​So, there you are, realizing that all of a sudden you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or even anxious. You want to do something about it, but feel trapped within your own skin.
When you feel as if there is no way out, what can you do?
 
Here are 5 quick tips that you can work on, to help you recover from these times of stress, tension, and anxiety, so you can get on with your life.
Since we are all different, the idea is to find which method works best for you. Allow yourself to take these methods on, at home, and into your daily life, to help change the way your mind looks at how you deal with stress and anxiety.
​
1.     BREATHE
​I know we all hear this stated a lot, “just breathe”, but using the correct method can enhance your calm, and in a shorter period of time. This is my favorite method to use when I am feeling the need to calm my body down quickly.
   
​ -    Stand with your feet about hip width apart with your eyes closed, to internalize and block out potential distractions. (Unless you have a need to keep your eyes open.)

-    Place your palms together and SLOWLY exhale your arms down to heart center. The slower the better, for whenever you exhale longer than the inhale, you kick in the parasympathetic nervous system that is responsible for relaxing the body.
-    Repeat this move about five times, very slowly, and notice with every exhale that your body becomes more and more relaxed. Relax your shoulders, and feel the body as it starts to let go.
​
There are many different ways you can “breathe”, and this is just one of them. I find this method to be most helpful for me, as for many of my students. The best time to practice this move is when you are NOT in a stressed out state. Why? So your body can get used to how you are SUPPOSED to feel, and really tap into how you can relax yourself. This way, when you ARE tense and anxious, the body will recognize the feeling you are trying to accomplish. The more you practice this in a relaxed state, the easier the brain will understand the feeling you are looking for. 
 
2.  SHAKE OUT YOUR HANDS / BREATHE
There are times that I may feel additional energy within my body, so, to add to the above, and if you are one of those people who need to “get the energy out”, you may want to try this.
​-    Stand, as above, with the feet about hip width apart and with your eyes opened or closed. (Closed allows you to internalize more.)
-    Take a nice long inhale, but instead of just inhaling the arms over your head, allow your body to shake your hands out as you lift them up over your head, towards the ceiling.
-    Then place the palms together, and slowly exhale, longer then the inhale, till hands are at heart center.
-    Repeat this a few times, and then maybe morph into just raising your arms over your head, without the shaking, as your body feels the relaxation wave through you.
 
 3.   FOCUS
If you are one of those people who, once stress and anxiety start to build, experience an influx of thoughts, you may want to use focusing as a tool. Here are a couple of examples to try. It has been proven that when you focus in on one thing and one thing alone, your mind can’t allow any further thoughts in!

• Counting.. it really doesn’t matter what you count up to, but just be sure to say the numbers out loud and very slowly. By talking out loud, you can alleviate more thoughts coming in. It may be helpful to close your eyes and picture each number in your head, to further support this. Be sure to breathe nice and slowly, to be sure you are getting ample oxygen into the body.
• Listen to soothing music… There is nothing more soothing to the mind than some soft instrumental music to focus on. Keeping the music readily available on your phone, is a great way to quickly find the tunes you are looking for, when you start to feel stressed. Find a nice, quiet place and just focus in on the music, and how it makes you feel as you slowly breathe in. As you exhale, lengthen out that exhale longer than the inhale, to tap into the relaxation receptors in your nervous system.
• Singing / play an instrument… When we sing and /or play an instrument, we are not only focusing in on what we need to do, but we are breathing, which is very important. If you have access to your instrument, or you are in a place you can belt out a good POSITIVE, FEEL GOOD song, (nothing depressing), this may be helpful for you.
• Balancing... I use balancing poses in my classes as a wonderful way to explain how focus can work for you. When we are balancing on one leg, the brain NEEDS to focus on the task at hand, otherwise the body may fall over. You will notice that when you are balancing, no additional thoughts can come in, basically because the brain can't "create thoughts" while concentrating so intently at the same time. I use low tree pose with my students against a wall or holding onto a chair for support. 

Focusing brings us directly into the present moment and directs our attention on something...right now. It keeps our mind busy with something to do, so we don’t have time to think about anything else. As I stated earlier, when the mind is completely focused on one thing, and one thing alone, additional thoughts won’t have the opportunity to come through.

​ 4.   LAUGHTER
Now, laughter may seem like a ridiculous idea when you are feeling stress and anxiety, and the LAST thing you want to do. BUT, the benefits outweigh the idea. Smiling and laughing allows for endorphins to be released, which counter anxiety and stress. The more you laugh, the less stressed you can be. The body also can’t process being negative and positive at the same time, so if you have a tool to switch the body into a positive state, this may be helpful.

• Sitcoms or funny movies- It has helped me to put on funny sitcoms or movies that always make me laugh, no matter how often I see them. I have them at the ready, on my TV, so when I start to allow my thoughts or stress to take over, I can simply put a show on, and lose myself into a funny moment. Sometimes, you need to break the silence in the room, since it’s sometimes in the silence that additional thoughts may come in.
• Laughter Yoga- Simply put, start to laugh…about nothing! Fake it till you make it! Yes, you heard me. You see, the body doesn’t know the difference between a fake laugh and a real laugh, and will STILL reap the benefits. So as you start to feel stressed or anxious, you can either go to the mirror and start to laugh at yourself, or find someone in the house to laugh WITH! It sounds ridiculous, at first, I know, BUT when the laugh starts to turn real, you will see what I mean. You never really need an outside stimulus to laugh. At the very least, smile. Then combine this with the breathing method at the top of the page, and notice how you may feel.

 
 5.  MOVEMENT..
​Sometimes we have trapped energy inside the body that just may need to move about to get released. In these cases, it may be helpful to:

• Go for a walk or run. Walking / running can be a great way to alleviate some of the pent up energy you may be holding onto. Playing music while you walk/run, is a great way to focus your attention on something, which keeps additional thoughts at bay.

 

• Movement with breath. Breathing as you move your body, is a GREAT way to tap into that mind/body connection to help you relax your body. This is why yoga can be so wonderful for helping to relieve stress. 

​Cat/cow pose, in particular, is a great example of moving the body with the breath: 

​So there I was driving along, heading to teach my beach yoga class, as I come upon an intersection with a Chevy Camaro SS in front of me. I didn't think too much of it, as I pulled up to a red light behind him. As the light turns green, and with no one in front of him, he starts to go, yet then sticks the "pedal to the metal", revs his engine up, and then peeled off in front of me. I just shook my head thinking, "Yeah you're cool...NOT! It's just another crazy teenager on his way to school." So, shortly after, and as I come upon some traffic, I pull into the right lane and see that same car up ahead. I eventually catch up to and try to pass him. I decided to check out this “teenager”, only to see the driver of the car…. has GREY HAIR! My "teenager” was, in actuality, a 60(+) year old man! I just smiled to myself, as I shook my head again thinking, "either he slipped that clutch, or... they just never really grow up, do they?”
 
Last year, I was traveling along a side road, when I came upon a guy on a motorcycle in front of me. He was dressed as any typical “Harley dude”, wearing a leather jacket with his motorcycle club name on the back, black leather boots, riding gloves, and wallet chain. And, of course, you can’t miss the long grey hair tied in the back, that matched the long “ZZ Top” looking beard down the front. All seemed pretty typical, yet, as I pulled up closer, I realized that it was he who was blasting “Turn the Beat Around” by Gloria Estefan on his stereo. I smiled to myself, as I pulled up alongside him at the light. As I love a good Gloria tune, I looked over at him and smiled. He looked back, nodded, and as the light turned green, he took off blaring her voice down the street with that long grey beard in tow. I smiled to myself, realizing this guy has no idea that he TOTALLY made my day!
 
We seem to get programmed to assume certain things about certain individuals, and it becomes almost comical when we realize how wrong we were all along. Just as I assumed that the only type of person that would ever peel out at a light would be a teenager, I also assumed that I should have been hearing something like Ozzy or The Grateful Dead coming from the stereo from the Harley motorcyclist. We all, at some point, allow ourselves to assume. I used these fun little examples to show what I mean, but the issue of assumptions is far worse out there in the world.
 
Today, we can see how assumptions can bring out the worst in us as humans. Assumptions can coincide with racism, and assume that people “are a certain way” based on their nationality or color of skin. Being Italian, people may assume many things about me that probably aren’t true. (But, if you assume, since I'm Italian, that I'm a good cook..well.. I'll have to give you that one!) Letting those assumptions fly unwarranted can cause, not only stress in the relationships of the people around you, but unwanted stress and anxiety within YOU. Why bring about high tension and anxiety over people and things that we may not know much about, or worse, understand. It just doesn’t make sense!
 
So is it worth it?? Is it worth wasting our energy to this extent? I say absolutely NOT! Keep in mind that we don’t have any control over anyone else’s actions. The only thing we have control over is how we react. Just as we assume that person that just cut us off on the road is a total jerk, we need to breathe and take a moment to look at both sides of any situation. The person may have just cut you off because he or she is trying to get to the hospital in a hurry. We don’t know what is going on inside another person, and we have no control over them either, although, YOU have a choice. You can get angry at that person, tense up and increase the anxiety within your own body, OR, you can let it go, relax your body and take care of yourself. Just because someone crossed your path, doesn't mean you need to give them any of your energy. I had always loved a good road rage in my day, but after realizing how much stress it would put on me, I started to choose that higher road of clarity.
 
Give people a chance. None of us are perfect. Give yourself the chance to break thru assumptions, and find that new higher road to your own clarity. We all want change to occur, and it starts with us…all of us.
Let it start with you.

​Love and peace.. XO