“When anxiety rises because we’re facing a distressing threat like the new coronavirus, we need to focus on what tends to work for us to ease anxiety — that, plus doing a little bit more of some actions and a little bit less of others.”
Coping with coronavirus anxiety – Harvard Health Blog
Harvard Medical School has some recommendations to help relax and cope with anxious feelings during this intense time.
A little more of:
Connect with friends/ community.
Stick to sources of credible information.
A little less of:
Checking the news 24/7
What else do they recommend? These 3 tried and true methods to relax:
Yoga
Meditation
Controlled Breathing (they mention specifically Square Breathing. Tutorial on that below)
One might argue that all three of these things are actually branches of yoga…. But let’s just assume they meant “yoga asana” aka. Poses or the physical fitness aspect to the practice.
Yoga has been widely researched by numerous academic bodies suggesting it’s multifaceted therapeutic effects.
“By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress more flexibly.” Yoga for anxiety and depression
So which form of yoga is the BEST?
Well, Harvard also suggests that the answer to that question is up to YOU. We have our own best practices. No one knows us better than ourselves. So what drives you? Is it fast paced Vinyasa? Is it slow mindful Hatha? Or perhaps it’s a Restorative practice or nourishing Yin? Maybe you like to target a certain area such as with a Core practice. Maybe yoga isn’t your jam at all. Do you like running, biking, HIIT, dancing? Find a way to keep doing what you LOVE. With so many teachers and instructors taking their classes virtual these days, it should be easy to find one. Ask your Facebook friends for recommendations, look up Instagram hashtags (#livestream is trending), or reach out to your favorite teacher to see if they are offering a class online.
Do you NEED to suddenly start doing a new class or style of yoga to achieve blissful calm?
NOPE. But do keep in mind that trying something new might be just what your mind and body needs, RIGHT NOW. When we do the same thing over and over and over and over again, our mind and physical body stop reacting to it. It’s that joy you feel on the first day of a new job, verses the burnt out feeling you get years later. Or the thrill of hearing a new music album versus hearing it for the millionth time. Down to a biomechanical cellular level, our muscles quit firing and our brains quit receiving the same electrical signals. Quite literally the workout/ class stops producing the same results and effect it once did. It all becomes a boring old hat. This is why trying something NEW produces results. It gets those muscles firing, it entices your brain to enliven. Does this mean you also much quit doing what you enjoy? Nope. But it does mean adding something uniquely different, (bonus if it’s a mindfulness practice!) will be revitalizing.
Square Breathing:
This is a simple practice anyone can do at home. With the exception, that pregnant people should not do breath practices that involve retaining the breath. I’ll include alternatives for you mamas =)
Envision a square, place your awareness at one corner. Let’s go clockwise, so place yourself at the upper left corner.
Step 1: Inhale for a count of 4 allowing your awareness to travel to the next corner (upper right).
Step 2: Hold/ retain your inhaled breath for a count of 4 as your awareness slides to the next, lower right corner. ***Pregnant people, skip the retention. Keep inhaling again, increasing your count to whatever number you reach (5, 6, 7, 8?)
Step 3: Exhale for a count of 4 letting your awareness travel to the next corner, lower left.
Step 4: Hold/ retain your exhaled breath for a count of 4 as your awareness returns to the upper right corner. ***Pregnant people, skip the retention. Keep exhaling, increasing your count to whatever number you reach (5, 6, 7, 8?)
<repeat steps 1 – 4 several times around your square>
Feeling calm?
Join me for class this week and we’ll practice the Square Breathing technique.
I’m online for now, Live Stream each week. SAFE at Home.
Tuesdays:
Yin 1:15pm⠀MDT
Wednesday: ⠀
Mom & Baby 11am⠀MDT
Prenatal 5:45pm MDT
I hope to see you virtually on your mat!⠀
Don’t live in Colorado? Not a member of the studio? No problem! All are welcome!
𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦:
Please join us on Zoom: https://zoom.us/join
Use Zoom meeting code: 392-058-3247
(you will be placed in a waiting room and admitted into the class when your enrollment has been verified.)
Register in advance here: https://www.louisvilleyogajunction.com/schedule
All class passes are 𝟮𝟬 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗙𝗙. Please purchase online with code: ONLINE20