PTSD, Exercise and Weed

[VenerableHippie]

The best therapy I know for dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression is to get outdoors and exercise. Walk the dogs, jogging, riding bikes are a big part of my life.
I don't listen to the little voice that gives me excuses why I shouldn't exercise. I just go and I'm always glad I did when I finish. I load up my vape and get moving outdoors. "Cold or Hot" I get out and ride my bike every day and 3 big rides a week. I walk my dogs and still jog and it helps sooo much. I'm over 65, but I don't let that stop me because it's the only treatment or therapy that works for my depression and PTSD. Take a few hits, and hit the road, one eye or not.
Does anyone else want to share how exercise has helped you?
Here are my rides.

Too right! The Missus and I walk at least twice a day. A mile at a time. Often more. Clears the head. Helps objectivity.

We're a lot past 65 and recently took big dose mdma. That's fukn good stuff for ptsd too. Let's you speak out your inhibitions eg: anger.

Good for you Creeperpark!

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

first week of work,138 miles commuting by bike

Good on ya unc - you must be ripped (low body fat) - and feeling fine after those bike rides - I was just planning on getting back on a bicycle again - and taking up cycling as I did in the 90's - just have to get a bike - meanwhile - I'm walking on average 120 miles per month lately - at a good clip - around 30 hours weight resistance training and 30 hours pool work per month too - and if I get angry over something - anger is an energy - and I burn that via the exercise - so end up feeling well adjusted - and happy after all of the effort -

Us humans are physical beings - first and foremost - and if we dont look after the meat-suit that we have to wear - we wear out too soon - mentally and physically -

 

[unclefishstick]

ended up at 140 miles for the week...gonna try for 150 this week

 

[Weird]

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315447121_Nature-based_therapy_as_a_treatment_for_veterans_with_PTSD_what_do_we_know

Nature-based therapy as a treatment for veterans with PTSD: what do we know?​

Everyday physical activity in natural settings and subjective well-being : Direct connections and psychological mediators - Trepo

trepo.tuni.fi

Everyday physical activity in natural settings and subjective well-being : Direct connections and psychological mediators​

Click "In English" upper right hand corner if necessary

​

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

There is definitely great benefits to be had exercising In nature - from a walk in the park - to climbing mountains - all seem to be rewarded with a distinct feeling of well being - by the body - as if your body is creating delicious gifts for you - which get you high - and these are unlocked and available to you - only if you push yourself physically -

- Water - even if it is an indoor pool - can be therapeutic to exercise in - just being surrounded by the pressure of water - and hearing the sounds of water and watching it in motion - can get me into a good head space - maybe that mind-set reverts back to the womb?

Exercising in amniotic fluid - is where we all started - lol

 

[VenerableHippie]

Lovely - you are very lucky to have a garden to relax in Creeperpark - I live in a 3rd floor 400sqft 2 bedroom apartment with my wife and 2 kids here in London - the small balcony is its saving grace - where I can relax - toke - and watch the sun go down - would be nice to have a 3 bed house with a garden and big shed - then my son could have his own room - and I could grow in the big shed - year round - I could even have a dog - and I love dogs - and miss being able to keep one -

I 'm wondering why you don't 'go bush' Gypsy? Reduced social life for sure, but you'd still have the internet. Country schools are better for kids too (at least in our experience).

 

[Creeperpark]

ended up at 140 miles for the week...gonna try for 150 this week

I love flying on my bike too! Friend get lights and have a cool night ride for a super adventure. I have two strong flashlights mounted on my bike for night rides. The new LED rechargeable lights are kick-ass these days. Night riding in the country at night is a blast.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

I 'm wondering why you don't 'go bush' Gypsy? Reduced social life for sure, but you'd still have the internet. Country schools are better for kids too (at least in our experience).

- would be hard to leave my old Manor/area - down by the river Thames - and start anew somewhere else - kids are both in secondary school now locally - and a school move at this time is not really recommended - and could prove to be tricky -

- plus - the mortgage needs paying off here - before I could dream of moving out to the countryside -

 

[hamstring]

Great thread, I exercise at least 5 times a week. In the summer months I ride my bike 11 miles a day and incorporate some hills. I push myself as hard as I can. That gets less every year as I am 56 now. I cant match uncle fish sticks biking prowess but I was at 100 miles week when I could commute to work the last few years. I honestly don't enjoy working out but my body literally falls a part if I don't. Thats why i love biking once you get 6 miles out you have to get home somehow.

I do push ups and planks twice a week but at my age I need way more strength training but its so easy to quit or skip it. I wish they had strength train that worked like riding a bike. Again great thread.

 

[xet]

Great thread.

I just learned my recently retired Uncle is dealing with some debilitating PTSD so I came here for some insight.

 

[Creeperpark]

Great thread.

I just learned my recently retired Uncle is dealing with some debilitating PTSD so I came here for some insight.

People with PTSD can have lives that are difficult because of the magnified fears they carry deeply from getting hurt real bad in the past. Sometimes it feels like the detonator on an explosive device has been activated and we are just waiting for the explosion. Little things that are not a problem to normal people can be very scary for a handicapped PTSD person. One day at a time.

 

[Creeperpark]

Heres is the Kuti today. The entrance is guarded by a guard dogs.

 

[Creeperpark]

Like everything, exercise has its polarity too, "the mental side" which is just as important. Exercising the mind by being aware of the way it is, is of utmost importance. Working with one's own mind has been around for a long time and must be valuable or it would not have been here for over 2500 years.

I'm not going to dirty up the message by using my concepts, but I will share a little story that happened to me.

 

[Creeperpark]

We are all doing time when it comes to the present moment. Many years ago I ended up in a maximum prison with a six-year sentence and did every day of it. Since I only have one eye and that eye has low vision, I was put in a Handclapped Offender Program. It’s basically a maxium prison with handicapped mixed into the population. The handicapped had its own block or wing and was a crazy dangerous place. It was the most violent place I have ever been in my whole life including the military. I didn’t think I was going to make it because of the violence. A few people didn’t make out alive. I was so scared every day and night and just wanted to die and get it over with.

About a year and a half into my sentence, we had a free-world speaker come to the prison name Bo Lolzoff and talked to us about how everyone is doing hard time in the mind. He and his wife Sita became spiritual friends and helped a lot of people in many prisons. What I learned from him is that the mind needs to be trained in order to find peace. An untamed mind is a suffering hungry mind that gets In trouble. True peace comes from inside by allowing views to a line with reality and to live with the way it is in the present moment, and not from bending the outside into being different! Is it possible to find peace living in a prison-like the one I live in? Yes, Bo said one can have a peaceful mind even in prison. How? Meditation.

That’s when everything changed in my life and has never been the same. I practiced meditation for the next 4 &1/2 years in a 6 x 9 prison cell. What came out of my prison experience, in the end, was strong spirituality and good mental health. I learned that its not the world that is the problem, it was me, and all the problems were due to my own ignorant thinking and bad actions. I did make it out alive and stronger than ever. Learning meditation is the most priceless gift anyone can receive and only a few people are blessed with this gift.. I hope you'll be blessed too

 

[Creeperpark]

I set aside 15 minutes two times a day and sit. Sometimes it feels like War with the mind just getting there. I don't listen to that voice, I just sit.

 

[Creeperpark]

The temps are 104F or 40C here during the day, but that doesn't stop me from getting my long rides. Night riding is so fun because the temps drop into the 80f or 26C. Hardly anyone is out at night in the heat, and I have the roads to myself. I just follow the white or yellow lines and move over when a car goes by. I had a ride last night into the city, that was the most fun ride I think I have ever had. One of the very few perks of having a "low vision handicap" is the ability to be mobile in low visual conditions. I can fly down the road at night and have the fun of my life.

 

[Creeperpark]

Here's an update on my Kuti. The little rainy season is over now and the temps are soaring above the 100s every day. I have plenty of shade and cool mornings but my guard dogs wake me up every time I dose off to sleep. I like to go outside and breathe fresh air and be with Mother Nature every day. It's a big part of my Therapy

 

[Creeperpark]

PTSD is an anxiety illness
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. Google

Everyone carries fear with them all the time and not just PTSD people. We all sleep with it, wake up with it, work with it, and we all have that in common. I never met a person that didn’t have some type of fear. It can be hard to see because we run and hide from the truth at every corner. What causes this internal fear is the truths about old age, illness, and death. As people wake up to the realities of the truths it can be very frighting. When someone close to you dies or gets sick the truth is pushed right in our face. No one wants to die or get old or ill, but we will all have to sooner or later and that’s the problem.

 

[Creeperpark]

Why is it a problem?

It’s a problem because of the denial or non-acceptance of the Way it is in the present moment. It can be hard to stay present and that’s where most of my suffering comes from. Looking forward in the future, I see uncertainty because of these truths. Or when I look back on the past it brings up heavy emotions and that’s another problem. Runaway thinking is a habit and causes a lot of problems and suffering. However, I’m not going to be fooled by my imaginations anymore and choose to stay present in the present moment. When I do I feel much more peaceful.

 

[Creeperpark]

Two common states of awareness exist: conscious and unconscious.

Conscious vs Unconscious

Consciousness is to be aware, intentional, and responsive. Unconscious, on the other hand, refers to being unaware or performing something without realizing it. Google

When I am present without thought I’m conscious, but when I think of the past or future I become unconscious of the present moment and slip off somewhere else. Its easy to slip off into suffering when thinking runs rapidly without realizing it..