Stress seems to be a part of everyday life for me, just like it is for most women. Between work, kids, families, outside activities, and daily housework I am constantly bombarded by it. Normally I just deal with it and move on. I have never really had a “stress reliever.” But with recent events in my life (see my last blog), I had to find a stress outlet. so I decided to try yoga.
Yoga has been around for thousand of years and has been credited with increasing flexibility, easing pain, quieting the mind and of course stress relief. The last time I tried yoga was years ago in college. I took it for class credits and found that I did enjoy it. It wasn’t an easy thing to do like so many people had made it look! It took concentration, strength, patience and determination. For people who are constantly on the go, yoga could be difficult because it is so often focused on relaxing the mind, getting into the position and holding it.
Since it had been a while (um, can you say 11 years?) since I had last tried yoga I thought I would start simple. I pulled out my Wii Fit and went to the yoga section that my son Brian loves so much. At first it was very difficult for me to concentrate on the pose and my breathing, but I kept at it. After 3 days I found it much easier to get into the pose and hold it but more importantly I found that I wasn’t worrying about what I needed at the store or did my daughter need a diaper change. I was concentrating on me and my body. I was paying attention to my breathing and how my muscles were all stretching, including muscles I never knew I had.
After going through all of the yoga poses on Wii Fit I decided to look online and try some others out as well. I found some I love:
The wonderful thing about yoga is that you can design your own series of poses and it really doesn’t require any props or special clothing. You can find some great information at the library on online. A great one I like is www.YogaJournal.com.
Yoga is a wonderful inexpensive workout (yes, I said workout) that can be done by beginners and experts alike and can lead to Zen like clarity – for a few moments at least!
I won’t lie. I still get stressed, but now I know that there is something I can do about it to make myself feel better. I urge you all to give it a try. You have nothing to lose but all the stress you are carrying.
Tags: exercise, healthy living, stress relief, yoga
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Hi Danielle,
Yoga is a great way to manage physical stress. I have been doing pilates lately to help build strength too. I have also had huge success dealing with my lifestyle stress by getting my nervous system checked on a regularly by a chiropractic wellness doctor. We don’t realize how much our nervous system functioning is affected by the emotional and biochemical stress we deal with on a day to day basis.
Stress causes interference in the communication between our nerves and the rest of our body, leading to so many symptoms that we can avoid it just by making small lifestyle changes. I have much more energy and feel like my brain is “turned on” after I’ve been checked. =) I’d recommend getting your nervous system checked to get amazing results!
~Meisha
Hi Danielle,
Yoga is a great way to manage physical stress. I have been doing pilates lately to help build strength too. I have also had huge success dealing with my lifestyle stress by getting my nervous system checked on a regularly by a chiropractic wellness doctor. We don’t realize how much our nervous system functioning is affected by the emotional and biochemical stress we deal with on a day to day basis.
Stress causes interference in the communication between our nerves and the rest of our body, leading to so many symptoms that we can avoid just by making small lifestyle changes. I have much more energy and feel like my brain is “turned on” after I’ve been checked. =) I’d recommend getting your nervous system checked to get amazing results!
~Meisha
I used to have a great yoga DVD- Ali McGraw. Loved it. Haven’t done it in ages. I still do some yoga here and there and use some poses to stretch before or after a workout. I love a Sun Salutation to wake up sometimes. I have a friend who is a yoga instructor. Someday, I just might get back to having yoga as part of my regular workout!