Anxiety Relief

If you are feeling anxious, you are not alone; anxiety is the number one issue my students tell me they would like yoga to help them with. I always tell them they have come to the right place! There were forty people in my first yoga class. I was so nervous I was sure they could hear my heart beating through the microphone, but as I was relaxing them I was also relaxing myself. This works!
1 – Reframe your thoughts. Switch “I’m so nervous this is terrible!” to “I’m so excited this is amazing!” Butterflies in our stomach are good, they show us that we care about what we are doing and insure that we will be well prepared.
2 – Focus on your breath. If you notice your breath when you are anxious it is rapid and shallow. Switch this to slow and deep by counting out this pattern four times; inhale to a count of four, hold for a count of seven, and exhale for a count of eight.
3 – Focus on your body. If you find you have curled yourself up into a small defensive shape, switch this by standing up straight and putting your arms up to make a V for victory shape and hold for two minutes – while reframing your thoughts and breathing deeply.
You got this!