Most of us live with our fi ght or fl ight response system constantly turned on. We spend hours, sometimes days and weeks in this mode before we catch a break. Here’s the kicker - the brain doesn’t know if we are being chased by a saber tooth tiger or paying bills. It sees stress as stress and responds to it in the same way.


Knowing this - is the ticket to living well with stress. This is where it gets so interesting. This is where you can take your power back.


Exercising is proven to lower stress


levels AND boost the happiness hormones in the brain. A quick google search would yield you hours of reading through study after study proving that. This is not ground- breaking information - we’ve all heard this. So why don’t we implement it?


Have you ever left a barre or yoga class and just felt good? Maybe you even said to yourself, “I really should do this more often.”


So why don’t we? Here’s our theory:


In the “build up” to exercise, the kind of ‘talking ourselves into it’ phase, our Fight of Flight system starts to pick up on our emotions and begins responding to the perceived threat (working out) and delivers the stress response. It’s our default. We’ve trained our brain to do it.


The brain interprets this as either fi ght- ing a threat or fl eeing one. It may seem funny for your brain to see barre class as a threat - but because of the way we’ve let stress take the wheel and drive - that’s exactly what’s going on.


The trick here - is to KNOW your brain is doing this. KNOW that you can over- ride this system and ditch the pre-workout dread. If we can train our brain to do one thing - we can train it to do another.


In the fi rst few minutes of class as your


body starts to move and the oxygen starts to fl ow, the brain releases a protein call BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). BDNF is soothing in nature and when this protein starts to course through your body - it acts like a healing salve to our good friend, the Fight or Flight system. At the same time, endorphins start to release their magic.


This is huge. This is the brain beginning to re-wire itself. The key here, to move from stress to calm, is consistency. Creating a new habit in life is tricky - there’s no deny- ing that, but the bottom line is - it’s so worth it. A lot of hard things are.


Invest in yourself. Invest in the incredible and intricate intelligence that is your body.


Reframe the idea that exercise is a


luxury. Now more than ever, we need to be in our bodies and re-evaluating our relationship with stress.


You were meant to feel more than just the weight of chronic stress. You were meant to feel good in your body and good in your mind - and as neuroscience is teaching us, the two are connected. They cannot come undone.


Move your body - calm your mind.


Shannon Osborne is the owner and founder of Honor Movement Studio, 502 Ste- vens Avenue, Portland. She doesn't believe in a one-size- fi ts-all approach to fi tness, but


she does believe in empowering others to create their own body balance. Her mod- ern approach to holistic fi tness is the result of nearly a decade of geeking out about anatomy and her unabashed belief that movement is medicine. When she's not at the studio you can fi nd her exploring the Maine woods with her boyfriend and their dog. She can be reached directly at Hello@ HonorMovementStudio.com


Honor Movement Studio - we know that just showing up can be the hardest part. Let us take it from there. We offer a large variety of classes from sweaty full body workouts to soothing restoratives. We’ve got really convenient class times too, from early morning to late evening. Honor is a calming and soothing oasis in a hectic world. And it was built with that exact purpose in mind - to become a sanctuary, a place to refi ll our cup. When we tap into the power of the mind body connection - that’s where the magic happens. We teach with intention. We take an anatomically intelligent approach, and everyone, every body, every level of experience is welcome. We’re all in this together. Learn more at www.honormovementstudio.com See ad on page 8.


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