Exercising - a way to deal with trauma
Develop a habit to exercise early on in life to build resilience
I came across an interesting post by Jim Kwik this morning. It talked about traumas and how most of them not only alter our emotional being, but also shrink our brain, literally make it smaller. He mentioned a study published in Frontiers in Psychology that found regular aerobic exercise can reverse the damage due to trauma-related shrinkage by increasing hippocampal volume. He further noted that:
Trauma shrinks key areas like the hippocampus (responsible for memory and learning), prefrontal cortex (involved in decision-making and regulation), and it makes the omygdala (the brain’s fear center), become hyperactive.
Here is the great news: our brains are neuroplastic, which means they can rewire and repair themselves. And exercise appears to be one of the most effective methods to help heal it:
It helps regenerate the hippocampus
reduces anxiety and depression
supports emotional regulation
slows down cognitive decline and boosts memory
So, if I had to give a piece of advice, it would be to sign your kids up (preferably at the age of 7-8) to sports activities, which would make them move at least 5+ hours each week, not for the glory, not for bragging rights as parents, or your kids getting into an Ivy League school later on in life, but to heal and grow their brains throughout their lives. As an aging adult, I now understand that most of my emotional responses to unexpected events came from the lack of sleep and exercise. If I had developed an exercise habit early on in life, doing sports consistently throughout high school, college, and beyond, healthwise, I would probably be in a much better place in life at this point. Just like a prayer is a spiritual shield, exercise is a physical shield against the everyday challenges life throws at us.
For this reason, I feel happy that my oldest daughter is continuing with her karate classes in college and has started competing with her karate club at state competitions. I feel happy knowing that my son is rowing for 10+ hours each week, feeling a sense of accomplishment, and the endorphin high he gets after each workout. I feel happy that my youngest one, who is 7 years old, recently started karate as well, though I suspect she will add another sport later on in her life.
You don’t have to be rich to exercise. Yes, you have to have time, but if we find time to spend 1+ hours each day on social media, we can carve out an hour for moderate exercise each day. It’s a matter of making it a priority, and starting it slowly - 10-15 minutes a day initially, and incrementally increasing it to an hour.
By the way, a month ago, I mentioned I started rowing 5K at home to support my son in a rowing race this fall. I expected to catch up to him by the end of July. That hasn’t happened. While I am less than 3 minutes away from his fastest time on 12 out of 14 rowing machine resistance levels, I have not improved much in terms of speed. I realize it will take more time to catch up to his time. What improved is the following:
My posture - my back is straighter
My mood and general attitude - on the days I row/exercise, I am more positive and accomplish more tasks on my list
My strength - I can lift more weights when I do body pump, for longer periods of time
I don’t have an MRI at home to measure the size of my brain, but if I did, it would probably be a teensy bigger :)
