How to deal with fear through the yoga acute

It was a time like no other in our lives. A global pandemic. An international settlement with systemic racism with the death of George Floyd and many others. The world finally realizes that there is no planet B. And yet the work is not over.

words do not feel appropriate to describe what our mind and body have gone through. Each life was unique, changed, changed, developed, driven out and possibly isolated. There are ways to use your breath to recover from the fears and upheavals of the past year and use your meditative breath to deal with stress.

The way we breathe and the air we breathe was in front and in the middle. Breathing with a facial mask and the superconscious of others who breathe and cough around us have become part of our daily experience.

take your time to adapt

Since the United Kingdom is slowly loosening the blocking restrictions, the restoration of self -confidence and the connection for healing is of crucial importance. For me, the past year was a year full of extreme ups and downs. I often felt separated from my family, my friends and my community, but at the same time a deep feeling of connection to domestic life. The past year has affected our mental health in a way that we may currently not fully understand or recognize, and it may have brought old emotions to the surface.

Fear is a normal and human reaction to what we all went through. Fear can manifest itself physically and mentally. Frequent symptoms are shortness of breath, frenzied thoughts and an increased heart rate. This happens because your body perceives a threat - and that was right, but he put himself in the "fight or flight" mode, which is useful to escape the danger. However, if our mind and body stay in this mode for a long time, anxiety symptoms such as flat breathing can be the order of the day.

This blog invites you to connect with her breath again and create a narrative about consciousness, strength and resilience for dealing with anxiety. Your breath is your vitality and can be a powerful tool to connect, heal and get forward.

If you have health problems that affect your breathing, please see a doctor before using one of these breathing techniques. You know your body better than anyone else. So if you try the practices that I share, try things at a pace and in a way that suits you.

recognize and respect the needs of your body

Firstly, it could be helpful to get to know the role of her breath in managing your emotional and mental state. Here is the basic explanatory of the neurosciences. The nervous system can be divided into two main components: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

The peripheral nervous system is divided into two more branches: the autonomous nervous system and the somatic nervous system. The autonomous nervous system is the part of the nervous system that is responsible for controlling body functions that are not deliberately controlled, such as: B. breathing, heartbeat and digestive processes. The peripheral nervous system has nerves that hike from the brain to the body and from the body to the brain. This means that messages are sent in both directions.

The autonomous nervous system has two nerve rates, parasympathetic and personable. Their likeable nerves are activated in the state of “fighting or escape”, and their parasympathetic nerves are activated in “calm and digestion”. People should of course move between these two conditions, but if there is no perceived threat, the most natural state of being is "calm and digestion" in the parasympathetic state.

You cannot control directly in which of these conditions you are. You cannot say to your body that he should go into "fight or flight" or "calm and digestion". In the same way you cannot consciously say to your heart that it should be faster.

A function of the autonomous nervous system that you can consciously change is your breathing. And it turns out that if you control your breath, you can indirectly influence other areas of your autonomous nervous system, e.g. B. your heart rate and whether you are in the mode "calm and digestion" or "fight or flight". By carrying out specific breathing exercises, you can instruct your body to activate parasympathetic nerves to bring about a state of calm

If you consciously regulate your breathing, you can regulate your emotional and mental state. Keep this information in mind when we deal with the two practices.

mindful breathing exercises

I would like to share two breathing exercises that were my basis last year: abdominal breathing and Ujjayi Pranayama. Regardless of whether you are a breath work veteran or a newcomer to breathing techniques, these two practices can serve as a memory or as an introduction.

abdominal breathing, also called diaphragm, can help with flat breathing if your breath can be short and broken. When we become anxious, one of the most common symptoms of flat breathing and frenzied thoughts. If you return to the basics of breathing work, you can develop a deeper awareness of feelings and emotions in your body.

The abdominal breathing helps you build up a resistant breathing system because breathing technique trains your diaphragm, a dome -shaped muscle layer on the bottom of your chest, which is mainly responsible for the breathing function. The abdominal breathing maximizes the amount of oxygen that comes into the bloodstream and enables the body to relax. Abdominal breathing has a physiological effect on the body by supporting blood flow, lowering pulse frequency and blood pressure.

If you want to try here is a video for practicing.

The second exercise that I invite you to try or visit it again is also known as a victorious breath. Through victorious breathing, you can extend and extend your breath by tensioning your neck muscles to get more control over the way you breathe. The victorious breath creates a quiet sound in her throat. Every sound when exhaling sends waves of calm through our mind and body, so that a conscious, slow exhaling can calm down a busy mind and calm down a tense body.

For me, the victorious breath is my basic companion, the world can feel like a whirlwind, but this breath gives me the feeling that roots grow out of my feet and I feel robust and strong. It was one of the most effective tools for the treatment of anxiety that I have because I use it all the time. With consistent practice, this breath can help us to redesign our anxious experience. For me, this was useful to enter the old room again or meet people who have not seen for some time. It is normal to become anxious, but your breath can help you to redesign the experience.

use this video as a memory or as an introduction.

create space for rest

If you create a small refuge at home, you can help to become practices at daily habits. Some things in which I recommend an investment are: a cushion because it helped me to concentrate on my daily practice. It is my subject in peace, that I have rectangular because it is so versatile and blocks are always useful to bring the floor closer to it, I have a stack of it removed) . Breath exercises can also be supported with a gentle face massage, I use these (link removed) can help me relax in a breath exercise.

Finally, it should be noted that traumatic events can change our breathing without consciously knowing this. Trauma is subjective. It can be useful to imagine this as something that has negatively influenced them with permanent effects, like frequent flashbacks, frenzied thoughts and panic attacks. Trauma lives in our mind, body and breath and can occur in different ways.

If you occur with anxiety symptoms or symptoms of post -traumatic stress disorder (PTBS), contact a trustworthy person or organization. I have collected some helpful mental resources here.