Dirt and Trail May 2020

BASEFIT
3 STEPS TO BOUNCE BACK
FROM LONG TERM STRESS
By Mandy Thomas, BASE FIT: Specialised in Fitness for Dirt Bike Riding
With lockdown, chances
are good that your world
as you know it has been
turned upside down. A
side effect is that your
health and fitness has
probably taken a knock!
Although not your fault,
this lack of wellness is now
contributing to your stress
and leaving you feeling
drained, frustrated, run
down and possibly a bit
depressed.
When you are in a state of longterm
stress, as you have been
with this lock-down, you have
been operating in survival mode,
which means none of your energy
resources have been going towards
repair and vitality. This leaves
you open to getting sick or feeling
depleted, as your system has
no longer been dealing with the
short-term stress such as healing,
warding off bugs and keeping your
immune system strong as it usually
does on autopilot.
Being aware of this is the start
of positive change. Below are my 3
steps to help you begin the process
of bouncing back after this lockdown
experience.
Step 1: Challenges that you
experience are actually ‘neutral
props’! It is your choice whether
you infuse them with positive or
negative. So the first thing you
need to is ask the question “How
can this work for me?”
No matter if it is a weight
problem, fitness, health or mindset
issue… there is always a lesson
which is there to move you in the
direction you actually want to go.
Allow your mind to get creative
for a while of how you would
prefer things and then let the
outcome go for now. Carry on with
your day maintaining your vision
of how you would like things to
turn out. This is the first step to
creating a positive shift as it all
starts with the mind.
Step 2: Understand there is a
timeline for things to play out.
Maintaining the vision you created
in step 1 is important as that is the
direction you are going, despite
the time it may take. Think of it a
steering a ship. You may not see
the shift initially but if you stay
on course, you will eventually get
there. The problem comes in when
you get thrown off by the seemly
endless sea of water so keep looking
back. Looking back will keep you
in a holding pattern of ‘sameness’.
Always hold your focus forward, as
that is where you are going.
Step 3: Be selfish in this process.
Now to be clear I do to mean this
in a greedy or spiteful manner, I
mean that it is important that you
look after YOU first. If your cup is
not full you are no good to others
anyway. Unfortunately, you have
been brought up in a world where
you were taught that being selfish
is bad and that you should always
put others needs before your
own. I’m saying it is 100% perfect
to look after others but NOT to
the detriment or sacrifice of your
own needs. Understanding the
difference will have a huge impact
on your progress and headspace.
In closing, think of your world as
a University, which means you are
here to learn. So use every situation
as ‘feedback’ and work with it in
gratitude, not resistance. As long as
you are making progress daily, no
matter how small, you are winning.
If you are feeling overwhelmed,
I suggest you follow my YouTube
Channel Mandy Thomas Base Fit
– Five Thirty Club, where you will
find lots of free videos addressing
various situations with will help
you move forward and accelerate
your progress. Alternatively, you
can reach me on mandy@basefit.
co.za or visit www.basefit.co.za
If you need assistance in taking
your fitness or nutrition to the next
level for your riding, or have any
questions, please send an e-mail to
mandy@basefit.co.za or call me on
082-461-1442
110 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE MAY 2020 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE MAY 2020 111