How Yoga Helps Me

"yoga"by sippakorn

I was introduced to the practice of yoga in April.  I discovered first-hand that yoga not only helps exercise the body but it helps clear the mind too. 

In recent months I have had unexpected stress and yoga helped me stay focused on the present.  I found the physical movement of yoga helps clear the mind.  When I do yoga, my mind is concentrating on the movement of my body so it enables me to not think about anything else. 

Although I am a novice when it comes to yoga, the benefits are already felt.  Thankfully I have the opportunity to participate in a yoga class twice a week.  I can do more often with a DVD that I have.  My goal is to practice yoga weekly so I can continue to maintain a lower stress level.  I highly recommend the practice of yoga for anyone who is in need of stress relief.

A good resource to help you pick a yoga mat:  https://www.reviews.com/best-yoga-mat/

My Weekly Therapy Event

Many of you have probably seen the beautiful beach pictures I post on Facebook and Twitter. If you haven't liked my page on Facebook, please do at https://www.facebook.com/jenniferhmoyer.  You can also follow me on Twitter @MoyerJennifer 

I am blessed to live in a beautiful coastal community so every Wednesday, I do my best to walk on the beach.  This is my weekly therapy event.  During the summer, I had limited opportunity to incorporate my "therapy event" but the past several weeks, I tried to make it a priority to walk as I was more stressed due to the graduate class I was taking.  By the way, for those of you that read my last blog: Time Management and Managing Stress, I got an A- for my final grade in the class.  So the hard work was rewarded :)

I have found that taking that weekly walk grounds me and clears my perspective no matter what is going on in my life.  I encourage you to find something similar in your life.  The benefits of exercise for our mental health are tremendous.  Hiking, walking, running, swimming or another physical activity are all great ways to clear your mind and help manage stress.  I am feeling the difference in my life by getting back to my weekly walks on the beach.  No matter what the season, there is something about the beauty of nature that helps me maintain a fresh and grateful perspective.  What do you do to help maintain a healthy perspective and manage stress in your life?

Time Management and Managing Stress

I have been getting to practice time management and stress management techniques the past month.  Not only has it been stressful due to difficult personal family circumstances, such as grief, job loss, and less social interaction with friends, it has been stressful in managing my different roles as wife, mother, friend, advocate and now student.  Some of my friends are aware that I applied for a scholarship to go to graduate school.  Although I didn't receive the scholarship, I did get accepted into a graduate program :)

So I had the dilemma of not being able to afford tuition, etc. yet wanting to see if I could handle taking on graduate school.  As a result, I was advised to take one of the required initial courses to hold my place in the graduate program, in hopes of reapplying for the scholarship in the spring.  The initial class is just a one and a half credit class but it is only 6 weeks in length.  A fact that I failed to know when I registered.  Needless to say, I am learning that time management is even more critical now. 

I have actually been enjoying the course but incorporating it into my schedule has been more challenging.  As my stress level goes up, my cognitive functioning seems to go down.  But that is not stopping me from doing the best I can in both the class and my other responsibilities.  Of course the busier I get, the harder it is to incorporate stress management techniques such as exercise and my weekly walks on the beach.  I am doing my best to practice what I preach.  Thankfully, the weather is cooling off so I am motivated to get outside even if it is just to get sunshine while reading my textbook.

My class ends on October 9th so I have to stay focused on the task at hand.  I guess considering I have not been in college for over 20 years, I need to give myself credit no matter what the end result.  I will check in again after my course is over but for now I need to go practice some stress management skills :)