Most of the time, we focus on sharing the physical benefits of jumping rope with you. However, today we want to shift the focus to the emotional benefits you can reap by jumping rope. We know that talking about emotions on a fitness website seems a bit strange at first, but it really is an important part of the fitness journey. A lot of times, our emotions and fears hold us back from trying out a new sport or exercise program and they can also play a role when it comes to nutrition.
We’re all human beings and we all deal with adversity on a daily basis and have emotions. While jumping rope is a physical thing, it can have a massive impact on your state of mind and emotional wellbeing. It can give you an overall better quality of life – a life that really fills you up and makes you feel good every day. Today, we’re going to talk specifically about how you can jump rope to overcome anxiety and stress.
Negative Ways to Deal With Stress
Unfortunately we live in a society where the most common ways of dealing with stress are unhealthy themselves. For example, if you don’t feel good, you can just go to the doctor and get pills or if you had a really tough day at the office, you can just go drink a bunch of beers to forget about it. What we want to do here is give you another alternative that’s healthier and will help you transform your life – not just cope with it.
We’ve talked before about how to overcome anxiety and how jumping rope and getting into the right mindset can make all the difference. The greatest thing about jump rope compared to some of these other coping mechanisms is that it’s natural. Along with getting the emotional benefits, you also get the physical benefits so you’re being twice as productive.
Get Into The Present Moment
Before we get to the protocol we use for jumping rope to deal with stress, we want to emphasize the importance of being present. Jumping rope can be a great way to escape the stresses you have in the day since it’s a fun activity. It can also help you get into a meditative mindset so you can focus on what’s bothering you and address each individual thing without feeling overwhelmed.
If you want to get through something mentally, physical activity is a great way to channel your emotions into a productive activity. We find that by jumping rope, we find our rhythm and begin to focus on what seems to be bothering us. By skipping rope and getting into your groove, you are able to focus on the present and really tackle your issues. This allows you to really get to the bottom of what is bothering you or stressing you out by eliminating all the other distractions.
Jump Rope Protocol To Reduce Stress
1. Find Your Rhythm
Start by getting into your rhythm with the jump rope. You can do any moves you want here whether it’s regular bounce, skip, or something else that makes you feel good. Go with the flow and start recognizing how your feeling. If you need help to find your rhythm, start without the jump rope and just jump up and down. Count the rhythm 1…2…3…4 and get your head into a calm space. After you feel comfortable with this, you can add in the rope before moving on to the next step.
2. Visualize What’s Bothering You
Once you’ve got a good pace going, you want to start visualizing whatever it is that is causing you pain or making you feel bad. Picture it, throw on some jump rope jams, skip rope and focus on the thing you want to move past. If whatever is bothering you doesn’t exactly have a physical form, invent one. Think about what this thing would look like and just get a picture in your head of what’s making you feel unhappy.
3. Up the Intensity
As you jump rope, go more and more intense as the emotion feels stronger. Use the physical exercise to move you through this emotion you’re facing. What you’ll encounter is that as you increase the intensity and as you get closer to exhaustion, you’re better able to surrender and let go of the thing that’s stressing you out. You’ll get more clarity, feel calmer and be able to remove yourself from the negative experience. By doing this, you’ll gain perspective on what’s really going on and how you can adjust your reactions to address the root cause of your stress.
4. Visualize Yourself Demolishing Your Stress
Visualize breaking through the image of whatever is causing you pain. The harder you skip the more the emotional pain will dissipate. Keep going until you feel yourself transcend the emotional pain and you feel your heart opening up.
This only works if you are pushing yourself to complete exhaustion. You have to push yourself as hard as you can with all out effort. By fighting through this physical and emotional pain, you can reach a state of clarity and surrender the stress so you can finally get peace.
Do The Thing
Instead of drinking alcohol or taking drugs to mask the problems in your life, pick up a jump rope and use it to transform your life. Challenge your problems and the things that are causing you stress head on in your workouts. Use your 30-minute jump rope workouts to get the body you want and free yourself from emotions that are draining you. Jumping rope isn’t just a really fun activity, it’s also an awesome tool to help you get everything you want in life – get out there and do the thing.
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