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How Training and Sports Can Help Overcome Mental Blockades | Ahmed Al-Saqqar | TEDxYouth@SAIS


having problems throw life
is a normal cycle we all go through it’s
according to your personality how it
affects you for the rest of your life a
genius is creativity can be halted
because they overthink about mistakes
from the past the brain stops working
normally and you get a mind block
scientists however have been working on
finding ways how to kill these mind
blocks and they found that the way that
was most helpful was training physical
training and sports to be specific
studies show that when a person is
training the mind begins to clear
forgetting the problems it has and
putting all that stress through muscle
fatigue and not only that it also helps
with giving the person a sense of
freedom feeling like their mind can work
again it can also help with the
arrangement of your day now I’m not the
most organized person and I never was
and I can admit that but when I started
going to the gym I had to give myself a
schedule and I thought okay what if I
put the schedule in my day to day
routine and from that point I could have
a clear sense of time I knew what I was
doing every minute of the day and I
wasn’t lost like I was before the United
Nations General Ban ki-moon said
something along the lines of sports has
the power to help give potential and
individuals major communities and
nations it encourages personal growth
and is a major force in breaking down
barriers now what that means is through
sports and exercise there’s nothing
different between me you and me whatever
gender you are whatever race we are all
the same as a kid I was very weird
I was always bouncing around terrible
memory no concentration horrible
organization my parents were like he’ll
get it through what he’s still a kid
when he rose up it’ll go away and it
kept going on and on until I reached
high school and the problems got worse
my parents took me to a doctor doctor
said your kid has ADHD and to get an
idea of what ADHD is imagine sitting in
a classroom teachers talking about some
boring topic now he’s tapping his pencil
he’s fumbling paper he’s talking with a
spread distraction distraction
distraction distraction I’ve lost my
train of thought I don’t know what the
lessons talking about and that’s another
failed quiz to add on to that at the
stage of my life I had depression and it
was very bad I was probably at the
lowest point in my life I ever was I
felt that if everyone was in a building
it was split into two sides and I was on
that side alone I didn’t know what my
meaning was life I didn’t know why I was
on this earth my dad comes up to me one
day and he says this is the first time
that I haven’t seen you smiling you
always smile and you’re looking pale and
you’re not looking good so he
encouraging me to start going to the gym
and after months and months of
dedication and hard work
I felt rejuvenated I felt like I was
born again I felt like I came out a new
man I could breathe in the clean air I
could feel the blood coursing through my
body I didn’t feel different anymore
I felt normal I walked amongst the
public as one of them I didn’t feel like
I couldn’t belong I knew what I was
meant to do here now you might be
thinking okay but where’s all the proof
in the backing well studies show that
exercising is actually one of the best
ways to get rid of depression it
actually works just like anti depression
medications would it does this by
releasing the endorphins or the
chemicals in your mind giving you a
sense of calmness and relaxation what it
also does is it helped me with my ADHD
improve my concentration my memory my
focus it does this by increasing the
levels of serotonin nor nor epiphany and
dopamine all which affect focus in your
mind
not only that it’s a great distraction
for people with depression as it gets
you away from those negative thoughts it
takes you to a place where you’re
focusing on something else and not on
those things that seem so inconvenient
before our aim here is to send the
message out and to get everybody to
notice that this is a problem and that
we can get through this with sport that
we sport we can break down these
barriers and that there’s nothing that
can stop us and now you might be
thinking well that’s great it helps with
mental illnesses but what about day to
day mental issues like stress and
anxiety everyone gets that well it’s
it’s also proven that training can also
help with anxiety with stress and with
boosting your morale not only does it
release the endorphins in your mind it
also helps you have a sense of the
relaxation and the tense in your muscles
now when you get stressed sometimes you
get muscle thing in your neck and your
shoulders in your face you might feel
tightness around your chest your height
my pound you might get insomnia you
might get feelings to vomit and all
those physical aspects of stress build
on your mental stress creating a vicious
cycle
but this vicious cycle can be stopped
with physical training as in your body
and your mind are linked if your body is
healthy and your body is good
so is your mind and vice-versa now
training isn’t just a way to help your
mind it’s also a good way to get into
great shape when you wake up in the
morning looking at the mirror feeling
happy about the image that you see
feeling proud that you’re not going to
downgrade yourself when you go outside
it’s empowering but let’s not forget
none of this is possible without
dedication exercising is not possible
without the struggle and the struggle
would be nothing without the
satisfaction because you would not feel
like you earned it
we all have a great image inside of us
we do we just need the courage and the
motivation show everyone else that image
on the outside thank you [Applause]
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