Cal, if the ability to relax hasn’t happened by now, it may not (probably won’t) happen at all.
A few weeks ago, one of my colleagues at work asked me about a resident on his caseload who makes art and is involved in creative processes, then destroys it all and throws it away. My colleague asked, “what does that mean from the perspective of an art therapist?” To which I replied, “I’m sorry to say but art therapists don’t divine specific diagnostic meaning from a person’s creative processes. We don’t analyze the art itself; I can’t tell what it means but I can tell a person’s affect, if they are pressured or relaxed, by looking at line quality, other than that I can’t say.”
Then I told him, “why don't you try making some similar art of your own then recreating your resident’s destruction of it. While doing that, intentionally make notes of every single feeling that comes up for you, then try to walk back towards the root cause; put yourself in your client’s shoes.”
I’m mentioning this because you can’t take a person who is inherently nervous, for whatever reason, then cause them to internally create the physiological side of the fight or flee reaction. Exercise only works for some, but for others it causes the same very ancient brain reactions that humans get when being chased by predators: run away. Put yourself in the shoes of a very green cyclist who is inherently keyed in to worry and intentionally identify every single thing which can go wrong in every cycling situation, as you ride one day.
If Lyn doesn’t have the muscle memory comfort of cycling that you do, you are always going to notice something off; this may partially be due to the physiological stress brought on by exercise which is the same as fleeing danger; only the conscious, logical part of the brain knows this, but that part of the brain doesn’t control instinct and anxiety, if it did, we wouldn’t have therapists.
I can ride better than I can walk or run, therefore I’m comfortable on two wheels more so than in a pair of shoes on tarmac. That ability to breathe and fully exist within the activity of cycling allows me to not have to worry as much about the potential dangers associated with the activity, I simply react appropriately when confronted with any situation. Leas experienced riders need to reconcile their ancient lizard brains and instincts associated with elevated pulse, elevated body temperature, fast movements; they also need to simultaneously pay attention to all the hazards in the sphere around them; manage vectors of intercept for safety; predict the movements of others. All these extra things create extra stress in a person who is not conditioned by years of muscle memory practice and surviving a few injuries. All the studies that show that exercise reduces stress are done within a controlled environment, with an inappropriate sample of individuals. Even those that use real-world exercise outside, in an uncontrolled environment aren’t taking voluntary participants who wouldn’t otherwise be amenable to exercise.
In a nutshell, I’m saying go easy and be patient to the tune of years, if not a decade, for cycling to have an effect on stress. When that first mild crash happens, don't be surprised if she doesn’t get back on the bike for a year or more or at all.
A friend of mine was an upcoming track racer with a very good racing portfolio. She had a wreck, broke her leg, and simply quit cycling for an undetermined amount of time, it’s been over a year so far. Her partner is awesome in that he supports her decision but doesn’t even mention to her that she could get back on the bike, thats her choice alone with no pressure.
Go easy and good luck.
Phil
