discussion recently about trauma exposure and how it can decrease creativity. All that bad stuff we encounter? It just sits around and lingers if we don't process it. Often times, the bad in life (or in the world around us) is so bad that we just want to forget it, or let it go, or not acknowledge it. But we have to process it and let its after affects be part of us, or it can rule and wreck us.

So how do we metabolize trauma? I don't fully know. But I know it's necessary to have a vibrant and thriving life, especially with the work I do. So here's a starter list of ways I know I can work through trauma:

• Hiking
• Walking
• Yoga
• Movement in general (because it integrates both sides of the brain)
• Talking
• Drawing
• Writing (part of why I have this blog)
• Cooking
• Sleeping (but only if I do the work of processing afterward)

And I'm going to argue that processing often takes several of these methods, several times. And sometimes processing has to happen over the course of time. Because trauma has a way of re-emerging.

And processing takes action, deliberate action, and deliberate choice. But if I don't process, I'm in trouble. My relationships are in trouble. My work is in trouble. Because unmetabolized trauma causes toxic build up. And toxic build up is deadly.

On the other hand, metabolized by-products can be beneficial. The residual effects of trauma, the scars and wounds that have healed, can make us better people. The process of metabolizing trauma can make us stronger.

So let's do the work people. Let's figure out what works, and do more of it. Feel free to contact me, or comment below about additional ways to process trauma. We all need to do it, and the more methods, the better!