Yoga
fromYoga Journal
9 hours agoFeeling Anxious? Soothe Yourself With 10-Minute Gentle Yoga.
Yoga for anxiety helps shift focus from overthinking to present moment awareness through gentle physical practices.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. I was born with spina bifida and faced multiple surgeries, leading to uncertainty about my ability to walk again. Despite the fear and pain, I refused to accept paralysis as my fate.
Sitting in the audience, listening to these professionals in perfect harmony, brought me back to my days in the band. I wasn't good, it was mandatory, and I played the trombone. I desperately wanted to quit. We couldn't have backpacks in school, so I walked through the halls lugging my trombone in my right hand and books under my left armpit. This made me a perfect target for a bully or two to come up behind me and smack the books out from under me.
The shoulds are a type of cognitive distortion (unhelpful thinking habit) that can lead to judgment. You may judge others, for example, 'They shouldn't act that way,' and yourself. In this post, we will focus on the shoulds you direct at yourself, though the strategies may be helpful for all cognitive distortions.
You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your brain immediately starts racing? Before your feet even hit the floor, you're already scrolling through your mental to-do list, checking your phone, and feeling that familiar knot of anxiety tightening in your chest. I spent most of my twenties waking up this way. My mind would launch into overdrive the second consciousness hit, cycling through worries about work, regrets about yesterday, and a general sense of being behind before the day even started.