We are closing out Stress Awareness Month with a yoga practice to help you close out the day. In the event that you’ve already had a stressful day, this practice is perfect to help you let it all go. It’s a gentle yoga practice designed to help you release tension.
Over the past month, we’ve learned learned about the effects of stress on the body and mind, and we’ve explored different ways to alleviate and prevent that stress.
We’ve used movement to dissipate stress that’s already present in the body, and harnessed the breath to keep us in a state of calm. We’ve also used our mornings to set up for a stress-free day, and we’ve connected to nature, which is a proven stress-reliever. Click below to check out those practices:
Stress Relief Yoga Practice
Diaphragmatic Breath for Stress Relief
Morning Yoga for a Stress-Free Day
Walking Meditation to Reconnect with Nature
In today’s practice, we’ll release any tension that may have accumulated in the body as a result to stress. I’m sure you’re familiar with the kind of tension I’m talking about.
A GENTLE YOGA PRACTICE TO RELEASE TENSION
Stress related tension can be felt all over the body, but there are a few areas where it tends to be most prominent – the neck, the shoulders, and the lower back are some stress hot-spots. These are the areas that we tend to tighten when we are experiencing stress. If we spend enough time gripping in these areas, they default to being tight.
Think about holding your hand in a tight fist all day, never letting go. What’s going to happen at the end of the day when you want to finally open your hand? It’s going to feel stuck in that tight first; the muscles will be so tense that it will be tough to open your hand.
That’s what happens in our bodies when we’re constantly under stress and constantly tensing different areas of the body. Those areas start to become stuck that way, leading to tension in the body that can be difficult to release.
So that’s our focus in this practice – to bring awareness to those areas of the body where we might be holding stress-related tension, and to gently release that tension so we can prepare for a restful night of sleep.
I’ll meet you on the mat for our gentle yoga practice to release tension!
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