Life, Stress & Anxiety
Life, Stress & Anxiety
I’m not a great sleeper- I’m not an insomniac either, but I have periods where I really struggle to get to sleep, and stay asleep. As far as I can remember I always have.
I’m not someone who would describe themselves as being particularly anxious through everyday life, but again, I have had some stressful periods of my life. For me, it’s quite easy to make a link between to the two…carrying my anxiety through the night forbids the brain rest.
I can also link between my mental health and my physical health; being run down in both senses leads to illness (also in both senses). Over 70% of our immunity is found in our gut health. Now, either not eating in a balanced way has led to low immunity, or your mental state has had an impact on your wellbeing, and therefore your immune system isn’t geared up to fighting the sickness. My mental and physical well being is represented quite accurately by my skin, and it’s flare ups!
I can also tell you that I had a horse riding accident when I was 17 that has caused me grief in my right hip, nearly everyday, for almost 13 years. What’s been most unusual about this injury though is although there sometimes is nothing physically wrong with my hip, it still flares up to feel excruciating wtih every single breath I take, also coincides with high periods of stress in my life. Those who have ever seen me prepare for Pigeon pose (Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana) may see a fleeting grimace! Why am I explaining this to you? Because this is another link; we store emotions in our body, and anger storage is associated with the hips….interesting, isn’t it?
So, where does Yoga come into all of this? Yoga means the unity of the mind, the body and the soul. Everything links together and it does this through the breath. The breath is the connection between the 3 factors and the connection to yourself.
We have 2 different nervous systems in the body; our Fight or Flight and our Rest and Digest. Every inhalation we take, we fire up our flight system, every exhalation we take we move toward our rest system. For those who have practised Pranayama (breath work) with me in class will now maybe understand better why we teach ourselves to ‘Belly breathe’, and why you feel your breath will have changed from the start of class to the end. It’s often that you arrive, a little frazzled from your day, breathing through your chest, but after class and relaxation that your breath will have changed to belly breath. It’s not a futile exercise, I promise! And just acknowledging where your breath is in your body at any time can be the shift into Mindfulness that you need to be able to take your anxiety and stressors down a peg, or two.
What maybe I haven’t explained before is that I first understood what Yoga was, and why it was for me, was at possibly the highest point of my anxiety- and anger- and stress. (Those coming to the Anxiety Workshop, I will explain this period further.) Alongside feelings of ‘not belonging’ and not feeling connected to anyone, or even myself. And when I walked out of that tiny room, after 90 minutes of Yoga, I felt a little unburdened. I can still tell you every detail about this Yoga teacher, but the main thing you need to know was she had a light in her. A freedom. A sense of peace. I guess I wanted to know what she knew!
Yoga has saved me from myself time and time again. I am a better person for it. I have so many tools, like meditation and breathing techniques, that I use on a daily basis. Yoga really isn’t just this physical practise done in multi-coloured pants aiming towards contortion. It is this step into yourself and out of your demons- even for a moment, and you’re winning.
With the next Workshop I’m hosting on anxiety I have really been delving into old books…and one new one. ‘First, let’s make the beast beautiful,’ by Sarah Wilson- an incredible journalist, and a chronic, chronic anxiety sufferer. This book was lent to me by my incredible Health Coach, Heidi Hart. If anyone wants to know anymore about anything in this blog, please get in touch (with me, or Heidi!)
Hari Aum Tat Sat