New Workout! Yoga-Inspired Practice to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Working from the outside in, let’s explore a variety of yoga-inspired movement tools that can help us cope with difficult emotions such as stress and anxiety. Even if you aren’t struggling with difficult emotions, this all-levels practice is a great tool to come back to when you’re looking to find ground in the present moment through creative movement.
Now, you might be wondering what magical exercises could possibly make my stress and anxiety disappear? While, unfortunately, I cannot offer any exercises that will make your difficult emotions magically disappear, I can share some tools that will help you begin to reframe your relationship with your challenging feelings.
Stress, anxiety and other related emotions can be extremely uncomfortable feelings to experience. So let’s break down these emotional experiences so that we can better understand them. I like to think of these emotional experiences in 2 parts: thinking and feeling. In times that I’ve felt stressed and/or anxious, I have many thoughts racing through my mind; oftentimes, I experience cognitive dissonance as well (inconsistent thoughts, especially in relation to behavioral and/or attitude patterns) which only exacerbates the racing thoughts.
The second part to this experience, are the physical feelings that arise, usually in response to my racing mind; without labeling my physical experience with judgments, I try to make note of what I feel in my body from an objective perspective. For example: when I feel anxious, I notice my chest feels tight, my shoulders and throat feel tense, and my whole body feels really heavy.
For me, separating my thoughts from my feelings gives me a little bit of space from the personal attachment I feel to my experience. From here, I can begin to reframe my relationship to my experience. Many times, the tools I share in this video help me to ground in the present moment, which allows me to access a clearer mind and ameliorate some of the uncomfortable physical sensations that I am experiencing. However, there are just as many times in which the physical feelings of my anxiety stay with me; in these moments, it’s really easy to believe that the tools didn’t work or maybe I did something wrong, or maybe something is wrong with me. From experience, I have learned that the tools are not broken, nor am I (and neither are you!). While I can choose what thoughts to serve and which to let go of, I cannot control when the feelings/symptoms of anxiety will subside. However, I can choose to hold space and compassion for myself to feel my emotions fully, to be fully present with my experience. This practice is a lot harder than it sounds, and my practice is by no means perfect. It’s hard to be present when the moment feels uncomfortable, to allow my experience to be what it is without trying to change or fix it.
When I’m uncomfortable, I like to remind myself that my feelings are normal and valid; that I am in control and have the power to choose between reacting and responding; that this experience is temporary, and can be an opportunity for exploration and growth if I allow it to be. Again, this is much easier said than done, but I have found (and continue to find) that my messy, imperfect and uncomfortable practice matters not just for my well-being, but for others’ as well.
I hope you find this practice helpful, and that it empowers you on your journey of self-growth.
New Workout! Yoga-Inspired Practice to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Working from the outside in, let’s explore a variety of yoga-inspired movement tools that can help us cope with difficult emotions such as stress and anxiety. Even if you aren’t struggling with difficult emotions, this all-levels practice is a great tool to come back to when you’re looking to find ground in the present moment through creative movement.
Yoga-Inspired Practice to Manage Stress and Anxiety
Now, you might be wondering what magical exercises could possibly make my stress and anxiety disappear? While, unfortunately, I cannot offer any exercises that will make your difficult emotions magically disappear, I can share some tools that will help you begin to reframe your relationship with your challenging feelings.
Stress, anxiety and other related emotions can be extremely uncomfortable feelings to experience. So let’s break down these emotional experiences so that we can better understand them. I like to think of these emotional experiences in 2 parts: thinking and feeling. In times that I’ve felt stressed and/or anxious, I have many thoughts racing through my mind; oftentimes, I experience cognitive dissonance as well (inconsistent thoughts, especially in relation to behavioral and/or attitude patterns) which only exacerbates the racing thoughts.
The second part to this experience, are the physical feelings that arise, usually in response to my racing mind; without labeling my physical experience with judgments, I try to make note of what I feel in my body from an objective perspective. For example: when I feel anxious, I notice my chest feels tight, my shoulders and throat feel tense, and my whole body feels really heavy.
For me, separating my thoughts from my feelings gives me a little bit of space from the personal attachment I feel to my experience. From here, I can begin to reframe my relationship to my experience. Many times, the tools I share in this video help me to ground in the present moment, which allows me to access a clearer mind and ameliorate some of the uncomfortable physical sensations that I am experiencing. However, there are just as many times in which the physical feelings of my anxiety stay with me; in these moments, it’s really easy to believe that the tools didn’t work or maybe I did something wrong, or maybe something is wrong with me. From experience, I have learned that the tools are not broken, nor am I (and neither are you!). While I can choose what thoughts to serve and which to let go of, I cannot control when the feelings/symptoms of anxiety will subside. However, I can choose to hold space and compassion for myself to feel my emotions fully, to be fully present with my experience. This practice is a lot harder than it sounds, and my practice is by no means perfect. It’s hard to be present when the moment feels uncomfortable, to allow my experience to be what it is without trying to change or fix it.
When I’m uncomfortable, I like to remind myself that my feelings are normal and valid; that I am in control and have the power to choose between reacting and responding; that this experience is temporary, and can be an opportunity for exploration and growth if I allow it to be. Again, this is much easier said than done, but I have found (and continue to find) that my messy, imperfect and uncomfortable practice matters not just for my well-being, but for others’ as well.
I hope you find this practice helpful, and that it empowers you on your journey of self-growth.
With compassion,
Marina