Practical Ways Exercise Improves Your Mental Health with Sandy Matosz! Episode 015

Richard Conner 0:00

Welcome to Episode 15, I recorded this interview with our guest, Sandy Matosz, towards the end of 2020, to talk about the topic of mental health, and the connection with running. Throughout my conversations with our guests, we’ve talked a lot about running and the connection to mental health. And I want to take this opportunity to do a little deep dive and really understand that connection a little bit better. so grateful to Sandy for coming on the show and speaking with us, and hope you enjoy.

Here’s what you can look forward to on this episode of Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast.

Sandy Matosz 0:39

You know, you really have to focus on your breathing when you’re running. So you’re not focusing on what’s going on in the outside world, you’re not thinking about the bills that you have to pay, or if you fed the dog or if you you know this and that, what are you going to do in that moment, when you’re running? You’re just thinking about, okay, gotta get to the finish line. And you’re thinking about your big goal for that run for that particular run. And you know, and I wonder, you know, when you hit that goal, how does that feel at the end of that run, you know, you plan to run let’s say, just a mile and you hit that mile and you beat your time from last time. It feels great, you know, and it kind of feels like you can take on the world after you do that and you accomplish a goal.

Intro/Outro 1:20

Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast, whether you are new to running or seasoned, get tips in the inspiration that you need to achieve your health and fitness goals. Now, here’s your host, Richard.

Richard Conner 1:37

Hi, everyone, Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast. I am here with today’s guest, Sandy Matosz. Sandy is a licensed master social worker. She currently works with child First as a development clinician, although she is in the process of switching careers. Child First is a program that works with young children and their parents in developing and strengthening their attachment. Sandy considers herself more of a yogi who runs on the side. Her dream and goal is to run a marathon before she turns 35. Welcome to the show, Sandy.

Sandy Matosz 2:15

Hi. Nice to meet ya.

Richard Conner 2:18

Sandy, first, thank you for coming on the show and being part of the Inspire Virtual Runs community.

Sandy Matosz 2:23

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Richard Conner 2:25

I’m so happy that we met not only do you have a great story to share, you have experience and expertise in mental health, which is a topic that I’m excited to get into today. So let’s start off by talking about like how you got into this profession?

Sandy Matosz 2:40

Yeah, definitely. I originally actually did my bachelor’s in journalism, which is completely different than mental health. But I was always interested in how people function and how they work and why they think the way that they do. So originally, I thought the way to do that was through interviewing people and writing stories about them. And then I graduated, and it was really hard to find a job in journalism, and kind of being, you know, a 21 year old not knowing what to do with my life, I decided to move to China and I lived in Shanghai for about a year. And over there, I worked and taught English to kids anywhere from three years old to about eight. And just seeing their lives and how they were, you know, not in control of their own lives, basically, their parents, their grandparents did everything really inspired me when I came home. And I just happened to run into a social worker. And I interviewed her about her position and what she was doing, and she just kind of inspired me that I could help these people help these kids that I saw in China struggling, and also kind of go back to understanding why people are the way that they are, why do they push their children to learn English and then go to soccer, and then do this and do that and not allow children to be themselves and just kind of live their life. So then I applied to school, and I got to school. And you know, two, three years later, I’m working at Child First and helping children and their parents really attached work through some traumatic cases. And, you know, trying to really understand why people are the way that they are and how best to help them but in turn, also help myself understand myself as well. It’s really kind of like a dyadic relationship. It’s really cool.

Unknown Speaker 4:23

So that’s how I got here. Yeah.

Richard Conner 4:25

That’s really amazing. So you moved to China?

Sandy Matosz 4:28

Mm hmm.

Richard Conner 4:28

You taught children English. How long did you do that for?

Sandy Matosz 4:31

For about a year. Yeah.

Richard Conner 4:33

Okay. Oh, that’s fantastic. You know, I visited China a number of times. I love it there. And I was just talking earlier that of all the times I visited China, I did. I’ve never visited the Great Wall. I’ve been there five or six times and I’ve never visited the great wall but but I love traveling there and I really can’t wait to get back.

Sandy Matosz 4:53

Yeah, hopefully soon. You know. Great Wall is fantastic. I traveled I think more in China. And Asia than I have in the United States, which is kind of funny.

Richard Conner 5:06

No, that that’s amazing. I love to travel. And that’s a, that’s great that you’re able to do that. And, you know, I think a lot of people should have that opportunity experience to do so. So that’s great that you did that. And, you know, let’s talk about the children. So you taught the children English, and you kind of observed how they’re being raised and how they’re growing up. And you decided to that you wanted to come back and help people here and you’re inspired by the social worker. So that’s, that’s really awesome. So great, great introduction here. Thanks for sharing that.

Sandy Matosz 5:37

Yeah, of course.

Richard Conner 5:38

Let’s transition into running. Let’s talk a little bit about that now. Like, how did you get started there,

Sandy Matosz 5:45

I was never really a fitness person, per se, in high school, or really growing up. I grew up really like going to Poland every summer. So I would spend all my summers outside. So I never really got into sports. I was just always a very active child. And then I think when high school really hit, I became very, I think, more boyish, I was playing a lot of video games, I was watching a lot of movies. So I became very, you know, set in my ways sitting on my bum all day. And then I think when I went to China, actually, I really got into yoga, I really got into exercising, I met this guy who got me into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, although we really just did boxing it was introduced. And I really liked it. So when I came home, one of my friends is actually a physical therapist, and she is also a personal trainer. So I started going to the gym with her. And we, you know, it was kind of that thing that we did to relieve our stress, because she was in school for physical therapy, she was getting her doctorate in that I eventually started going to school for my Master’s in social work. And with her field, and my field, it’s a lot of stress. And especially in social worker, a lot of things kind of come up that you have never really dealt with growing up, you kind of just put it to the backburner. But being in a master’s program, especially what about social work, where you’re helping other people kind of discover what’s going on in their lives, you have to know what’s going on with your stuff, and kind of own it, a lot of that was coming up. And one of the ways that I managed it kind of understood what was going on was through running. And I really got into running the first year of my masters and I would go either right before classes because I had night classes I’d go before I’d go to the gym straight after and go for a run. And eventually it just became this, this thing that really helped me just process and meditate and relax, you know, and I could go home and I could go to sleep and I wouldn’t be sitting there at 10 o’clock at night laying in my bed just processing through all this stuff that has come up during school and also helped me really time manage. So that’s really what really got me on to fitness slash running journey.

Richard Conner 7:53

Okay, all right. Great. So it helped. It sounded like between your fitness activities, yoga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And, and running, it really kind of kind of helped you so that that’s really great. And, you know, that’s a lot of people will consider running as either, like, stress relief, like, like, relief, as you said, or maybe to to help for in terms of weight loss, or just maybe other reason. So it sounds like for you is more, more to kind of help your your time management and kind of mental health there.

Sandy Matosz 8:27

Yeah, I mean, it definitely, you know, being a girl who you know, now I’m 29. But you know, when I was when I was younger, you know, the weight, and you know, your aesthetics and how you look is a very big thing. So I think originally when I went into running, it was definitely like, I’m gonna lose so much weight. I’m gonna look so great. And then it became this thing that was more about, wow, this is really helping my mental health. And yeah, I look better, but I feel better mentally.

Richard Conner 8:54

That’s great. Thank you for sharing that. So how did you learn how to run like, it just sounds like you just got up one day and just started running like did you join any, any running clubs? Do you have any apps you mentioned that you your friend was a trainer? Like, how did you get started with it?

Sandy Matosz 9:09

Yeah, so my friend, a friend Katie was she was always really into fitness. She was always into that. And she did tennis and a bunch of sports. I did volleyball for a brief moment in in high school, but I was much too short to continue. So I think I just found this app, it was called Aaptiv, Aaptiv, I think, and they had people who would kind of talk to you as you ran. Before being someone who’s very active. Even in my brain, it was very hard for me to just run for long periods of time and not have my brain go to 15 million things while I’m running. So having someone kind of talk to me, talk to me about the correct position that you’re supposed to have you stuck you know, having your abs in, you know how to have your hands how to kind of free through running, it really helped me become more mindful of how, how my running was, how my pace was, and just the different complexity that come with running like your pace, you know all of this.

And I think just that app and I no longer use that app, but then I kind of graduated from there. And I found Nike training club. And I really liked that. And you know, as you kind of use one of those apps, you see, like, Okay, if I do this, I’ll hit 5K for the week. And it’s just, you know, I just started doing goals for myself. So that’s really just how I got into running. Plus, I was spending more time outside and I have a trail right outside. So if I couldn’t run, I would at least walk there. And it was, I think that’s what really inspired me to run, I just decided to one day, I guess.

Richard Conner 10:36

Mm hmm, that’s great. And that’s great that you use these apps to kind of help you along. Again, different folks will do different things, but, but using these apps is a good, good solution. And I love what you said about running outside and the trail. And that’s something I actually even discovered this year myself. So I historically did not run outside, I ran outside for cross country and track in high school. But since then, it was really more so running indoors on the treadmill, which is not desirable, but it was a lot more comfortable for me than running outdoors in the cold, right, or an extreme heat. And I did it as part of my workout. But with the pandemic and the gyms closing, I learned to love running outside. And I’m like, Alright, this is this is actually kind of nice, you know, being outside and hearing the nature and just seeing neighbors that you’ve probably never seen for for years, even though we’ve been living here for quite some time. So So I definitely understand when you say that.

Sandy Matosz 11:30

Yeah, you know, and I think, you know, going off of that with a pandemic, you know, we’re spending a lot more time inside, we’re not going outside, to even go eat or just see our friends or do anything, really. So we’re spending a lot more time inside, you know, now it’s getting colder and November’s coming. We had a fluke warm week, but normally it’s quite cold. So you know, you have this seasonal affective disorder, that kind of happens. So everyone just kind of starts to get away from anyone and kind of shut it inside. And being outside is just one of the biggest benefits for you know, everything, you feel better, you feel refreshed, you sleep better. So just spending time outside is just, you know, so much better for you. And, you know, you just feel better.

Richard Conner 12:17

Mm hmm. Absolutely. I completely agree with you. So let’s, let’s talk a little bit about let’s talk a little bit more about running. What would you say is like your biggest obstacle that you faced,

Sandy Matosz 12:30

I think my my myself really being in a master’s program and then working, you know, now I work full time, and I work with kids. And sometimes you just see some really traumatic things that really kind of sit with you after you get out. You know, I’ve you I’ve worked with people who, you know, overdose while I was working with them. I mean, they’re still alive, thankfully. Or, you know, you’ve heard of domestic violence, you kind of come home. And the last thing you really want to do is exercise because you’re just so emotionally exhausted. But the thing that will help you with that emotional exhaustion and make you feel better is to at least, you know, kind of go for a run or do something that kind of gets your mind off of it and does something good for your body because you’re storing all of this emotion in your body. So I think for me, the biggest thing is just my myself really, and just my motivation and remembering my Why. Why are you doing this? Why are you running instead of kind of getting just so stuck in my thoughts?

Richard Conner 13:30

Mm hmm. That’s, that’s excellent. That’s, that’s something that we talk about all the time is really remembering your why. So I’m glad you I’m glad you brought that up. And I’m glad that’s actually helping you stay active, even though you’re facing some, you know, very traumatic situations where your work. I can’t personally relate, like imagine like, what you’re, what you’re dealing with there. But but it’s great that you’re you’re dealing it with, you know, with it in this way.

Sandy Matosz 13:54

Yeah.

Richard Conner 13:56

So one of the things that you mentioned is that you’re doing yoga. And I know, in your bio, you said that you’re more of a yogi who runs on the side. And this kind of piqued my interest. Because in a previous episode, we had a guest that talked about like how yoga can actually help improve your runs. And we had a great conversation about this. And you know, here, here it is, I found another another runner who does yoga yoga. So let’s talk about that a little bit. Like how did you get into yoga? And like, what, what what do you like about it? And what what do you like to share with our listeners here?

Sandy Matosz 14:26

Yeah, yoga, I think has always been something that’s been on my mind. I think it was, when I was younger. It was one of those things that was like what the cool kids did. And it was like that cool thing that everyone wanted to do. You saw it on Instagram and look at all these cool poses and figurines that people could do. And it didn’t really talk about the benefits that it was, you know, it’s not just yoga and you’re exercising and you’re stretching out your body and you’re working on these different muscles that you normally don’t do anything with. But it’s also the meditation and the mindfulness portion of it. So when I started going to a local yoga studio with one of my friends, she actually later on became a yoga instructor and got her hours and all that. And I just noticed just how much better I felt, I would go to a hot yoga class. And I just know like beforehand, I could be so stressed and so angry, like, I could have just gotten into an argument with someone, and then I’d come out and I feel so refreshed, and so ready, and I could just do more. And as that feeling really just started to happen, every time I did yoga, I just became so much more in tune with my body, I could be doing a stretch, and I could feel like my toes and how they were on the mat, and I could feel my hands and I could, you know, move my shoulders down, so they’re not up. And then I realized it was also kind of going into other aspects of my life, that when I get stressed, you know, my shoulders kind of start to tense up and they start to lift. And, you know, I remembered in yoga to kind of put them down, and I was able to kind of de stress that way and just focus on different parts of my body. And I think by realizing that I just started getting more and more into it. And then I discovered Yoga With Adriene, which is free on YouTube. And I was doing that at home when I couldn’t get to the gym or get to the yoga studio. And it just, it was just this wonderful thing. And as I got more and more into mental health, I realized how beneficial yoga became for my own mental health, you know, alongside running and days, when I didn’t feel like going out running, I was still able to, you know, at least do some type of yoga, whether it was yin yoga, or, you know, more of this Bikram yoga, which is the hot yoga, you know, and there was just all these different types of versions, and I just became so interested in it, and just the mindfulness aspect of it and the meditation aspect of it. So it just, you know, spiraled from there, I guess.

Richard Conner 16:43

Yeah. Oh, that’s great. And I will admit that I, I, myself had a lot of misconceptions about yoga. And until, you know, until recently, when I learned a little bit more about it, I started it, and I started as part of my half marathon training and, and I actually started my, my kids have been doing it for quite some time, either through the gym or through school. So they’re doing it, they’re doing it with me. So I’m hoping to kind of build a habit out of it and kind of build that into my my normal routine. But so I’m not there where you are yet. Like, there’s still a lot for me to learn and kind of get used to it. But I’m really looking forward to it. Because I’ve heard only great things about yoga.

Sandy Matosz 17:20

Yeah, and there’s you know, just with running, there’s different types of running, you could do, you could do sprints, you could do long distance, you could do short distance, you could go quickly, for a 10 minute run, just to get that out. Yoga is just so similar, you could do it more, if you’re looking to do more of a physical thing where you’re trying to, you know, do the more of the planks and do these crazy poses that really work on your upper body or lower body strength. Or you could do more of a yin yoga, near nighttime, where you’re really staying in these postures, staying in these stretches for longer periods of time and feeling the blood flow that kind of goes in there. And I mean, it’s great for running, we’re supposed to stretch, before a run and after a run. And yoga really helps stretch out those muscles more so than a quick five minute pre stretching a post stretch, you know, and it really helps, you know, get those muscles moving and stretched out. So when you do go on a long distance run one day, at least your body’s more stress, you know, stretched out. So the next day, you can still go on another run and not feel so tight and all of your muscles. So yeah, yoga. I could I could talk about yoga for for hours.

Richard Conner 18:26

All right, well, maybe maybe we’ll have to get you back on another episode to talk about yoga. But thank you for sharing that. And for now, you know, throughout this conversation, mental health has come up a number of times, kind of as you’re sharing your experience. So this is I think this is a good time to kind of dive into that topic a little bit. And, you know, I may have mentioned that I’ve noticed a few guests have talked about mental health as they’re describing their running journey. Right. Then we had the world Mental Health Day this year, it was back on October 10. And I saw a few posts on social media from like, what I would call fitness influencers. also talking about mental health. So so let’s let’s talk a little bit about like, what is that connection and why.

Sandy Matosz 19:08

I mean, exercise is just, you know, is important, but I think everyone forgets about the mental health portion of it. I mean, mental health is just as important as your physical health. You know, you could be the most physically athletic person you can be with St. bolts, you know, you can be Michael Phelps, you know, I’m naming random people but, you know, you could be all these wonderfully fit people, but your mental health is really suffering. I think even Michael Phelps once talked about betterhelp, which is a an app where you can talk to different therapists and you know, mental health is really what can prevent you from exercising you know, we’re in lockdown right now we’re in quarantine, a lot of people are suffering from depression. Some people have never suffered from depression or, you know, really feeling it. There’s no social contact. We’re not seeing other people. We’re the only way we’re contacting people is through zoom. And then we have zoom fatigue, because you’re spending a lot more of that time rather than looking at other people and reading their nonverbals, you’re looking at yourself on the zoom. So mental health is just this important thing that can really affect every aspect of your life, don’t take care of their mental health, and they just sit in bed all day and they struggle, you know, they, they give birth to a beautiful child, and then they can barely get out of bed to feed this baby and do this and that, and they have so much going on. And it just gets really tough. And a lot of the time when I talk to people that I’ve worked with individuals who have depression, you know, they do take medication for it, but medication only goes so far. A lot of the time when I’ve talked with people who have mental health, exercise is wonderful for it, it’s one of the kind of medications per se that they give because it releases this serotonin, this good feeling sensation, much like when you have sugar, or anything like that you kind of have this high and you feel really good. That’s why we tend to eat a lot of sugar because it makes us feel good inside it releases dislike dopamine in our brain, and it makes us feel great. And it makes us want more of it. Because we like that happy feeling much. And that’s very similar to how exercise makes us feel, you know, when you’re going to go for a run, when you’re going to go do some type of strength training, the last thing you want to do sometimes, and while you’re in it, you’re still feeling really tough. But as soon as you end you feel so much better. You feel so much, you feel like you can kind of take on the world and you know mental health, and that’s so good for your brain. Ultimately, your brain is what is your mental health.

Richard Conner 21:40

What you’re basically saying is that mental health is just as important as your your physical health, right and exercise and working out. You’re saying that there’s there’s different ways to kind of deal with or manage your mental health, and we have to actively think about it. So one of the ways could could be, depending on your state of mind could be medication, but you’re suggesting that exercise is also an important way to kind of deal with or improve your, your mental health and more of a natural way, I guess, would be my words. But if I was to kind of summarize kind of what you said.

Sandy Matosz 22:15

Yeah, I mean, mental health, you know, a lot of us want to feel good, we want to feel great, and a lot of the you know, we can’t be on and be happy 100% of the time. So what do you do when you’re kind of dipping, and you’re not feeling great? You know, a lot of people have some maladaptive coping mechanisms that they do, like, how do you cope when you don’t feel good, some people turn to substances, some people do turn to drugs, some people turn to, you know, that’s why, you know, cutting is a big thing in high school, you know, they feel all this emotional pain, especially adolescence, and they don’t know what to do with it. And physical pain is so much easier to deal with than emotional pain. And that’s why you know, you have this, you know, these these teenagers who do cut or as you get older, and, you know, mental health is really just the biggest driver in that. And, you know, when you learn how to kind of these different types of coping mechanisms, and exercises, a wonderful one to do that, you know, you get, you don’t necessarily have to go for a run, if running is not what you like to do. You don’t have to do strength training, you know, I think strength training is becoming a big thing on Instagram right now. But you know, you don’t have to go to the gym and lift, you know, 50 pounds or whatever, you can simply go for a walk with your dog, or do a quick yoga at home, or go for a five minute run, walk for two minutes, you know, and do kind of things like that, just to get your blood flowing and Get your mind out of that, you know, that state of unhappiness and feeling like you can’t take on the world and just, you know, feeling kind of just in your own little isolated bubble.

Not you know, and that’s usually what we talk about and kind of find different ways to get them to get them active and get them out of bed and get them doing something because laying down and sitting and isolating, just kind of makes you ruminate about the same thoughts over and over.

Richard Conner 25:06

Okay. All right. So thank you for sharing that. And I could totally, I could totally see that. I mean, I, again, through the conversations that I’ve had, it’s just amazing how much mental health comes up in conversation. And, you know, thinking, wow, this this running in particular, because that’s what we’re talking about running can really have a positive impact on mental health. But as you mentioned, there are other things that people can do if if running is not their thing they could do, but just I guess, being active, getting outside of the house, just doing things to kind of keep your mind off of things is really helpful and beneficial to people.

Sandy Matosz 25:43

Yeah. And, you know, I, you know, I, for me, running is great, because it you know, we talk about yoga, and how yoga really gets you to focus on your breath and focus on what you’re doing. But running does it in a different way, you know, you’re focusing on, okay, what is my alignment and my right running in the correct position? You know, you really have to focus on your breathing when you’re running. So you’re not focusing on what’s going on in the outside world, you’re not thinking about the bills that you have to pay, or if you fed the dog, or if you you know, this and that, what are you going to do? In that moment, when you’re running? You’re just thinking about, Okay, I gotta get to the finish line. And you’re thinking about your big goal for that run for that particular run. And, you know, and I wonder, you know, when you hit that goal, how does that feel at the end of that run, you know, you plan to run, let’s say, just a mile, and you hit that mile and you beat your time from last time, it feels great, you know, and it kind of feels like he can take on the world after you do that. And you accomplish a goal.

Richard Conner 26:40

Absolutely, absolutely. You know, when I’m running, I’m focused on the run, right, and I’m focused on things that are gonna keep me motivated and inspired to run. Because running, running is not easy, right? You have to build up to to the miles and you have to it’s it’s just as much of a mental game as it is physical. So there’s kind of no room, no room for negative thoughts while you’re running, because you really need to kind of focus on what you’re doing. So I totally hear you there. And it’s interesting that you mentioned that you recommend to your clients exercise as part of part of things that they could do, like, what has been the outcome of that, like, have you seen any specific stories of success where you know, that that’s really helped them that we could share with our listeners?

Sandy Matosz 27:23

Yeah. So I mean, I have many clients, and most of my, the children that I work with are five and under. So it’s really the parents that we’re working with. And I had one parent in particular, who he struggled, you know, he had some maladaptive coping strategies. And, you know, I sat down with him one day, and I was like, okay, like, we can’t, you know, you can’t keep doing that, because I wonder how this what this does to your kiddo, like, what else is there that you can can do for yourself? What is it that you’d like to do before you got into whatever you did, and he mentioned exercise, he really loves to go outside and go for a run, you know, there is a trail right by his house, so he would go out for a run. And right now with a three year old, he can’t exactly go for long distance runs.

So you know, we kind you know, I talked with him, we kind of strategized what he could do what he can do. And, you know, the next couple times that I talked to them, lo and behold, he’s doing, you know, I think he did some yoga actually, with his son, and he was doing exercises and to bring his son into it, he would kind of put us on on his shoulder, and he would do squats with him. And they would do, you know, he would like weight lift with him as his son as his kind of weight. And, you know, near the end, you know, I’m kind of leaving now, and we talked about it, he just feel so much better, his connection with his son is even better, because they’re doing this activity together. And I can, you know, you can see it also in just how someone kind of radiates, you know, he’s gained some muscle, he looks better, he’s eating better, he’s actually kicked, he doesn’t smoke anymore, which is wonderful. He says that the inclination when he has to smoke, he’s like, you know what, I’m gonna go do this thing with my son. And they go and do some type of exercise, or they go on bikes, and they go on bike rides, and it’s just, it’s been wonderful to see this transition. And this one particular client, and it’s, you know, and it just shows that Yeah, you can have the world against you, you don’t know where your next paycheck is gonna come from. But he feels after he does his fraud or his exercise or whatever he does with his son. He’s just like, Alright, I’m ready to call this place, get this done. You know, I just accomplished the school. I’m gonna go to the next school and it’s just as a therapist, it just really wonderful to sit there and just see someone kind of take something that you kind of you planted the seed and just flourish into something beautiful, and to do it through something that he enjoys, which is exercise.

Richard Conner 29:46

Wow. Great story. great success story. Yeah. And congratulations to you and to him to your client for for really, really helping him and that’s that’s an amazing kind of feels like a turnaround right in his life and that. That’s awesome. So this has been a great conversation, Sandy, as we wrap up, what would you share? Like what would be like the one thing you would share with our listeners, you know, related to to mental health and fitness? Like, what would you want to leave with our listeners today?

Sandy Matosz 30:21

Do do something, but do something that makes you happy. If it’s running, go out there and run. But just because someone else enjoys running doesn’t mean that you will find that thing that keeps you active, but that you love and you keep wanting to do because that’s what’s gonna keep you motivated. And that’s going to keep you going towards your why, why you started doing this and why you want to keep doing this. And the more you’re happier and completing your goals, the better your mental health would be. And the better you’re going to feel overall. And then it’ll trickle down to everyone else in your life as well.

Richard Conner 30:53

All right. Thank you so much, Sandy. This has been awesome. I love the stories that you shared to highlight the importance of mental health and the role that fitness can play. Thank you for sharing your story about going to China and the work that you did there. Yoga, running, like you’re just amazing. Thank you so much.

Sandy Matosz 31:13

Yeah, definitely. Thank you for having me. Thank you for letting me talk and babble for a long time.

Richard Conner 31:19

No, this is this is great. So if our listeners want to learn more, and they want to follow you like what, where can they find you on social media as an example? Yeah, so my social media tends to be private just because I do work in the mental health but feel free to send me a DM or a direct message on Instagram because usually where I’m most active, so my Instagram name is Sendusia or Sendusia. So it’s S e n d u s i a. And that is, I’m the only Sendusia so you’ll find me.

Alright, sounds good. And what I’ll do is I’ll include that in the show notes to make it a little bit easier for our listeners to find you, Sandy. Again, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Much appreciated.

Sandy Matosz 32:03

Yeah, definitely. Thank you for having me.

Richard Conner 32:08

I want to take a moment to thank Sandy for coming on the show, and sharing with us part of her life story, experiences and knowledge on the topic of mental health. And I want to share with you three things that I took away from the conversation. The first is mental health and fitness are interconnected. If you are struggling mentally, then staying on top of your fitness is going to be hard. However, fitness can improve your mental health. You just have to have a little faith and push through to get started. Number two, there is so much support and tools to help you get started. Sandy mentioned apps like Aaptiv, and the Nike run app. And those are tools to help you get started and help you get into fitness. So check it out. Third, find what you enjoy doing as it relates to fitness. If you enjoy it, you’ll want to continue doing it. So with that, just want to thank you for listening today. I appreciate all of you and have a great day.

Intro/Outro 33:17

That’s it for this episode of Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review. Also, be sure to click the subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks for listening.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai