It’s estimated that 80-90% of doctors visits are stress-related, but how many doctors are writing prescriptions for stress reduction?

Mind-body practices such as Yoga help us to learn how to deal with stress & improve our overall health & well-being. Yoga is a powerful combination of releasing physical tension together with a philosophy of non-judgement, compassion, and and awareness. Practicing non-judgement within oneself and with others is an enormous stress relief as so much of our stress actually comes from being hard on ourselves or being in a hard place with others.

Yoga helps us also to balance the connection between body & mind. Many of us live in our heads almost exclusively and are disconnected with the body, and some with an athletic orientation might be perpetuating stress through pushing themselves rather than using the exercise as a way to relive stress. All of this puts us out of harmony within ourselves and perpetuates stress.

What we can do:

Breathe- Doing Slow & Deep Breathing has been shown to calm the nervous system and reduce stress.
Move the Body - Taking a short walk in the neighborhood, dancing around the room, or doing some stretches while breathing slowly & deeply helps immensely.
Do Meditation : Just sitting and allowing ourselves to get quiet while focusing on our breath helps us to relieve anxiety
Yoga Nidra: This is a practice of deep relaxation that guides us into the body and breath and allows us to integrate our thoughts, feelings & emotions which has been shown to reduce stress.
Love Yourself: Kindness and self love have been shown to improve physical health as well as mental & emotional well-being. Self love practice : Say out loud to yourself “ I love myself” 3 times, then say a little quieter to yourself “ I love myself” 3 times, then say mentally & silently to yourself “I love myself” 3 times. Do this everyday to build a loving foundation with self.

Rachael Breeze ~ Jan 8, 2020