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A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

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Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#121

Post by User23 »

joker_minmax wrote: post #70
haswell wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people feel like “they” are somewhere inside their head. They look out at the world through eyes that are windows. The world is out there, “I” am in here. In this undefined black hole of “me”, mysterious, but definitely separate from the world and what’s “out there” past one’s eyes. They feel like their bodies are just the mechanical thing that carries them around. They don’t think of the systemic impact of…

From my perspective, the belief that the soul and the body are totally separate and that the body is lesser is not actually a Christian belief, but rather a Gnostic one. Unfortunately a lot of the Christianity of America has a twinge of Gnosticism present. The "C.S. Lewis" quote that gets thrown around, "You don't have a soul; you are a soul. You have a body," was never actually said by C.S. Lewis. I actually got a b…

The Catholic Church continues to teach that human beings are body and soul and both are essential to the human person. While Lewis wasn’t Catholic, his theology basically was.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#122

Post by NovaDudely »

hinkley wrote: post #89
chiefalchemist wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We are learning more about mind body connections and this is very not true... We are RE-learning. Look at all the "new science" on psychedelics. Or gut bacteria. Etc. I'm not sure what the bottleneck is...we did not evolve to sit all day, inside, at desk, gazing into screens. It really is *that* simple. p.s. While nothing revolutionary new per se "The Comfort Crisis" by Michael Easter goes a solid job making the ca…

> We are RE-learning. Fair point. I got accused of the “noble savage” myth recently in another post and I went the wrong way with it. In trying to be better stewards of the natural world we are looking at vestige civilizations that never lost it, but the fact of the matter is that if you watch history shows, one I’m thinking of was a recreation of feudal life in Tudor England, Western Europeans used to “know” many, m…

It is most likely that both the Stoics and Buddhism got their ideas from simple introspection. I didn't read Buddhism and have an epiphany, I came to it the same conclusion by myself and then saw that others had done the same.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#123

Post by luxuryballs »

joker_minmax wrote: post #70
haswell wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people feel like “they” are somewhere inside their head. They look out at the world through eyes that are windows. The world is out there, “I” am in here. In this undefined black hole of “me”, mysterious, but definitely separate from the world and what’s “out there” past one’s eyes. They feel like their bodies are just the mechanical thing that carries them around. They don’t think of the systemic impact of…

From my perspective, the belief that the soul and the body are totally separate and that the body is lesser is not actually a Christian belief, but rather a Gnostic one. Unfortunately a lot of the Christianity of America has a twinge of Gnosticism present. The "C.S. Lewis" quote that gets thrown around, "You don't have a soul; you are a soul. You have a body," was never actually said by C.S. Lewis. I actually got a b…

Yeah agreed, CS Lewis has said a lot about the body and the soul, a few come to mind from first Mere Christianity and then a quote from Screwtape Letters

“And let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral /…/this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, /…/ It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution–a biological or super-biological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.”

(Screwtape gives advice to use a “body doesn’t matter” philosophy as a way of making the human distracted or ineffective) “At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#124

Post by agumonkey »

mudita wrote: post #37
hinkley wrote: post #2

I don’t know if this has changed for younger generations, but a lot of people, particularly those in intellectual pursuits, suffer to one degree or another from thinking of themselves as a brain being carried around as a meat sack. We are learning more about mind body connections and this is very not true (the ways the vagus nerve can totally fuck with your mental state is terrifying, and there are people with dysfun…

The thing that made me transition from a mindset of “I have a body” to “I am a body”, was actually Zen meditation. This was surprising to me. Before I tried it, I thought of meditation as a purely mental thing, I didn’t expect that the first really noticeable effect of regular meditation would be a changed relationship to my body, Much later I discovered contemporary dance, quit my phd in machine learning and became…

I wonder about the effect of complex balancing activities (dancing, sports, yoga, even drumming) onto our brain.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#125

Post by NovaDudely »

paulpauper wrote: post #95
hisnameisjimmy wrote: post #3

A key unlock for me was doing exercise where at some point I was trying so hard and breathing so aggressively that I couldn't really think anymore, I could only focus on the task at hand. For me, that's been biking up steep hills. I like biking because I get to see a bunch of cool stuff and if I go up hills I get a dope view. I joke that doing these rides feels like I'm re-boring my arteries because my heart pumps so…

not really a fan of overly strenuous cardio. I am not sure how it makes you better. i tried it and it never did much for me. it doesn't even help for weight loss due to metabolic adaptation and increased appetite.

It works different for different people. For some simply slowing down can bring amazing results, I am somewhere in both camps. Slowing down most of the time plus also doing cardio has been amazing.

It probably helps that increased appetite never fazed me. I am hungry now, cool, I'm still not eating until dinner regardless of how I feel.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#126

Post by NovaDudely »

sgtcodeboy wrote: post #21

Certainly can't speak for everyone, but the most effective form of exercise that I have found is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Couple of reasons. First: The deeper you get into it the more you learn its primarily an intellectual pursuit - its just hidden in a very physical endeavor. When I'm doing Jiu Jitsu, I have to actively think, engage my problem solving skills, I can't go on auto pilot as I do in other things - rowing m…

It is funny how there is this bell curve of intellect in the arts. At first you know nothing but this allows you to just do things without hesitation, then you learn a lot and it becomes all intellect and skills, but then you become a master - one that does something with all the intellect but without thinking at all.

Like when you see a master of some art, they do not stop and hesitate to do something, they just do it and it looks so effortless and yet it is an amazing thing they have done.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#127

Post by michaelrpeskin »

agumonkey wrote: post #124
mudita wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that made me transition from a mindset of “I have a body” to “I am a body”, was actually Zen meditation. This was surprising to me. Before I tried it, I thought of meditation as a purely mental thing, I didn’t expect that the first really noticeable effect of regular meditation would be a changed relationship to my body, Much later I discovered contemporary dance, quit my phd in machine learning and became…

I wonder about the effect of complex balancing activities (dancing, sports, yoga, even drumming) onto our brain.

My 3 sports are mountain biking, climbing, and snowboarding. I always describe them as managing panic under fatigue and high cognitive load. I need the focus and problem solving, it tickles some part of my brain in a good way.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#128

Post by sgtcodeboy »

NovaDudely wrote: post #126
sgtcodeboy wrote: post #21

Certainly can't speak for everyone, but the most effective form of exercise that I have found is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Couple of reasons. First: The deeper you get into it the more you learn its primarily an intellectual pursuit - its just hidden in a very physical endeavor. When I'm doing Jiu Jitsu, I have to actively think, engage my problem solving skills, I can't go on auto pilot as I do in other things - rowing m…

It is funny how there is this bell curve of intellect in the arts. At first you know nothing but this allows you to just do things without hesitation, then you learn a lot and it becomes all intellect and skills, but then you become a master - one that does something with all the intellect but without thinking at all. Like when you see a master of some art, they do not stop and hesitate to do something, they just do…

They do say that you learn more and more throughout the belt levels of Jiu Jitsu. But once you reach black belt, it starts all over again. So pretty much exactly what you're saying, just that the master has to find new ways outside of trained pathways to accomplish goals. In the end, its an continuum I figure. I've always viewed it - Jiu Jitsu - as a video game with infinite levels.

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#129

Post by agumonkey »

porknubbins wrote: post #114
haswell wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people feel like “they” are somewhere inside their head. They look out at the world through eyes that are windows. The world is out there, “I” am in here. In this undefined black hole of “me”, mysterious, but definitely separate from the world and what’s “out there” past one’s eyes. They feel like their bodies are just the mechanical thing that carries them around. They don’t think of the systemic impact of…

When I was a young distance runner I was in such good shape that, when not tired from a workout, moving around the world was essentially effortless. Its kind of like playing a first person shooter and very easy to feel like your body is just some abstract tool. In contrast having a minor injury causing you to limp or something is very grounding, forcing you to focus on walking carefully and not have to hurry for anyo…

wasn't that a side effect of endorphins/runner's high ?

Re: A new study looks at how exercise can help alleviate anxiety and depression

#130

Post by mensetmanusman »

zdragnar wrote: post #93
haswell wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people feel like “they” are somewhere inside their head. They look out at the world through eyes that are windows. The world is out there, “I” am in here. In this undefined black hole of “me”, mysterious, but definitely separate from the world and what’s “out there” past one’s eyes. They feel like their bodies are just the mechanical thing that carries them around. They don’t think of the systemic impact of…

Another +1 here for that argument being distinctly not Judeo-Christian. Orthodox Christians in particular are of the belief that you worship with your whole self- mind, body and soul.

Yeah, the idea that we drive the body around is some official ancient heresy I believe.
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