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Walking makes me anxious. It's just too slow and makes me feel stuck in a place. Cycling, however, has the opposite effect. It allows me to move around quickly

by Aaargh20318 6y ago

Walking makes me anxious. It's just too slow and makes me feel stuck in a place. Cycling, however, has the opposite effect. It allows me to move around quickly and effortlessly, it gives a a sense of freedom and just melts any anxiety away.

yomly 6y ago
It's good that you can find freedom in cycling, tho the coach in me wants to challenge you to see whether you can find peace and freedom in a very leisurely stroll. After all, if you're not going anywhere, what is the rush?
- Aaargh20318 6y ago
  > After all, if you're not going anywhere, what is the rush? I have IBS, so getting to a bathroom. When I have an attack, walking makes things much worse, combined with the fact that it takes forever to get anywhere on foot it’s a recipe for disaster.
  - Ensorceled 6y ago
    That's a very specific condition though. My best friend from university suffers from IBS so I completely understand where you are coming from.
- bserge 6y ago
  Different things for different people. Walking just makes me tired, I start with 50 thoughts in my head and end with 100 thoughts in my head. There is no rush, and that is what makes my brain anxious. Running, cycling, lifting, shooting helps me focus, and that brings peace to my mind.
  - justnotworthit 6y ago
    Maybe people's brains are (metaphorically) on a hertz cycle that is perfectly calm/in sync when the outside stimulation as at the same "frequency". It's like when you try to fall asleep watching/listening to something. Too boring and your mind wanders and you dont fall asleep. Too exciting and you're thinking about things while keeping up with the original thing.
Fricken 6y ago
I'll attest to cycling being a great reliever of stress and anxiety, I don't know what I'd do without my daily commute. But while cycling is good for thinking, when I really want to get some thinking done and sort out my problems, going for a long walk in nature is my preference.
dsabanin 6y ago
You can walk faster? :)
ThePadawan 6y ago
> Walking makes me anxious. It's just too slow and makes me feel stuck in a place. Funnily enough, this is my experience while jogging at a pace sustainable for more than 30 minutes. It feels much better to power-walk the same distance. Potentially the amount of movement forward vs. up/down makes a psychological difference.
- Noumenon72 6y ago
  My running style was once described as "a lot of up and down, not much forward". Geoffrey Verity Schofeld's cue "Everything FORWARD" (https://youtu.be/x7SAQsmBm5M?t=368 https://youtu.be/x7SAQsmBm5M?t=368) might help you feel like you're making forward progress. It won't be sustainable for 30 minutes at first, but that will be a nice challenge to work up to.
  - ThePadawan 6y ago
    My natural way is very similar to that, going forward all the time. Since I've been struggling for years to go from "running in my style for 15min" to 30min, I've instead switched to the goal of "running for 30min in any style", then working my own style back into that :).

yomly 6y ago

It's good that you can find freedom in cycling, tho the coach in me wants to challenge you to see whether you can find peace and freedom in a very leisurely stroll. After all, if you're not going anywhere, what is the rush?

Aaargh20318 6y ago
> After all, if you're not going anywhere, what is the rush? I have IBS, so getting to a bathroom. When I have an attack, walking makes things much worse, combined with the fact that it takes forever to get anywhere on foot it’s a recipe for disaster.
- Ensorceled 6y ago
  That's a very specific condition though. My best friend from university suffers from IBS so I completely understand where you are coming from.
bserge 6y ago
Different things for different people. Walking just makes me tired, I start with 50 thoughts in my head and end with 100 thoughts in my head. There is no rush, and that is what makes my brain anxious. Running, cycling, lifting, shooting helps me focus, and that brings peace to my mind.
- justnotworthit 6y ago
  Maybe people's brains are (metaphorically) on a hertz cycle that is perfectly calm/in sync when the outside stimulation as at the same "frequency". It's like when you try to fall asleep watching/listening to something. Too boring and your mind wanders and you dont fall asleep. Too exciting and you're thinking about things while keeping up with the original thing.

Fricken 6y ago

I'll attest to cycling being a great reliever of stress and anxiety, I don't know what I'd do without my daily commute. But while cycling is good for thinking, when I really want to get some thinking done and sort out my problems, going for a long walk in nature is my preference.

dsabanin 6y ago

You can walk faster? :)

ThePadawan 6y ago

> Walking makes me anxious. It's just too slow and makes me feel stuck in a place. Funnily enough, this is my experience while jogging at a pace sustainable for more than 30 minutes. It feels much better to power-walk the same distance. Potentially the amount of movement forward vs. up/down makes a psychological difference.

Noumenon72 6y ago
My running style was once described as "a lot of up and down, not much forward". Geoffrey Verity Schofeld's cue "Everything FORWARD" (https://youtu.be/x7SAQsmBm5M?t=368 https://youtu.be/x7SAQsmBm5M?t=368) might help you feel like you're making forward progress. It won't be sustainable for 30 minutes at first, but that will be a nice challenge to work up to.
- ThePadawan 6y ago
  My natural way is very similar to that, going forward all the time. Since I've been struggling for years to go from "running in my style for 15min" to 30min, I've instead switched to the goal of "running for 30min in any style", then working my own style back into that :).