(Originally published on June 26, 2020)
Could there be a more important concept right now?
For many of us, life was stressful BEFORE the pandemic. Many of us lived face paced and jam packed lives. Luckily for many of you reading this, you were able create a sense of homeostasis, or balance, by taking time away from your phones, the news, and general demands on your time by taking an hour to yourself to move your body, breathe, and practice yoga.
Lately, this much needed balancing act has been taken away from us, or at the very least, has become much harder to find. Our perceived and actual stressors and how we react to them (eating too much, drinking, not exercising, poor sleep, shallow breathing etc...) all contribute to our allostatic load. The higher our allostatic load, the more stress is affecting us on a deep physiological, emotional and mental level. The constant feedback loop of worry creating stress, stress creating anxiety, anxiety creating depression, depression creating worry and on and on has been harder to keep in check.
A recent study published on June 4th, 2020 in Frontiers in Psychiatry suggests that “non-pharmacological interventions based on physical activity and yoga practice may add synergizing benefits to classical treatments for depression and anxiety”. While we don’t need a study to tell us this news, it’s refreshing to hear so many studies coming up with the same science and data backed evidence:
Yoga is good for the body, mind and soul.
If you need stress relief right away, take a few minutes and do this short, guided breath focused meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw7AGAseReA
Link to study: https://www.frontiersin.org/.../10.../fpsyt.2020.00501/full
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