“NOT TRAINING – THEN I WAS NOT MYSELF ANY LONGER”
TANJA KORDYS, 36, from Frankfurt, helped her usual triathlon training to overcome severe postpartum depression
Before the birth of my son Konstantin, I had labor pains from the 25th week and then poisoning during pregnancy, after that two surgeries. I got worse and worse. My life had changed completely, the main thing I missed was my training. I’ve always done a lot of sport and with my husband, who is a competitive athlete, I’ve completed a few triathlons. After the birth, sport was impossible and my baby blues grew into severe postpartum depression. I didn’t want to eat anything, cried for hours and left the housework behind. I finally found help from an osteopath. His finding: a pelvic tilt and the difficult birth had affected the spine and pituitary gland, hormone production was disrupted. And by stopping training because of the premature labor, the usual endorphins were missing. He straightened my body and “prescribed” endurance training. Before long, I was training for up to two hours almost every day. Konstantin often came along in the baby jogger, my husband looked after him at the weekends and I did long cycling sessions. I was slowly starting to feel like myself again. The depression grew weaker. She only completely disappeared when Konstantin was ten months old – and I was pregnant again. I slowly reduced my sports workload during my second pregnancy and started running slowly again eight weeks after Helene’s birth. I was slowly starting to feel like myself again. The depression grew weaker. She only completely disappeared when Konstantin was ten months old – and I was pregnant again. I slowly reduced my sports workload during my second pregnancy and started running slowly again eight weeks after Helene’s birth. I was slowly starting to feel like myself again. The depression grew weaker. She only completely disappeared when Konstantin was ten months old – and I was pregnant again. I slowly reduced my sports workload during my second pregnancy and started running slowly again eight weeks after Helene’s birth.
Sport is the most natural form of treatment
That says qualified psychologist Gabi Ingrassia
Exercise is the most natural way to cope with many mental illnesses. Tanja Kordys trained a lot before the first birth and had to switch down from 100 to zero – that’s like an emergency stop. During pregnancy it is important to train more moderately and differently – just like in the second pregnancy. In addition, she had a very difficult start in life with her first child. Then it is very important for a mother to create a balance in order to be able to cope well with the new challenge. This means: In addition to “spending energy units for others” (including for children), you should also take care of your own recovery. Sport has a regenerative and healing effect on most people.
“OTHERWISE I WOULD BE BROKEN”
UTA ABT, 49, from Berlin, found strength and comfort in yoga and Pilates when her husband fell ill and died
My life changed from now on. Our children were 10 and 13 when my husband was diagnosed with heart disease in 2004. He survived the operation well, but remained ill, listless and slightly depressed. The constant focus on him took a lot of energy. After a year I could no longer charge my batteries. You could tell by looking at me: a worse posture, I hardly laughed anymore. I hadn’t exercised in over ten years, but now I needed the physical effort to switch off. I started doing yoga and Pilates once, then two or three times a week. During these downtimes I got the energy that I passed on to my family at home. In 2008 my husband died unexpectedly. Psychotherapy to process the grief? Without me. My training was my therapy it literally lifted me up. It is said that emotions live on the left side of the body – exercises with the left side suddenly became much more difficult for me or tears flowed. I felt how body and soul belong together and how much I had given up my own self in order to function for family and job. Today, in the relaxation phase, I sometimes see two raindrops dancing in the sunshine, as if two souls were meeting. It sounds spooky, but this is like a comforting encounter with my husband, only light and painless. to work for family and job. Today, in the relaxation phase, I sometimes see two raindrops dancing in the sunshine, as if two souls were meeting. It sounds spooky, but this is like a comforting encounter with my husband, only light and painless. to work for family and job. Today, in the relaxation phase, I sometimes see two raindrops dancing in the sunshine, as if two souls were meeting. It sounds spooky, but this is like a comforting encounter with my husband, only light and painless.
Land with yourself through sport
That says the Pilates trainer Sarka Hildebrandt from the Berlin “wohlfühler”
Both Pilates and yoga focus on the physical and mental center of the human being – in Pilates on the powerhouse, in yoga on the belly button chakra. You suddenly feel this “gut feeling” when you deal with the body. You learn to come to terms with yourself and develop a new body awareness that includes your feelings. It was certainly helpful for Uta Abt that she has been training with me for years and therefore has a confidant who can respond to her individually and is also there for a chat after the lesson.
ALEXANDRA GLAS, 36, from Munich does sports to change her life after a divorce
I made the decision overnight three years ago: Separation. Although I was dependent on my husband as an employee in his company. After that we fought forever about the house, money and custody of our then three-year-old daughter. The divorce war paralyzed me and gave me depression. A year ago we finally got divorced. What now? I wanted to have a career, travel, stop smoking and start a new life. But how am I supposed to pick myself up? One thought helped me: A healthy mind lives in a healthy body. And I had neglected myself and my body for a long time. Sport was a must! But I don’t like studios any more than I like group training. I tried jogging. Too little condition. With swimming. Too boring. Then an idea electrified me: I need someone to support me individually. A personal trainer! I’ve been training with her every two to three weeks for a few months now and she gives me a plan for the in between times. She always manages to motivate me. With exercises like the pelvic swing, I clearly feel how I get energy. The trainer reprogrammed my beliefs for a healthy mind. One is: I allow myself to be confident. Don’t have, but be! This phrase works like a meditation when I’m stressed, gives me confidence and prevents me from smoking again. The trainer reprogrammed my beliefs for a healthy mind. One is: I allow myself to be confident. Don’t have, but be! This phrase works like a meditation when I’m stressed, gives me confidence and prevents me from smoking again. The trainer reprogrammed my beliefs for a healthy mind. One is: I allow myself to be confident. Don’t have, but be! This phrase works like a meditation when I’m stressed, gives me confidence and prevents me from smoking again.
Sport as a turning knob for life
That says the PREMIUM personal trainer Katja Sterzenbach
Sport is a turning knob for our life. Complete rest means standstill – movement brings changes. Or to put it another way: If we always do the same things, we shouldn’t be surprised if nothing changes. Love it, leave it or change! Alexandra Glas is feeling that very clearly right now. In doing so, she is only beginning to shelve her self-doubt and to recognize her real potential. As a sports returnee, she now has her first “instructions for use” for her body and well-being. Now it’s about integrating movement into life as a long-term lever. Positive beliefs that are anchored in the subconscious and body cells and determine our thoughts and actions help. With a kinesiological muscle test, I reprogram your autopilot, so to speak, so that he automatically gives strength and energy. So an “I can’t” becomes an “I can do anything I want”. This new self-confidence not only works in sports, but on all levels – in self-perception, at work, in relationships or when quitting smoking. According to the motto: Life can be easy and fun.
“MY BODY FEELING WAS DISTURBED”
TINA MÜLLER, 28, from Munich lifted weights to overcome her anorexia
At 16 I weighed 70 pounds. My doctor said I had a week to live. I had stopped eating four years earlier. At that time I was clumsy, the sports teacher blasphemed. Then my grandfather died, and out of grief I hardly ate anything over the summer holidays. Suddenly I got compliments! So I slipped into anorexia. When I was 13, I went to a clinic and forced myself to eat out of homesickness. At 15, the relapse, hospital stays with a ban on sports and listening devices followed. The anorexia stayed. My mother sat there when the doctor threw her prognosis at me – and had a nervous breakdown. It shook me awake, I gained ten kilos. But in return I exercised excessively. All thoughts revolved around the calories I wanted to burn with endurance training. It was only thanks to my boyfriend that my relationship with nutrition and sport improved. I felt bad after we broke up, but I knew one more relapse would be fatal. The advice of my new fitness trainer: Strength instead of endurance and a change in diet instead of a diet. At first I was skeptical, then I agreed. Today I no longer need encouragement from outside to love myself and my body.
Sport as a social safety net
That’s what the trainer and course coordinator Steffi Schadow from Fitness First says
It is incredibly difficult for anorexics like Tina Müller to eat “normally” and NOT move at the same time. The fear of gaining weight is too great. Combining a healthy diet with moderate exercise, focusing on muscle strengthening and protein intake to shape the body, can help. Above all, the social factor counts – thanks to continuous training support, those affected have the feeling that they are no longer alone with their problem. Tina Müller recently even received the “New You Achievement Award” from Fitness First for her tireless fighting spirit.
“I HAD TO DO SOMETHING FOR MYSELF”
MAUD SICKING-RICHTER, 71, from Düsseldorf hiked 800 kilometers to leave cancer behind
The realization came to me shortly after breast cancer therapy during a tandem paragliding flight: For the first time I had done something just for myself. To date I had taken care of eight children and two husbands. Was that the reason for my illness? One thing was clear: I had to do something for myself. The “how” came up during a lecture by a sports scientist: he wanted to send twelve breast cancer patients on the Way of St. James for a study. I had to go there! In April 2008 we marched off. But after three days I realized: I have to go this way for myself. So I picked up the pace and left the group behind. Alone I met wondrous and wonderful people. I was particularly impressed by a disheveled guy. His credo: If you want to recharge your batteries, you have to go all the way. I thought about that during strenuous stages, which I would have liked to abbreviate by hitchhiking. I talked, laughed, cried and screamed along the way. After 42 days I reached Santiago. There, of all people, I ran into Zausel again, and we hugged each other and wept. I felt relieved of the pressure and the question of why I had cancer.
Thanks to sport for a positive self-image
That says the sports scientist Dr. Freerk Baumann from the German Sport University in Cologne
After a serious illness, patients often have the feeling that their own body has let them down. Many end up in a vicious circle of physical passivity, resulting in physical inactivity and further loss of self-confidence. Sport can rebuild confidence. The goal: to accept the illness, to gain courage andTolfioowity. This is exactly what Maud Sicking-Richter found on her way – thanks to the intensive experience of the pilgrimage on the Way of St. James, she pushed her own limits and turned her negative self-image upside down. A long hike is only ONE solution, because THE “healthy” sport does not exist. What is needed are initiative, a good movement therapist and a type of sport that is above all fun and challenging, so that you can gradually improve in order to regain confidence.
Interview: Sport “metabolizes” almost every problem
Munich psychologist Gabi Ingrassia often moves therapy sessions to a jog in the park
Tolfioow: Jogging instead of couch – how does that work? Gabi Ingrassia: Some people literally sit on their problems. Exercise gets things moving, and in my experience, patients make a lot more changes a lot quicker. As a therapist, I do no more than sit down, the conversation only takes place while walking. In the spirit of “double your time”, patients can combine one with the other and also save time.
What does this mean for those affected? Similar to the EMDR method (for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders), in which the eye movements are supposed to have a physiologically calming effect, sport also has something meditative about it. It stops constant rumination of thoughts and problem-oriented thinking. Stress or fear are metabolized psychologically – this is extremely healing for the soul. And that’s not all: the brain is better supplied with blood, we become more creative and come up with new ideas more quickly. On top of that, the body’s own endorphins give you a better feeling after training.
This is urgently needed in times of crisis. Which sport helps best? It depends on the type and the individual situation. Above all, training should be fun. Some people need concentration when doing sports, such as yoga, tai chi or golf, others need effort, like endurance training. Running is an incredibly beneficial exercise when you’re stressed: During a crisis, running for 30 to 60 minutes at least twice a week, or maybe even every day, can help. In the case of auto-aggressive diseases such as pain and cancer, working out in martial arts or speed-oriented sports can be helpful. Burnout sufferers and anorexics, on the other hand, should be motivated to pause.
And the much-vaunted relaxation? Relaxation is often difficult to achieve ad hoc and does not clear your head – you are stuck with your negative feelings. In psychotics, relaxation can even worsen symptoms.