If you're like most women, each day is a juggling act, balancing work, family, friends and relationship commitments as well as struggling to find enough hours in the day . This can leave you feeling stretched in many directions, and if you're not careful, stressed and exhausted.
Like most of us, you probably can't escape the pressures of life by simply hopping on the next plane to some tropical island, but there is something you can do to help relieve stress in the here and now. It's something really simple, in fact: yoga. If you haven't already tried a yoga class, chances are you know someone who has. And this ancient practice has a lot to offer our busy modern lifestyles, especially for women.
Practising yoga can improve flexibility, increase muscle tone, improve breathing and help to bring the body into balance. Beyond fitness, yoga offers many other gifts. Research has shown that during a practice like yoga or meditation, your body releases chemicals into the bloodstream that bring you a sense of wellbeing and contentment. It can improve your health, reduce stress, improve sleep and it often acts like a powerful therapy to help heal relationships, improve work performance, conquer fears and boost your overall outlook on life.
Yoga and meditation build awareness, of yourself — your thoughts and emotions — and in each moment and situation. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of the grip of destructive emotions such as anger. Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are strongly linked to heart attacks and other health conditions.
Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from the drama of your own life; to remain steady in the face of bad news or unsettling events. Instead of reacting to the events of life, you can use mindful awareness to choose a more thoughtful response to the moment, reducing suffering for yourself and others.
You can practise yoga to cultivate feelings of compassion and strengthen the connection to yourself and others. It's been proven that one of the key ingredients for a long, healthy and happy life is being connected to the emotional support of friends, family, and community. Regularly practising yoga helps develop friendliness, forgiveness, and greater equanimity. It becomes easier to not sweat the small stuff and to avoid carrying past harm into the present moment. You may even find that many of your relationships — including the one you have with yourself — improve.
The work you do on your yoga mat ripples throughout your life. Change your posture the way you breathe changes. As your breathing changes your nervous system is affected. Everything in yoga is connected. That is one of the reasons this holistic system can have such a profound, positive effect in all areas of your life — from your physical health and mental wellbeing to your interactions with family and friends as well as your career.
Yoga can help women of any age support themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's important to find a yoga style that resonates with you, something you feel you'll be able to stick with, even if it's just for a few minutes each day. Taking time to be aware of what's happening in your life, your body and with your emotions on a daily basis is the key to getting the most of what yoga offers.
Learning to watch your breathing and staying in the moment can improve concentration and help you interact with others more mindfully. If you suffer from PMT, mindfulness techniques can help empower you with the tools to ride the emotional wave of your monthly cycle more smoothly. Restorative postures can help alleviate physical discomfort.
Yoga can help to still the fluctuations of the mind. In other words, it slows down the repetitive and often negative mental patterns of frustration, regret, anger, fear and desire which can cause stress. And since stress is implicated in so many health problems — from migraines and insomnia to high blood pressure and hypertension — if you practise how to disassociate with incessant mental chatter, you'll actually improve your wellbeing and chances at a longer, healthier life.
Too many of us suffer from chronic low self-esteem, poor body image and feelings of inadequacy. If you handle this negatively and harm your body or sabotage yourself, you may pay the price with poor health — physically, mentally, and spiritually. If you take a positive approach, such as practising yoga and meditation, you'll begin to sense and experience a feeling of wholeness and being totally okay with yourself. A regular practice of self-inquiry generates feelings of gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness, as well as a sense that you're part of something bigger.
Here are five simple tips that you can start today:
- Follow the breath. Slow down your inhale and exhale to four seconds each and observe your breath moving in and out through your nostrils, do this for at least five minutes to calm and centre yourself.
- Stay in the present moment. Keep your awareness anchored to this moment, observing and responding to what is right in front of you. Be wary of dragging in past events or expectations for the future into the situation.
- Dedicate a space and time for yourself. Create a place at home where you can go and sit or practise, even if it's just for a few minutes each day.
- Commit to practising. Find something that works for you and adhere to it, whatever style of yoga or meditation that speaks to you.
- Enjoy the journey. Life is a long and winding road and know that no effort on the path is ever wasted.
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