Transforming Fear & Getting Back On The Bike!
Getting Back On the Bike & 5 Ways to Overcome Fear Post Injury!
By: Sarah Rapaport
Recently, a close friend of mine took me to a spinning class. As I hopped on the bike and adjusted it, visions of a time twelve years before, came flooding through my muscle memory. I was sixteen and spinning had become an intense passion for me. I jumped on my bike and while riding my foot slipped out of the pedal and my spinning hobby took a pause. I had quite a gash in my leg and hundreds of stitches later I went home and began the healing process. Shortly after my spinning injury I decided to return and get back on the bike just to prove to myself that I wasn’t scared. That one class was enough and I decided to take a break for a good long time. About six months ago, I found one of the most heavenly yoga teachers, Chaya Bracha Aidelson (of Jerusalem Flow Yoga,) in the Middle-East and began training with her. My body warmed up as did my heart and mind and I fell in love with so many of the asanas – postures in a very unique way. In Chaya Bracha’s classes I met another teacher, Tamar, who teaches spin at the YMCA in Jerusalem (Wednesdays @ 9AM). I decided to try a couple of classes with Tamar and I felt my old muscles coming back, as did my form. My heart was pumping and my brain chemistry alligned as the endorphins flowed through veins. At the end of the class, all I could say was thank God for this experience as it transformed my thinking and my body.
5 Ways To Overcome Fear Post Injury!
AWARE Technique!
A- “Accepting” the fear or anxiety that is currently present within your body
W- “Watching the fear”, build a mental fence around it and allow yourself to observe the fear as an outside objective observer
A- “Act Normal”-Continue doing exactly what you planned on doing, running from a situation that induces fear, heightens the fear however staying in a situation deconditions the panic response giving the mind and heart the message that it is not really threatening.
R- Repeat the steps, continue accepting the fear, observing the fear and deconditioning the behavior by acting normally
E- “Expect the best!” Envision success as you go through the motions of busting through those fears and coming out on the other side, happier, lighter and pumped with endorphins.
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