A more relaxed approach to life
love | 07/30/2018
Hand on heart. We often don’t take enough time to look after ourselves and turn off for a moment. Especially in hectic times like today, stress is a constant companion. To help you come to terms with stressful situations and keep a clear head we have put together some small yoga exercises for you today.
What is stress?
Seen neutrally, stress is a reaction of the body to a stimulus. However, it recognises it as a threat and uses all its powers and concentration to counter the danger.
In the times when people lived in the outdoors and had to flee from wild animals, there were 2 possible options to escape this threat: “fight or flight”; necessary in order to survive.
Nowadays, stress is not caused by wild animals or lack of food, but rather by more and more demands in work and private life.
However, our bodies react as they did hundreds of years ago: the nervous system is stimulated, every muscle tenses, the level of adrenaline in our blood rises, the rate of breathing rises, and we are in a state of alarm.
We can use targeted relaxation treatments by Yoga & co. to help bring our bodies back into relaxed mode, otherwise we remain in a state of continual stress which can unfortunately lead to a number of stress-related illnesses and in the end basically make us unhappy.
„How we act in everyday life determines whether we are happy or not.“
Dalai Lama
Our relaxation tips according to yoga principles require only a few moments for you to “wind down”:
Stretching
It helps if you sometimes thoroughly stretch whilst in the office for example. Simply after getting up, before going to bed, and whenever it crosses your mind, stretch out from head to toe. Whilst seated, you can bend your entire upper body forwards towards your thighs or stretch your upper body by turning sideways.
Breathe deeeeply
Deep and above all considered breathing is an important part of yoga. It is therefore beneficial if you take deep breaths now and again. It is especially beneficial in stressful situations for your brain to receive a good portion of oxygen, helping you think clearly again.
Observing your thoughts
Processing your own thoughts can help to become conscious of what your normal pattern of thought is like. We think about 60,000 thoughts per day, only a tiny fraction of which are constructive or positive in nature. This is reason enough to become conscious of one's thoughts and consider which thoughts are really useful and which ones you really want to think.
Mini meditations
Whether whilst waiting for a bus or between tasks at the office, shut your eyes, and meditate for a few moments. Meditation and correct breathing go hand-in-hand, so breathe deeply and escape everyday life for a few seconds. You can also feel thankfulness and call up other positive emotions. These short periods of time-out from everyday can help to make your life more balanced and fulfilled.
Do what makes you happy!
One of the most effective methods of relaxing is to do what you enjoy doing. Joy is a real power booster for relaxation and regeneration in your body and brings awareness of the present time with it.
We hope we have enabled you to switch off a bit from everyday stress with our little exercises.
We wish you a relaxing time,
Yours Daniela Pfefferkorn