To Help or Hinder your Healing From Betrayal - Choices!
“Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well;…and not today’s pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man.”
~James H. West[i]
Betrayal at any level places a lot of stress on the body. In order to stay healthy during these times, physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care is essential. This is easy to overlook, but crucial to your healing. In the next few weeks we will explore the ways in which your choices either help or hinder your healing.EXERCISE
As a personal trainer, I often have beginner clients declare how much they hate to exercise. If they can persevere through that first month and begin to reap the benefits, they soon become believers.
Both cardiovascular exercise and resistance training result in an increase of endorphin and serotonin levels in the body. I call these neurotransmitters my “natural happy drugs.” The best way to produce these God-given natural hormones is to exercise, get a healthy dose of sunlight, receive at least seven hours of sleep, and eat right.
The term endorphin is derived from the words endogenous (which means to originate from within) and morphine. A morphine-like substance is increased within our body during exercise. God’s provision is amazing. He created a way our bodies could produce naturally what we desperately require in times of distress and sadness. You will have to push yourself to exercise, but I can attest from personal experience this will lift your spirits and energize your body.
Serotonin is a hormone that helps control mood swings. Stress and unhappiness have been proven to decrease serotonin levels. Conversely, research proves that regular physical exercise raises these levels. Depression can set in when reduced amounts of serotonin flow through the brain. During this critical time of sorrow it is imperative to do all you can to combat this.
If I had not forced myself to get out and get moving, I most certainly would have fallen into a deep depression. All the warning signs were present. Thankfully God helped me to keep moving physically at a time I had the least amount of will and energy to do so.
The following journal entry describes the battle.
January 29, 2008 (3 months post revelation)
I had an extremely bad morning. With lots of clients I was thankful God helped me keep it together emotionally. After work I knew I had to force myself to do a cardio program, because depression loomed dark.
While running on the treadmill it took all the strength I had not to break down and cry like a baby. Had I not been at work where my clients would have thought me stark raving mad, I would have succumbed. Instead I clenched back the agony with grit and determination.
I guess all the preaching to my clients about the necessity of a cardio workout when struggling with depression is jumping right back at me. I must practice what I preach.
Cardio sure works. By the time I got home, I felt better able to cope with this relentless sadness. I marveled both at God who created a natural way to feel better and science for confirming this truth.
Notes:
[i] Quote by James H. West (http://www.quotegarden.com/health.html)
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About the author
Blossom Turner is an award-winning novelist, and a free-lance writer published in Chicken Soup and Kernels of Hope anthologies, and former newspaper columnist on health and fitness. A Word Guild semi-finalist for Anna's Secret, Katherine's Arrangement, Amelia’s Heartsong, and a Word Guild winner for Best Romance for Lucinda’s Defender. She has found her home in the writing of historical fiction but is open to wherever God leads. The many 5-star reviews attest to the power of love and romance authentically woven into the Shenandoah Bride Series about five sisters and their five love stories.
Blossom lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, David, of forty years and their dog Lacey named after Lacey Spring, Virginia, where this series takes place. A former businesswoman, personal trainer, and mother of two grown children she is now pursuing her lifelong dream of writing full-time. A hopeless romantic at heart, she believes all story should give the reader significant entertainment value. However, her writing embodies the struggles of real life. She infuses the reality of suffering with the hope of Christ to give a healthy dose of relatable encouragement to her reader. Her desire is to leave the reader with a yearning to live for Christ on a deeper level, or at the very least, create a hunger to seek for more.
Co-author Suzie Zanewhich
Suzie is a certified life coach, leader of emotional health, and resource specialist. She has found her niche as a soul coach.
Suzie finds purpose in empowering individuals to move towards growth, healing, and alignment with their authentic self. Suzie is driven by a calling to live authentically, as the person God created her to be, to reach her fullest potential and lead others to do the same. Her passion is to help others find meaning through discovering their strengths, gifts, personality, temperament and core values.
Suzie is a life-long learner, continuously immersing herself in new courses to learn more about human behaviour, relationships, psychology, child development, emotions, trauma and healing. Because of her craving to always learn more she has earned the title of resource specialist in the area of self-discovery.
Suzie Zanewich lives with her husband in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She has a patchwork family of four grown children, two daughters, two sons and three granddaughters.
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