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Jiu-Jitsu has been hailed to be a lifesaver for people with anxiety. It builds a capacity within practitioners of coping with fear and anxiety that is troubling them and building up self-esteem. It also hones up their mental and physical strength to battle all real-life challenges ahead.
Talking about anxiety, it is needless to mention how awful the travails are, whether you are in a diagnosed state or suffering from minor anxiety. Only anxiety sufferers can tell how difficult it is to survive a disorder that controls almost every aspect of their lives.
In addition to immersing individuals in unnecessary worrying and thoughts, this disorder anxiety does more destructive harm to the victims. It frequently leads to continuous headaches, trouble sleeping, trouble breathing, social isolation to serious depression.
In America today, 18% of adults are suffering from some extent of anxiety and this number range is found between 12-15% worldwide. So, it’s very evident that anxiety is a major issue grasping our society today. Finding a solution is a dire need now!
In that regard, many have specified that engaging themselves in physical activities like Jiu-Jitsu has actually brought a positive change to them. Even a fair percentage of them claimed that they were completely relieved of their anxiety. Agreeing with them, today we will shed light on the benefits of Jiu-Jitsu on how it can help you in healing your anxiety.
Before getting into our discussion, we have added this section to elucidate what Jiu-Jitsu is for those who are not familiar with it. Fundamentally, Jiu-Jitsu is a form of martial arts inspired by Judo, but in this combat sport, the emphasis is on ground fighting. It allows a participant to overpower any untrained or lesser skilled opponent with a stronger physique.
It involves two practitioners, where one employs ground fighting techniques like chokeholds and joint-locks to keep the opponent lying on the ground and to neutralize the potential strength, height, and weight advantages. Indeed, investing in Jiu-Jitsu training is absolutely worth your bucks.
This is because, despite being just a combat sport, Jiu-Jitsu really comes in handy in gaining fitness, achieving mental and physical well-being, improving self-confidence, and defending oneself where needed. Furthermore, Jiu-Jitsu has proven to be very useful in curing anxiety. And, our latter part of the article unfolds why and how it helps individuals to fight with this unfortunate disorder. Curious? Just read along to find them one by one.
Jiu-jitsu is considered as an exercise for your mind as it is for your body. Regular exercise brings the erstwhile balance back in your nervous system and this balance aids you to manage your mental stress.
Besides, we all know, exercise releases endorphins which induce a positive sensation into your body that leads you to kick out all the bugging negative feelings. This positive sensation also leads you to see and focus on the positive sides of everything which eventually gets you out of the shell of your anxiety.
Mastering Jiu Jitsu makes the practitioners incredibly skilled in self-defense which parallelly makes them bold and valorous. This feeling of fearlessness helps individuals to surpass the situations that make them anxious and outcast past traumas that were haunting them incessantly.
Again, through physical combat, Jiu-Jitsu acclimatizes individuals to those situations that remind them of past traumas. Another considerable fact is that those who attend Jiu-Jitsu training classes regularly don’t seem to find time to worry unnecessarily. Consequently, they tend to forget irrational fears that only live in their heads.
One of the most known advantages of Jiu-Jitsu is the improvement of self-confidence. When practitioners attend Jiu-Jitsu training classes, they have to carry out their practices in a group; which slowly but surely evaporates their social anxiety and the fear of judgment.
Besides that, those who have already learned Jiu-Jitsu techniques know how to defend themselves when any bully or physical assault confronts them. The assurance that you can fight back even when the opponent has got the stronger physique – utterly boosts up your self-confidence.
Jiu-Jitsu teaches individuals to fight back and repeatedly get up for it when they fall. Upon every fall, the practitioners stand up with new hope to win the battle; this encourages them to stand up from their failure in anything.
During practice, each participant gives their best effort to submit their opponent no matter how many times they fail. This exercise brings a never-give-up attitude in their characters and motivates them to take each fall as a chance to get up with more intensity.
As you kick off your Jiu-Jitsu training journey, without even realizing you will see you are going to bed on time to assure that you don’t feel dozy the whole day.
Again, surprisingly, you will find that you are picking healthy meals only to retain good health. Whatever your case is, Jiu-Jitsu will lead you to follow a healthy lifestyle, and undeniably, a healthy lifestyle is inseparable from a sound mind. And it’s pretty obvious that a sound mind lets you deal with your all anxiety and fear calmly.
During Jiu-Jitsu rolling, both opponents have to remain very conscious and focused to take the game to his or her side. They cannot lose focus even for a single moment, because otherwise, they will lose the roll.
So, they shoot for their goal with sheer determination and passion from the beginning till the end. This practice of strong determination also comes in handy in other aspects of their life too. And, when a person is focused on his or her life, he or she is not likely to fall into the trap of anxiety.
Practicing Jiu-Jitsu techniques regularly improves your stamina to a larger extent every single day, because your sudden increased activity induces your body to improve blood flow and oxygen consumption. This condition of your health manifestly drives away your fatigue and makes you a more active, energetic, and excited person.
This positive vibe is life-changing and definitely helps dealing with anxiety.
People with anxiety often find it hard to interact with others; whereas it’s pretty obvious that communicating and consulting with others can help you vanquish your distress. Jiu-Jitsu training provides a very friendly ambiance where anyone can easily blend with others.
Also, it let’s you to interact with others, as you know Jiu-Jitsu practice requires the involvement of two practitioners. Hence, during training, you become communicative and friendly and this quality accompanies you always – on or off the mats.
Whether you know it or not, socializing has been proven to be helpful for both the mental and physical health of human beings. Studies show that being social interaction reduces the risk of depression and frustration alongside decreasing the possibility of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.
So, the importance of being social is beyond discussion. However, for people with anxiety disorder, opening up or blending in with people is a hell of a challenge, but joining Jiu-Jitsu training makes the task easier. As you start interacting with your fellow mates, you learn to bond with them which eventually paves the way for you to become a social butterfly.
Jiu-Jitsu makes you super active and enthusiastic about the upcoming challenges. Being a part of the Jiu-Jitsu training journey, you profoundly learn that life is all about losing and standing up for conquering your goal again.
You learn that giving up is the only barrier between you and your goal, so you’ve got to be super active in all aspects of your life. This way Jiu-Jitsu further enhances your enthusiasm, perseverance, and helps you to find a way to get rid of your disorder.
If you suffer from anxiety, then this article is sure to be of some help to you. This art form not only makes you physically fit but also makes you mentally strong to overcome all your fears and anxiety.
Yet, what sets Jiu-Jitsu apart from the other physical exercises is that it’s quite easy to get started and offers you a lifelong hobby and being part of a passionate community. We hope this article helps you shed some light on the benefits of Jiu-Jitsu for Anxiety.
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I'm Timmy and I'm the chief-editor and co-founder of Jiu-Jitsu Street. You'll usually find me on the mats and also cross-training Muay Thai. Besides martial arts I'm also into functional fitness and all things health. Jiu-Jitsu Street was created to provide useful information for BJJ beginners and seasoned practitioners alike to help you on your journey and love for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Oss!
Jiu-Jitsu Street is a community of fun loving and hard rolling BJJ enthusiasts. Born out of our passion for the gentle art, we have decided to create this blog and help you on your journey. Let’s grow and learn together on this never-ending journey. Oss!
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