Spin Instructor Robin Arzon Explains Why Running Is Her Therapy

When your spirits dip, try lacing up to battle the blues.

That’s what well-known Peloton Cycle instructor and author Robin Arzon did when she struggled to cope after being held hostage by a gunman at a bar in college: she headed to therapy and went running.

“I was so mindful of trying to heal,” she says in Health's video above. “Immediately after the situation, I was like, ‘OK, heal me. Take me to therapy. Take me to all the things,’ because I just didn’t want to be this like, fractured, broken person... It was really the run that allowed me to process what had happened. I was physically running out the experience.”

A psychologist or licensed therapist can do wonders to address the fallout from trauma, and there is strong evidence that exercise is a powerful antidepressant. In fact, the American Psychological Association suggests that more therapists include exercise in their treatment method since exercising can improve your mood and help you work things out, as Arzon discusses.

If you’ve never jogged a day in your life, start slow. And watch the best-selling author of Shut Up and Run share her story to learn why running and talk therapy are the perfect combination.