In a world full of stress, we find ourselves out of breath and energy on a regular basis. At least, I know I do. A normal day for me feels like a constant panic attack, worried about every detail of the day. Can you picture me sitting on the floor of the school bathroom stall, breathing heavily and freaking out, trying to calm myself down and figure out a way to make my days less torturous? Over time, I have realized that certain people and certain classes set things off for me, but dealing with this realization has been a process. I do know, that it has been necessary for me to get myself together and get my life on track.
Finding something that relieves stress can be hard because the ideas already out in the world may not work for everyone. That said, you’ve got to find something that works. For me, I had issues with controlling my breathing whenever I got stressed out. I would immediately start to get a panic attack and lose my breath. To control my breathing, I turned to yoga and meditation, which ended up helping. I learned breathing skills to keep my breath steady in stressful situations. I learned to keep calm and not let the stress overcome me by putting it at the back of my head, taking a moment to just breathe. I focused on exhaling and with each breath, I let the stress go with my along with the air.
I know it may seem like a lot of work to get yourself started on yoga, but it’s quite simple. I take it at my school as my PE class, but all you need is a phone or a laptop to learn and practice yoga. Just look up stress-relieving yoga and begin! If you want to become more involved and work even harder, you could join an outside class. These classes are offered at a lot of gyms and community centers, ranging from free to pricey. Our in-house expert who goes by the name of Rachelle tells me that the average yoga class ranges from $18-27 and memberships cost from $120-150. Remember that the more time and effort you put in, the more benefits you get out of it in the end.
Yoga has become a constructive way to cope with my stress. Yoga calms my mind, and my body because with each pose, I release the tension and pain from my body with each exhale.
