Below you will find 14 days of workouts to get you started on unleashing your inner confidence and living a lifestyle of empowerment. Updated regularly. 

 

In my ten years as a specialist mental clinician, I have consistently seen individuals report significant improvements in their emotional and mental health after incorporating exercise into their routines.

Exercise can be a powerful tool for individuals experiencing trauma. It helps to release endorphins, which can elevate mood and reduce feelings of anxiety, depression and distress. Additionally, physical activity can provide a sense of control and, fostering resilience during difficult times. Regular exercise also promotes better sleep overall well-being (including confidence so you can rock your new bikini), making it an essential part of the healing process.

The Five Minute Rule and Ritual

Choose an exercise and begin with just 5 minutes every day until you're in a habit. How do you know when you're in a habit? When you feel bad or guilt for missing a day and you notice the negative effects - lower mood, less confidence and energy. 

Make it a ritual you look forward to - I don't always look forward to getting up at 5am every morning and doing a workout, but I do look forward to doing something for me, the sense of accomplishment when I'm done, feeling confident for the rest of the day and sitting an having a cup of green tea afterwards before the rest of the world gets up.
I feel better overall, more confident, a better mood, more energy, less guilt associated with missing a workout and less energy to ruminate or feel anxious. 

During the early stages of experiencing post-separation abuse (PSA), I changed my workouts to more weights based training. I
worked out as much as I could. It wasn't perfect. I missed some mornings but I stayed as consistent as possible. I also still do a lot of HIIT style workouts and I find the more vigorous workouts give me the most benefits. 

The key things I noticed throughout my experience as an abuse and PSA abuse victim/survivor :
 

• Training hard gave me an emotional release - after I exhausted myself I would often end up on the ground or sitting down and crying.

• It helped me process emotions - I felt a lot of anger and frustration which by the end of my workouts turned into sadness. 

• Occasionally, stronger feelings would surface such as injustice or helplessness and hopelessness where I would feel distressed. I spent many mornings on the phone to 1800RESPECT who helped me through these overwhelming emotions. 

• It took my mind off things for a while.

Exercise doesn't make the abuse stop, I am still going through challenging times and have strong emotions and rumination occasionally, but exercise improves my overall mood and strengthens my resolve and resilience. 

Below you will find 2 weeks of workouts by Caroline Girvan to get you started. If you need to modify these to suit your fitness levels and abilities Jump over to one of my Wild Freedom Support Groups for Women & Men and let me know. Otherwise you can do the 12WBT Program (Michelle was the host of the biggest looser), use the SWEAT app or chose a physical activity you enjoy (walking, riding, sports etc.)