Do you ever wake
up in the morning with a headache from grinding your teeth? Or with sore fingers from clenching
your hands into fists in your sleep?
No? Oh, well, neither do I. I mean, I do yoga. Lots of it. I was just, um, wondering if you have ever had that experience…
Just because we
practice yoga regularly doesn’t mean we don’t still have moments in which
stress gets the best of us. Think
about the classes you tend to take.
Many of our classes have either “hot” or “power” or both in the title,
and many of us use these classes as a way to burn off excess stress, anxiety,
nervous energy. For those of us
with type-A tendencies, the group energy and fast pace of a vinyasa class
might feel natural, but might not be the best way to settle down. There are, however, other kinds of yoga (like Yin, Restorative, or Nidra) that can help alleviate the physical and mental symptoms of stress through
gentle release rather than strenuous stretching.
Many restorative
classes, for example, incorporate breath work and meditation as a way to bring
ease to the mind. In these
classes, the body is placed in gentle poses with lots of props to facilitate
relaxation and opening as students are guided through meditations. This kind of practice can be
particularly helpful for those of us dealing with conditions like insomnia, fatigue,
high blood pressure, or muscle tension (the kind that a little light stretching
won’t release). Given the pace of life even here in little ol’ Bloomington, we should probably all take advantage
of these opportunities to slow down whenever we can.
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