Article by Jennifer McGregor, from PublicHealthLibrary.org
Sleep. You know you need it but you may not know exactly how much you need. You may also be confused about the connections between sleep and your mental health. After all, that connection can be cyclical, with stress and anxiety making it harder to sleep but a lack of sleep leading to more feelings of stress and anxiety. So how can you break this cycle? Well you can start by using these practical and proven resources to holistically improve both the duration and quality of your sleep, as well as your overall mental health: Reducing Stress & Anxiety During The Day It may sound counterintuitive, but when you want to upgrade the quality of your sleep, start by upgrading your habits and routines throughout the day.
Managing Overall Health for Better Sleep With stress and anxiety addressed, it’s time to work on the rest of your health and wellness routines, including exercise and diet.
Building a Better Bedtime Routine Last but most certainly not least, make improvements to your nightly routines to prepare your mind and body for better sleep.
If you want to look and feel your best, you need to make getting better sleep a focus -- and a holistic approach is a great way to achieve this. As an added bonus, the routines that can boost your sleep will also enhance your overall health and wellness. So by addressing sleep, you could start the journey to a healthier and happier you. Photo Credit: Unsplash
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Yoga has become very popular in Australia and the rest of the world in the past few decades. Ok, it has been popular in some parts of the world like India for thousands of years but it has grown globally to a multi-billion dollar industry in recent years. Not just the practice itself but the whole industry around it, yoga clothing, yoga gear like mats or blocks and yoga music to name a few. Some people will argue that the commercialization of yoga has caused it to lose its essence, with a focus on yoga style and pseudo-spirituality rather than the original aim of the practice which is the union of body and mind. Is this a bad thing? Has yoga really lost its way? Is it not even worth doing cause it's not the real thing anyway? There are countless articles about the evolution of yoga as a 'lifestyle' and although it makes a nice topic of discussion I don't think that question is worth spending too much time pondering. The truth is that all things evolve continuously, and yoga is no exception, I'm sure some wise man once said 'the only constant in life is change' so I’ll chose to just go with that instead of arguing with reality. A more interesting question to me is what are the benefits of yoga and do they apply to me? Another question is can I get the benefits without going to a yoga class? In western society the term yoga can have a variety of meanings depending on who you ask. Some people love it, some like it, some think it's nice but not really for them and some people think it's for pretentious pseudo-spiritual idiots. Regardless of opinion, for most people an image of people in tight clothes contorting their bodies is what comes to mind. In reality there are many kinds of yoga and many aspects to each type, physical, energetic and spiritual. There is definitely a physical aspect that builds up the body just like any type of exercise but when practiced properly the benefits go way beyond just the physical and improve mind and internal processes of the body as well. So let's have a look at some of the benefits of a yoga as described in many books and articles: - increased flexibility and range of movement - builds muscle strength - improves posture - improves breathing - increases blood flow - calms the mind - regulates adrenal glands - improves sleep - releases tension in muscles and joints - boosts immune system - improves digestion - connects mind and body - supports connective tissue health - lubricates joints - massages internal organ - improves health of spine - increases feel good hormones like serotonin and reduces stress hormones like cortisol and many others... Who wouldn’t want these benefits right? So why isn’t everyone doing it? It’s not that simple of course, many other questions come up and discourage people. Do you get these benefits straight away or does it take years or practice? Do I have to go through the pain of contorting my body into unnatural shapes for it to help? Do I have to experience the uncomfortable feeling of seeing the other people in the class doing the poses with ease when I can’t even go near touching my toes? And what if a downward dog is not a resting position from me but hard work already? Here comes Lazy man’s yoga to the rescue!!! Lazy man's yoga will allow you to experience the benefits even if you are inexperienced in yoga and the plus side is that it doesn’t require any physical effort on your part other than booking a session and going there. Well I’m not sure about building muscle strength, you’ll probably need the non-lazy version for that, but you might get more of the other benefits with a “passive” lazy man’s yoga session than with a regular yoga class, specially if you are a beginner. Let me explain why… Many people think that they cannot do yoga because they are not flexible enough or cannot do the poses properly, but yoga is not about how far you can go into a pose or being able to do a handstand. The point of yoga is to connect mind and body, this is done through the breath and I think everyone can breathe so everyone can do yoga. The basic idea is to move the body to the edge of comfort while keeping a deep and steady breath. If you notice that you are restricting or holding the breath when trying to do a movement you should stop trying so hard and back off to a point where you can keep the breath deep and steady, it doesn't matter what the movement is. That is why yoga is a type of meditation, you keep coming back to the breath, it sounds simple but it's not that easy. If you think about it the breath is actually a link between the mind and the body, that's why it is the most important part of the practice. It doesn't matter how far you are going into a pose, the quality of the breath is more important. This is the part that brings awareness of self and where yoga goes beyond regular exercise. Your body breathes on its own, automatically, you don't even have to think about it right? Your autonomous nervous system takes care of it just like it takes care of your digestion and body temperature. However, unlike digestion and body temperature you can decide to adjust your breathing and consciously take control of it at any time. Breathing can be unconscious, or it can be conscious, it's a link between those two worlds which makes it the perfect tool to explore yourself. Practicing to keep your breathing deep and regular through physical movement allows you to have better awareness of the internal processes going on inside yourself and to not be under their control as much. The breath is also directly linked to your emotional state, when you are upset or scared your breath becomes more shallow and erratic, when you are relaxed it is deeper and more regular. Therefore, practicing yoga will allow you, over time, to have better control over your emotions and to not become overwhelmed by them. So what is this lazy man’s yoga you speak of? It’s a layman's term sometimes used to described some bodywork like Traditional Thai Massage which is an ancient healing modality going back thousands of years. Basically, the receiver just lies on a mat on the ground and relaxes while his or her body is moved for them into positions that allow it to release tension. Since the body is fully supported by the ground beneath and completely relaxed it’s much easier to keep focusing on the breath as no effort is necessary to get into the poses. Therefore, it’s easier to reap the benefits of a good yoga session without having any yoga experience or doing any physical effort. Zenthai Shitasu is a modality that mixes Traditional Thai Massage, Zen Shiatsu (acupuncture without needles) and western osteopathic techniques for releasing stiff joints. It’s a form of lazy man’s yoga, it feels great and has amazing health benefits without an effort on your part except booking a session. |
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