Yoga: Stress Relief

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

TOP: Walmart (old similar here) // PANTS: Walmart // SPORTS BRA: Nike // YOGA MAT: 5 below (old similar mats here & here) // YOGA BLOCK: Amazon // YOGA BAND: Amazon // YOGAFIT BOOK: Amazon (3rd edition here)


Happy Wednesday!
We're halfway thru the week and I am so overwhelmed with everything I need to get done! Nowadays I feel like I have so much going on all the time. I never have a day where I can just sit and do absolutely nothing. My days are jam packed with school, work, rehearsals and just trying to be a normal 25 year old, well whatever you constitute as normal. With so much going on, I have to remember to take time for myself, take a step back and not let the stress get to me. 

One thing that I've been doing for about a year now is yoga. I'm still what you would call a beginner and am always trying new poses but this is the one thing where I get to sit and relax. Yoga for me is one of the biggest stress relievers. You focus a lot on breathing and centering yourself. I took a class in college about yoga and it was one of the best decisions I made. As a singer we focus on breath and breath control, yoga does the exact same thing! You focus on how you're breathing and controlling the kind of breath that allows you to relax and clear your mind. We studied from Beth Shaw's Yogafit book that shares all kinds of yoga positions, explains how to get into those positions and what kind of breathing to do for each one. She has a 3rd edition of the book as well!

I highly recommend yoga for singers and performers. We all get those stage jitters and our nerves start to go crazy. When we get nervous the first thing that goes away is breath control. You start taking unnecessary breaths and feel like you're running out of air faster.  Take 5 minutes to sit, deep breath and focus only on clearing your mind and getting into a calm head space; you'll notice that this makes a world of difference and you'll feel a lot better.

Stretching daily is also a great way to relieve stress and to make small improvements in your posture and body over time. If you're not able to do a full yoga practice, 5 minutes of stretching can also give you some relief. All day we're sitting, whether it be in a car driving, in an office chair, in class at a desk even excessive standing all day from physically demanding jobs. This takes a toll on our bodies and we start to notice how our bodies ache more and our joints are hurting. Stretching helps get rid of those extra kinks. Take 5 minutes every morning when you first wake up to stretch. It doesn't have to be anything strenuous but some light stretching wakes up your body and stretches out our muscles from sleep. This allows you to feel more awake and not so sluggish. I'm not a morning person and this really helps me get my day started. As we get old our bodies become more frail and by doing this everyday for 5 minutes, we're preserving the health of our bodies by elongating our spines and keeping your joints and muscles more active so you have less problems down the road.
I hope you give this a try or try meditating, that's one thing I'm starting to look into as well! If you have anything besides yoga you think I should try, let me know! :)

Have a great day!

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