Give yourself permission to breathe. You’ve made it through Thanksgiving, the first hurdle of the holiday season. Acknowledge your victories, eat your leftovers, lick your wounds. And don’t let December's impending doom overwhelm you. I promise you will make it through.
Yes, you probably have a mountain of responsibilities. Scouring for gifts, budgeting your finances, comparing prices, saving recipes, and stress eating (at least, I am). Balancing all of that with work, keeping your house in order, and taking care of yourself can be tough.
When you’re overwhelmed and anxious by the upcoming deluge of parties and events, you might deprive yourself of self-care. If you’re a people pleaser, you especially want to pay attention to your needs since you spend so much time focusing on others.
And while I could sit here all day and preach the importance of maintaining your mental health and practicing self-care, I’d rather give you the resources to handle your stress.
Enter yoga.
As a previously certified yoga instructor, I know about the mental, physical, and spiritual benefits of practicing yoga several times a week. It taught me breathwork to help calm my heart rate in stressful situations, helped guide me through meditation to center myself, and also provided me with a fantastic full-body workout.
I personally fell in love with hot yoga during high school, where I would spend most of my time after school working in the studio. As someone who deals with high levels of anxiety, yoga helped me find balance in my mental state. With so many different forms of yoga, like Bikram, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and more, there’s a practice out there for everyone.
What Are The Benefits Of Doing Yoga?
The benefits of yoga
Harvard Health
Not only is yoga a good mental workout, but it focuses on all of your muscles. It takes immense core strength to work on your balance, which is a foundation of yoga itself. Johns Hopkins Medicine celebrates yoga because it strengthens your body and heart, relieves arthritis symptoms, helps you sleep better, and manages stress while boosting energy.
According to Harvard Health, doing yoga can also help you become a more mindful eater and develop a healthy body image. Whether you are trying to lose weight or view your body in a better light, yoga can help.
“Researchers describe mindful eating as a nonjudgmental awareness of the physical and emotional sensations associated with eating… The researchers found that people who practiced yoga were more mindful eaters, according to their scores. Both years of yoga practice and number of minutes of practice per week were associated with better mindful eating scores,”
The best part? You don’t have to leave your house to practice yoga. Sure, going to classes is a great way to take an hour for yourself daily with a community…but we get that there’s no time to spare during the holidays.
Best Yoga Poses To Get Through The Holidays
For Digestion-
Cat/Cow Pose
Downward Dog
Bridge Pose
For Depression-
Shoulder Stand
Forward Fold
Child’s Pose
For Anxiety-
Seated Forward Fold
Reclining Bound Angle
Fish Pose
Breathing Techniques-
Ujayi: Mimic the sound of the ocean by taking a five count inhale, and letting it out in a loud, slow, open-mouth exhale. Now, try to do that same inhale but making the loud exhale through a closed mouth. You’ll hear the sound come out of your nose, which will feel weird at first but it mimics oxidation- lowering your stress levels and blood pressure.
