ENLIGHTEN UP! a blogSelf-awareness stories: lighting our way to clarity, contentment and resilience in a complicated world.
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ENLIGHTEN UP! a blogSelf-awareness stories: lighting our way to clarity, contentment and resilience in a complicated world.
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![]() Tools and Techniques What can each of us do to climb out of our covid times mental and emotional stress-mess sinkhole? A lot. We have choices. In part one we covered the ‘what and the why’ we are experiencing an uptick in stress and I discussed the importance of stress hardiness as a way to deal with it. In this post, I’ll offer some ‘how-to’ accessible yoga self-awareness practices to build stress hardiness. It starts with understanding the mind. The conscious mind consists of everything inside our wakeful awareness. This dimension of mind is what we use when we pay attention to our physical body and our surroundings. At this level, the mind is primarily concerned with our need to:
All of these have been difficult or impossible during covid. Turn on the news and we witness and feel compassion for the pain of those who have lost loved ones and the trauma experienced by overworked and under-resourced health care and other essential workers. We find it hard to repeat pleasure and find the time and space to re-charge when we’re in lockdown with our families. It’s also hard to watch our country go through racial, cultural and political upheaval. And of course, contact with others on an unmasked, in-person level has been difficult. Thank goodness for Zoom! And thank goodness we can take concrete action by focusing our attention on the first two layers of self-awareness:
Both of these layers are connected to and interrelated with the mind, so when we choose ways to witness and work with our body, breath and energy we will also be boosting our mental wellbeing. Here are some tools and techniques to try. Physical Body 1. Body Stretch and Scan. This technique helps us tune into messages and sensations the body sends that our minds may not notice if our attention is focused on doing instead of being. I recommend doing this exercise before getting out of bed in the morning. The whole process takes less than five minutes and can be done in any order. Instructions for the Body Stretch
Instructions for the Body Scan In this exercise, you bring your attention to each part of your body and look for sensations such as comfort, discomfort, openness, contraction, pain, warmth, coolness, pulsing, heaviness, lightness, etc. If you notice nothing, just notice that. I start with my toes and work upward but if you are drawn to scan your body from head to toe – go with it. When you feel complete, take a few long deep breaths, take another full body stretch, let your feet hit the floor and begin your day. 2. Legs-On-the-Chair-Pose Props: a sturdy chair, a pillow or folded blanket for the head, a timer and a music source (optional) Instructions 1. Select a carpeted area or use your yoga mat to practice this pose. 2. Set your timer for 10 – 15 minutes and start the music if you choose to use it. 3. Sit down close to the chair, swing the legs up and place your calves on the chair seat so your body forms 90-degree angles with your knees in line with your hips. 4. Place the pillow or folded blanket under your head. 5. Close your eyes and breathe normally. 6. When the timer goes off, bend the knees halfway toward the chest and roll to the side, using your arms to sit up slowly. Variation: If getting up and down on the floor is difficult try this in bed with your legs on a stack of pillows. Breath/Energy 1. Relaxation Breath If you are feeling anxious or stressed try Relaxation Breath. Find a comfortable seated position. Close the eyes or if you choose to keep them open soften your gaze and look downward. Inhale normally. When you exhale hold the breath out and silently count “one thousand one, one thousand two.” Continue for 2-3 minutes or longer. This breathing technique brings awareness to the breath, slows the number of breaths you take per minute and lengthens the exhalation. This calms the nervous system. 2. Fake It ‘Til You Make it Gesture of The Inner Smile is a global positioning system (GPS) energy exercise for cultivating a feeling of lightness. It is called Hansi Mudra in the yoga tradition and is helpful when your spirits need a lift. Instructions
It may also help to remember this Chinese proverb: "You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair."
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April 2025
AuthorBETH GIBBS started her yoga practice in 1968, four months after her son was born and she’s been practicing ever since. She currently teaches all levels therapeutic yoga classes for adults, and specialty classes for seniors in the Hartford, Connecticut area. Beth is a certified yoga therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is guest faculty at the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy. She writes for the blogs, Yoga for Healthy Aging, and Accessible Yoga. Her master’s degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA is in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health. Categories |
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Enlighten Up! a Blog
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