Take a step or breathe

                                                       

                                                                    By: Ashli Preddie-Smith

I like to move it, move it. I like to MOVE IT!

Or not?

But you should. The human body is a complex machine that was made to move. You may not always feel like it but your body needs to move.

Exercise helps the body to release tryptophan which is an amino acid that helps improve your mood by aiding the release of the happy hormone serotonin.

Listen Linda, You may not feel like getting out of bed or your room. Having anxiety or just generally being in a down mood can leave you feeling worried, fatigued, and restless and can also have you avoiding social situations. You may not want to go run or climb a tree or lift weights and all that jazz but there are options. Yoga is one way to include physical activity into your day to help improve your mental health.

Kalisse Kelly, 200 YTT Yoga Angels Teacher shared her story of how yoga helped her through a similar struggle while in university.

“When I was in my final year of college (2016) I had a little mental breakdown( was actually diagnosed with depression and anxiety)Funnily enough, I started doing yoga in 2016.When I started yoga I did it mainly from a physical posture point of view.

 I just began to move through a series of postures just so I could get more flexible. I have always been tight in certain areas of the body. I am not naturally able to do certain postures like touch my toes comfortably, bend my back at certain angles or able to do the splits.

 So I have been working on those and many other postures for the last four years. On my journey down to touching my toes, I started to learn so much more about myself on the way down. I learned that my body was a machine that I could stretch, maneuver, and change.”

Many of us try to focus on only one aspect of ourselves which is usually the physical but we forget the mental. We often try to look healthy even if it means ignoring your mind and pushing ourselves beyond our breaking point rather than to fulfill all our needs (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.)

She continued, “Once I started to change my body, I thought ‘well why don’t I do the same for my mind?’ Then my mindset started to change, I started to become more positive and believe that life was simply determined by me.”

Below are some simple yoga poses for beginners recommended by Kalisse that can be practiced to relieve tension and anxiety.

Bound ankle Pose

This pose is a very good hip opener. A lot of tension tends to be stored in the hips. This pose allows persons to access that tension by touching the soles of the feet and sitting upright, allowing the knees to fall out and down to the sides.

  

Forward Folds

  

This pose helps to go deeper into places of the body where people normally feel tight like hamstrings, calves, hips, upper back while using gravity to release into the pose.

Bridge Pose

This pose helps to open the chest heart and hips and stimulates the abdominal muscles. This pose is particularly helpful when you are feeling anxious.

Rabbits Pose

It relieves tension in the neck and helps to focus on the breathing and brings fresh blood to the brain. My number one recommended pose for anyone suffering from anxiety.

 Upward facing dog

 

This stretches the lower back and allows opening in the shoulders and chest. This is another good pose for anxiety. 

I began yoga a few years ago inconsistently. I stopped not because it was not beneficial but because I kept comparing myself to others who were more flexible and seemingly had everything in order. There are others out there like me who and Kalisse had some advice, “For a beginner to the practice all you need to know is that you try to remain present as you practice. That’s key! No competition, no future, no past. Just the present. By focusing on the present all you can do is simply exist there.”

This advice applies even if you choose another activity to relieve your anxiety.

 Breathing is a major part of our day. Our breathing can help to relax us at times when we are physically unable to do anything about the moments in life where we feel anxious or overwhelmed.

 Below is a video that you can follow step by step when you feel worried, anxious, nervous, or any similar feeling.

“Once you exist in the present, it grants clarity of the mind. Once the mind is clear, hard decisions can be made with ease!” Kalisse Kelly.