Are you a
Pinball Wizard? Racing and bouncing daily between destination points: home,
work, carpooling kids, grocery store, last-minute errands. Factor in
groan-inducing hurdles like traffic, unexpected deadlines, a miscommunication
with someone special, maybe a lost night’s sleep worrying about juggling
details or staring at your phone checking emails…
Where does
your self-care fit into the list?
We become
conditioned to think a Netflix-binge or tunneling into social media allows an
escape, but afterward did you find that true calm and grounding you were
seeking? Still waiting to catch your breath?
Living in a
culture dominated by multi-tasking, material distractions and compulsive screen
time, it is easy to feel disconnected and overwhelmed. Many of us have lost the
ability to sit in peaceful stillness and feel centered within in our body,
mind, and breath.
Consistent
and excessive stressors cause anxiety, which can affect the ability to pilot
daily living. Forty million adults in the United States are affected by
anxiety. Anxiety and stress take a toll on an individual’s ability to navigate
the tightrope associated with maintaining life-work balance. Individuals with
ongoing anxiety experience symptoms manifesting as restlessness, sleep
disturbance, irritability, chronic headaches, muscle tension, gastrointestinal
difficulties, depression, decreased receptiveness to new experiences,
disconnection from social support systems, and/or a diminished sense of
fulfillment.
With nearly
one-fifth of the American population experiencing anxiety and related symptoms,
the challenge of maintaining self-care practices and life balance is a very
real experience.
Living with
chronic anxiety, one’s mind and body struggle excessively to counterbalance
stressors. Unable to claim grounding, the stress-response perpetuates. Chronic
anxiety creates dysfunction in the body’s stress-response system preventing the
mind and body from effectively returning to a state of calm. This imbalance in
the nervous system has far-reaching effects on emotional regulation, cognitive
function, and social relationships, as well as with proper functioning of the
cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and immunological systems.
Yoga
therapy can
help. Research shows the yogic elements of breath, meditation/visualization,
and mindful movement can address the ramifications of chronic anxiety. Benefits
include re-balancing the nervous system’s stress-response cycle,
neuroplasticity to retrain the brain how to respond in stressful moments, neuromuscular
re-education to teach the body how to be strong yet flexible, and improving a
sense of connectedness to self and social networks.
With
practice, one can begin to recognize and reduce the symptoms associated with
anxiety. Learn how to reset the mind, breath, and body to more calmly and
intentionally respond in any given moment.
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