YOGA BLISS SIMPLE YOGA POSES FOR STRESS RELIEF

Transcription

1 YOGA BLISS SIMPLE YOGA POSES FOR STRESS RELIEF

2 INSTANT CALM OVERWORKED, UNDER-RESTED AND ALWAYS ON THE GO. STRESS IS A MODERN DAY EPIDEMIC. I first discovered yoga in my early 20 s. Struggling with my final year of university, I was buckling under the pressure of exams, expectations and an unhealthy lifestyle. That s when the panic attacks began. Great big, horrible black holes of fear that swallowed up my vitality and confidence. A friend suggested yoga as an antidote to the panic attacks and sure enough, the combination of yoga poses and breathing exercises made me feel more relaxed and in control. Twenty years later, I still use those same techniques to help me cope with the day to day stresses of work and family life. The simple techniques in this booklet will give you the tools to reduce your stress levels when things spiral out of control. While these techniques will bring some immediate relief, a regular practice will make a dramatic, long term difference to your health and wellbeing. Try setting yourself a 7 day challenge and practice the exercises in the booklet every day for a week. You ll feel amazing and discover, as I did, that yoga is your most powerful ally in the quest for calm. Nikola Ellis Founder and Principal Teacher 1 2

3 ABOUT ADORE YOGA Adore Yoga helps you to balance the competing demands of work, family and me-time. Our friendly small group classes in Mosman (no more than six students per class) and inspiring retreats in Australia and Bali help you strengthen your body and relax your mind. We re celebrating 10 years of serving the community in 2013! COMING UP IN 2013 BALI PARADISE YOGA RETREAT Yoga, relaxation, reflection Tue 30 July Tue 06 August 2013 Sembiran, unspoiled north coast of Bali. Earlybird from $1,690. Book online DAINTREE RAINFOREST YOGA RETREAT Find balance in the heart of the rainforest Friday 6 Wednesday 11 Sept 2013 $990 Earlybird. Book online Important information: The information contained in this document is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for educational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider before starting any new treatment or exercise routine or discontinuing an existing treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider about any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Nothing contained in this document is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. 3 4

4 STRESS-BUSTER 1 STRESS-BUSTER 2 REMEMBER THE BREATH PRACTISE MINDFULNESS 5 The way you breathe directly impacts your nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system, or the fight or flight response, can be triggered by fast, shallow breathing. When the fight or flight response takes over, your heart rate goes up, adrenalin starts pumping and your whole body is in a state of acute stress. That s great if you need to get out of immediate danger you re hyper alert and all the body s systems are ready to support intense physical effort. However, the body pays a price for going in to fight or flight. The stress response slows down the physical functions that are not crucial to immediate self-protection. Sexual function, digestion and the immune BELLY BREATHING Lie down on your back and place the palms of your hands on your lower belly. As you inhale, breathe into your palms and feel them rise. When you exhale, just let go of system are all compromised by the acute stress response. Calm, slow breathing triggers the rest & digest response of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS is responsible for digestion, sexual function and elimination. When you re in the rest & digest state, your body relaxes and repairs itself. You can learn to activate the relaxation response by using simple yoga breathing techniques. Try the simple exercise below: the breath and allow the belly to passively fall back to the starting position. As you continue to breathe into your palms, consciously relax your face, jaw and shoulders. Repeat for 12 breaths. When we re stressed out, we go on autopilot. The mind buzzes away, filled with the day s demands and worries and we don t pay much attention to how we re actually feeling. Just becoming aware of how you re really feeling can help you to notice when stress levels are creeping up, giving you time to take action before it takes over. This short practice will get into the habit of becoming mindful of how you are feeling. MINDFULNESS PRACTISE Sit comfortably, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair. Close your eyes and turn your attention inwards. Spend about 5 minutes asking yourself the following questions, but take care not to judge what you find simply observe. How does my body feel? Where are the areas of tension or discomfort? How is my posture? Am I feeling restless or calm? How are my energy levels? Is my breath deep or shallow? Is my breathing smooth or bumpy? Are my thoughts tranquil or is my mind busy? Take three breaths in and out through the nose, making each one a little slower than the one before it. Gently open your eyes. 6

5 STRESS-BUSTER 3 STRESS-BUSTER 4 MONO-TASKING (ON AND OFF THE MAT) Recent studies have shown that when the mind continually jumps from one activity to the next, we become anxious and stress levels soar. The antidote is to concentrate on one thing at a time. Focusing the mind on a single train of thought reduces anxiety and increases feelings of calm and wellbeing. Yogis have known this for millennia! The great sage, Patanjali, defined yoga as the ability to still the fluctuations of the mind, a skill that leads to a state of bliss known as Samadhi. Practice focusing the mind by swapping multitasking for mono tasking, concentrating on one thing at a time. If your mind s really busy, you might even find it buzzing away while you re doing yoga! Try doing Ujayyi breathing when you re on the yoga mat the subtle sound of this breathing technique helps to keep your mind focused and steady. REST AND REJUVENATE There s more to resting than flopping in front of the TV with a glass of wine! Real rest comes when the body and mind are relaxed and quiet. Many of us don t even experience a genuinely restful state when we re asleep. We take the stresses of the day to bed with us and wake up as tired as when we went to sleep. Yoga Nidra, or yoga sleep is a deep relaxation exercise that systematically guides you through a series of observations, much like a guided meditation. Simply lie down, play a recording of a Yoga Nidra and follow the instructions (remembering to stay awake, of course!) Yoga Nidra has a deeply restorative effect and a 30 minute practice can have the same effect on your body and mind as 3 hours of sleep. A powerful tool in the fight against stress and anxiety, you can download a free Yoga Nidra MP3 from downloads. 7 UJAYYI BREATHING Sit comfortably with your eyes closed and bring your attention to your breath (breath through your nose). Narrow the airway by contracting the front throat towards the back throat. This will narrow the passageway that the breath travels through, making it slower and creating a subtle whispering sound. Place the sound and sensation of the breath in the throat. Although you are still breathing through your nose, the focus of the breath is in the throat, as if you had a pair of nostrils at the centre of your throat! Listen to the sound of the breath as you breathe through your throat nostrils, keeping the airway narrowed. It sounds like a baby s snore or the sound of distant surf. Keep the breath relaxed and smooth. 8

6 STRESS-BUSTER #5. PRACTISE YOGA EVERY DAY You don t have to find an extra hour every day to do yoga, just 10 minutes is enough to make a big difference to your stress levels. Doing yoga every day trains the mind in the same way that doing physical exercise trains the body. Running 42 kms, once per week wouldn t be a good way to train for a marathon! A more effective training schedule would involve running shorter distances more frequently. Like running, you get the best results from yoga when you practise little and often. A 10 minute daily practice trains your mind to come back to the centred, focused and relaxed state that it enjoys during a yoga class. With regular practise, you ll find that you take the benefits of yoga off the mat and into your everyday life. IT S OUR 10TH BIRTHDAY! To celebrate, we re partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to provide community classes for women with cancer. LEARN MORE AT: Adore_Yoga_Blog/post/Yoga_ helps_students_with_cancer/ 9 10

7 TEN MINUTE STRESS-BUSTING YOGA ROUTINE PREPARATION UJAYYI BREATHING (SEE TIP 3) THE ROUTINE ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES BUT WILL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TO YOUR EXTENDED MOUNTAIN POSE 1. Stand upright, feet parallel and hip width apart. Your arms rest lightly by your sides. 2. Inhale: sweep your arms up to the sides, bringing your palms together overhead 3. Exhale: sweep your arms back down the sides of your body to the starting position. 4. Repeat 2 & 3 six times 5. Close your eyes and observe how your body feels and how you are breathing STRESS LEVELS. MOUNTAIN POSE TO FORWARD BEND 1. Standing as for Extended Mountain Pose 2. Inhale: sweep your arms up to the sides, bringing your palms together overhead 3. Exhale: soften the knees as you tilt forwards from the hips, sweeping the arms down on either side as you fold into a forward bend. Keep the chin tucked down and bring the hands to the floor in front of you (bend the knees until the hands touch the floor). 4. Inhale: Lift back up to standing, keeping the knees bent and sweeping the arms up to the sides, bringing the palms together overhead. CAT TO DOWN DOG 1. Inhale: From your hands and knees, dip your tummy towards the floor and look upwards, tilting the tailbone up towards the ceiling 2. Exhale: tuck your chin down, turn your toes under and straighten your legs, lifting your tailbone up towards the ceiling. Your palms are flat and you are pressing your hands down into the floor. Think about making a pointy pyramid shape, with your tailbone as the tip of the triangle. 3. Inhale: drop back to your hands and knees, dipping your tummy towards the floor, looking upwards. 4. Repeat 2 & 3 six times 6. Take six breaths here. 5. Repeat 3 & 4 four times

8 small rolled towel beneath the neck. If there is pain or injury in the lower back, place a blanket roll or bolster under the knees. WARRIOR 1 SEATED TWIST RELAXATION 1. Stand upright, feet parallel and hip width apart. Bring the palms together at the centre of the chest. 2. Step the right foot back about 1.2m 3. Inhale: bend the front (left) knee, keeping the back heel anchored into the floor. Simultaneously sweep your arms out to the sides and up overhead, bringing your palms together above your head. 4. Exhale: Straighten the front leg and sweep the arms back down to the sides and return the hands to prayer position (palms together) at the centre of the chest. 5. Repeat 3 & 4 six times, then repeat six times on the other side (with the left leg behind, lunging into the right knee). 1. Sit cross legged on the floor 2. Place your left hand on the floor behind you and your right hand onto your left knee. 3. Inhale: lengthen through the spine, lifting the chest. 4. Exhale: twist around to the left, twisting your rib cage, shoulders, neck and chin around. Look over your left shoulder 5. Hold the position for 6 breaths, then repeat on the other side. 1. Lie on your back with your arms by your sides, palms turned up. 2. Check that the neck and spine are in one line with the feet turning out evenly. 3. Check that your weight is evenly distributed across the right and left heels, buttocks and shoulder blades. Let the back of the head sink heavily down into the floor. 4. Relax the face, smooth out the forehead and let the eyes drop back into the skull, turning them downwards to look towards the chest. 5. Close your eyes and rest 6. Modifications: Place a folded blanket under the head to make the neck more comfortable, or if the neck is very flat, place a COMPLETION 1. Sit with your spine straight, then tuck your chin down and back. 2. Draw the front of the throat back towards the back of the throat, narrowing the passage through which the air travels. 3. Imagine that you are breathing through imaginary nostrils in your throat. 4. Listen to the soft baby s snore sound that naturally occurs when you breathe in this way. Take 6 breaths like this NAMASTE! 13 14