Here we are in November which starts with Stress Awareness 1-5th November. Maybe it’s the start of the dark nights that this date is always chosen. For a lot of people these days ahead can be faced with negativity.
Acknowledging stress is the first step towards alleviating it. Pranayama (breathing) techniques from your Yoga practice is a quick fire way to slow down stress before it builds up. Stress begins to evaporate as soon as we pay attention to our breath.
When stress levels increase, it not only affects us mentally but physically. Blood pressure increases, heart rate rises, the immune system deactivates, digestion is damaged and inflammation increase.
By paying attention to these sensations, we can recognise when our stress levels are over stimulated. And, by being present, we can choose to change our brain and calm our nervous system, de stimulating stress. We all have habitual stress reactions to life that we no longer think about. These are unconscious reactions that may have served us well at one time, but are no longer the best choices we could make today. Since we are not conscious of these reaction, we don’t stop to think about how we could do better: we simply live the life the way we always have. But, if we are finding that life is increasingly stressful, perhaps it is time to take a deeper look at how we are responding to stress. Instead of stress being something that is just happening. We can discover that we are free to build new skilful habits that will enhance a stress less life. We do this through mindfulness. By being mindful to the moment you can build a new habit that lasts a lifetime. Utilise Pranayama and the Mindfulness techniques which you use in your yoga practice to help.