There are many reasons students come to martial arts classes, but one of the lesser-known benefits is that of improved mental health. Martial arts classes can help people know how to reduce anxiety in a few different ways. Read on to find out more! We’re not medical professionals and recommend you consult with a doctor to get the proper treatment and care you deserve.
How to Reduce Anxiety with Martial Arts
Adult martial arts classes can be really helpful for adults who may struggle with clinical or just life-related anxiety. Not only is it a highly physical sport, which means you’re doing something with all the adrenaline that the anxiety produces, but it’s also an effective tool we can use to combat symptoms of how to reduce anxiety.
One symptom of anxiety is racing thoughts. If you’re battling anxiety, you may feel like you’re living totally in your mind, not feeling present or even feeling sensations in your body. Martial arts can be a great solution for this. First of all, the excess adrenaline that your brain can pump through you when you’re feeling anxious needs to go somewhere, or else your body’s thinking it’s in “fight or flight” mode all day. Kicking, punching, and channeling that energy effectively is a superb way to combat the adrenaline pump and can even be necessary for your body, as it’s getting the adrenaline and anxiety out in a focused way.
Secondly, using your full body in a self-defense workout, in general, is going to melt that stress away and help you get all of those feelings out. Stress at work, stress with your kids, your partner, your life; All the things you’re way overthinking come out on the mat. You channel it all into movement and it makes you a focused, clear-headed person off the mat and an excellent martial artist on the mat, with real power and energy behind your moves.
Concentration and Motivation Through Martial Arts
It’s no surprise that racing thoughts can lead to difficulty concentrating, another symptom of anxiety. Often when you’re struggling with how to reduce anxiety, you’re in a weird dichotomy. Sometimes you’re sharply alert, presumably of all things your brain may see as potential “threats,” and almost hyperactive. Other times, you’re fatigued and don’t want to do anything. You’re either frozen in panic or spinning your wheels with stress. If this sounds like you – show up to class. That’s all we ask you to do! The only time we can help you beyond the words of a blog post is when you’re standing right in front of us, ready for class.
Our world-class instructors, who have probably experienced something very similar, will show you how to take your stress, tension, and “help, my shoulders are stuck to my ears” feelings and channel them into your moves. You concentrate on one minute of each class at a time and soon you’re having a lot of fun and the time is flying by. For this one martial arts class, you don’t have to be anything other than exactly who you are, anxiety or not, doing what you’re doing, exporting your thought process to your instructor and getting it all out through physical movement.
Creating a Better Mindset Through Martial Arts
This is something you’ll hear us say a lot, but it’s true; martial arts is about so much more than just punches and kicks. Martial arts is an amazing tool that people have been using for centuries to achieve real success and change their lives. How to reduce anxiety, you ask? By using ancient techniques that are mixed with a complete education on modern mindset in your martial arts classes, you build confidence and physical and mental strength. You develop discipline and perseverance by hitting your fitness goals and moving through the ranks. And you learn so much about how to get your mind on your side from such a physically demanding sport. We’re not going to sugarcoat it – martial arts is hard.
It is a difficult sport. There’s a lot of coordination, a lot of muscle movement, and a lot of focus and discipline required to be a successful martial artist. Our classes aren’t peaches and roses and neither is life, especially not life with anxiety. So let us help you get through it! Whether it’s just anxious feelings or full-on generalized anxiety disorder, we know the difficulty of life with mental health issues cannot be understated. We also know it can be helped through the power of martial arts classes and the development of your mindset.
How to Reduce Anxiety with Your Mindset
Mindset is so important to us here at USA Karate Academy because we’ve seen it work time and time again, on and off the mat. One of our favorite quotes is, “A black belt is a white belt who never gave up.” It’s true! That’s the only difference. And it’s the difference between perseverance and not giving up, even when times are tough. When you’re by yourself in a gym, for example; it’s you, the machinery or weights, and your brain telling you what to do. Sometimes, when you’re anxious, your brain is not your most reliable workout buddy.
It gets distracted, it can say some pretty mean things to you, and hype you up for what it sees as emergencies in the worst way possible. But when you’re in our martial arts classes, it’s not your brain telling you what to do. It’s our instructors. If you want to know how to reduce anxiety with Taekwondo, you’d be surprised by how many of them have struggled with their own mental health issues, and have turned to the mat time and time again for support from their instructors, their peers, and this family here. Martial arts is an individual sport in a group setting, which means that you’re never alone, and that fact alone can be hugely helpful in reducing anxiety.
Martial Arts and Mental Health
Hopefully now you can see how to reduce anxiety with karate. Staying active, focusing those racing thoughts into something positive through kicks and punches, and mindset/community support are martial arts benefits that are critical to staying well. With martial arts classes, your overall mood and your health can both improve tremendously right alongside your mindset, which can help give you the proper tools to reduce anxiety and get through those tough times. Ready to see what martial arts can do for you? Give USA Karate Academy in Green Brook a try with our risk-free adult martial arts classes trial and see for yourself how it can change your life. You’ll love it!