THE BODY - the biggest missing piece in mental health

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Heleen sits down with Certified Personal Trainer Josh Martin to talk about exercise, mobility, and their undeniable link to mental health.  Heleen shares her own four-year journey of transforming her body, and together they explore why the body is so often the neglected piece in healing. **In this episode:** - Josh's personal story of losing over 100 pounds and what he learned about himself in the process - Why so much of what we blame on "aging" is really just deconditioning, and how it is reversible - Functional Range Conditioning (FRC): what it is and why it is different from just stretching - How mobility issues show up in athletes and how addressing them early prevents injury - The Body Keeps the Score: how trauma gets stored in the body and how movement helps discharge it - Vicarious trauma in therapists, first responders, and healthcare workers, and how exercise helps regulate the nervous system - Heleen's personal journey from not being able to do a single squat to transforming her health at 50+ **This episode is for clinicians, clients, and anyone who has ever felt stuck in their body.** **Research highlights:** - Physical activity shown to reduce depression and anxiety at levels comparable to therapy and medication (British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023) - Resistance training reduces depression and anxiety symptoms in older adults (Psychiatry Research, 2024) - Regular exercise identified as a significant protective factor against vicarious trauma in mental health providers **Connect with Josh:**  **Josh Martin, CPT | Martin Method Fitness** **Website:** https://martinmethodfitness.com/ - Visit **Heleen's Blog** to learn more about this topic and the research behind it: https://www.lifesolutions.io/blog/ - Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@heleenwoest/videos - Explore upcoming topics that are dropping soon on The Missing Piece: https://www.lifesolutions.io/podcast/