Category: Aspberger’s and Exercise

Part of the goal in my stress reduction program is to get my ex-wife out of my head. My healer put me in touch with a former Golden Gloves boxer by the name of “Big Sugar Ray,” as he likes to be called.  His expression is, “No pain no gain in the Big Sugar Ray training.”  He has trained with many known boxers and has lots of stories and quotes he shares during a work out to help motivate me in a positive way.

Sugar Ray helps in my daily life in various ways: we interact man to man,  he understands  the personality of my ex-wife with validation that I may not get from other people.  We add a simple spiritual component to our work.  He puts me though a variety of drills in an hour, from weights to non-contact boxing.  Non-contact boxing for a person on the spectrum benefits from increased motor skills, confidence, social skills, core strength, and overall well-being.  Sugar Ray has worked with many men that have been in mentally challenging marriages.  He also works with people that have have Parkinson’s disease and depression. In working with me, he focuses on my Aspergers, anxiety, depression, and building confidence. My focus, endurance, balance, and spirit have improved over time with our workouts. When I work out I keep my focus on the task at hand and not the problems of the outside world. 

A major challenge for me in addition to my Asbergers is anxiety, which in my marriage shows up in the ever changing dynamics of my wife’s choices. In addition the constant verbal abuse from my wife, it also takes a toll on my body’s energy system.

When I first came back to start on a year’s program of acupuncture and energy healing, my health needed to be rebuilt. I had been in the hospital for what I thought was the flu and turned out to be septic shock. After a year of stressful living with my wife and financially supporting her and her kids, I was worn out mentally. I was also trying to recover from the loss of my father who was my rock. We started a program to rebuild my health physically and mentally.   

When I first started the program I would receive acupuncture and energy healing with some discussion. Over the course of a year it has been a progression of learning body awareness skills like grounding, breathing, and mantras. This support provides safety with a place and routine to learn how to take care of my self and learning boundaries. The hardest boundaries were creating financial ones and now I have a safe structure in place. My next goal is to cut out the verbal abuse.

One of the first things my healer gave me was a rock that looks like a egg as a symbol to help me center myself. While on the Chi machine we moved my body and used color therapy.  Colored glasses, blue and red, helped with my centering. My favorite was yellow because it reminded me of the sun and sometimes would bring light into my sad mind. I would take a step forward in my efforts and at times three steps back. The yellow glasses would pull me out of that mood. The next step is to get me into a workout routine with a trainer. Then, the next step in the healing process is to study the four agreements. Learning some of the concepts will help me reduce my mental stress and improve relationships with people.