Run, Flow, Let Go – a five minute workout that makes you feel REAL

A few minutes a day of activity can give you significant health benefits. Run, Flow, Let Go is a training format that strengthens your body and nourish your emotional being. Discover an experience in training and emotional intelligence – read more here!

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What is Run, Flow, Let Go?

Run, Flow, Let Go is a new training format weaving together energizing movements designed to strengthen your body, improve your cardio health whilst nourishing your emotional being.

Each Run, Flow, Let Go video is 5 minutes and includes these three stages:

• RUN – cardio energising exercises based on the essentials of interval training & running.
• FLOW – yoga-inspired movements linked with the breath.
• LET GO – techniques to express & release pent up energy.

In each stage you will be fully ON for 20 seconds & then totally OFF for 10 seconds of rest.

In each video during the LET GO stage, there will be a focus on accessing and releasing one of the primary emotions – MAD, SAD, BAD or GLAD. The session ends with moving into the emotion of GLAD by celebration and wild free dance!

Can a 5 minute workout be effective?

When many of us think about health and getting fitter, we imagine the long, hard slog at the gym for hours or running for miles on a lonely road.

And yet a mountain of science is now accumulating around the merit of micro shifts or micro interventions, short bursts of activity we can do anywhere with next-to-no equipment. The latest science in exercise and health clearly shows that any activity is better than none, and that more is better than a little. The UK health guidelines in 2011 stated we should aim for 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week in bouts of at least 10 minutes with muscle-strengthening activities twice a week, in that order. That advice was changed in 2019 to “some is good; more is better”. The Run Flow Let Go videos are designed around this micro shift format, because we know that as little as five to six minutes a day of objectively measured increases in activity have been shown to deliver significant health benefits.

Let go – train your emotional intelligence

While surgical procedures date back as early as Christ, our exploration into mental health didn’t really start until the mid-18th century, and even then, it was only looking at dysfunction, not how to improve mental health. The consideration of emotional intelligence emerged in 1964, although it didn’t gain traction as a concept until science journalist Daniel Goleman popularised it through his book. Since then, studies have shown that people with higher levels of emotional intelligence tend to have better mental health as they’re able to take a constructive perspective of the ups and downs of their life, and because they’ve developed a level of emotional literacy and mastery over their emotional state.

We need the right vocabulary to articulate to ourselves what we’re feeling and why. If we want to improve how we feel, we need to begin by becoming more aware of what we’re thinking, then change our thoughts accordingly. A simple exercise is to pause and connect to the feeling you’re having — mad, sad, glad, or bad — and think about what might be causing you to feel that way. Emotions are signals, not invitations to take up residency. Run Flow Let Go trains your emotional intelligence by inviting you to move into and let go of the various emotions of mad, bad and sad and we always end in glad, letting go into celebration of life!

Real is where the gold is

I sense that, as a species, we’re at a crossroads. We’ve tried all these different extremes to attain some measure of peace or happiness: success, power, money, stuff, bigger houses, faster cars, nicer clothes, better holidays … but none of it works. We lurch to the other extreme: meditation, shrinking needs, simplicity, deep work, and a quest for enlightenment. It also doesn’t work. It may feel better and more authentic, and we may be able to manage the angst better, but even with glimpses of enlightenment, something is still missing.

And that’s where en-realment comes in. It’s the daily actions and effort to be real that give us the changed reality — not the glimpses of enlightenment, however profound they may feel at the time. I’m forever grateful for the experience, but it’s the daily mantra of being real that has truly changed my life. Life invites us to immerse ourselves in that chaos and wonder, using our real experiences to illuminate our path; to learn, grow, make mistakes, take risks, and seek to become more tomorrow than we were today. Real is where the gold is. It’s also where the heart is (and sometimes the heartache), but it’s worth it.

Further reading – Run, Flow, Let Go, yoga and wellbeing

• Read more about Run, Flow, Let Go
• Design your life – create good habits with the help of yoga and meditation, by Emma Öberg
• Exercise for long-term wellbeing - here’s how you get started, by Tanja Djelevic

Video recommendations – try Run, Flow, Let Go online

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