I’ve never been one to willingly engage in physical or spiritual activity, but that changed when my doctors recommended I try yoga to combat my anxiety. I’m not even remotely flexible and I’m very bad at controlling my breath, so I was not optimistic that it would help, but I had to give it a shot anyway.
Since I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t want to make a fool out of myself by going to a yoga class, I decided to find some beginner yoga videos on YouTube to try at home. Yoga by Adrienne was highly recommended, so I chose to start at Day 1 of her 30 Days of Yoga playlist. That way, I could ease myself into it and learn a little about how my body works before trying to push it. Adrienne doesn’t talk much about spirituality or energy, which I liked because it allowed me to focus on the poses instead of being distracted.
Some of the poses were too hard for me, so I had to take a break, but that’s okay. Over the 30 days, I could feel myself getting stronger and more flexible. I still have trouble aligning my breath with the movements, but this is something I can continue to work on.
While adding yoga to my life has not solved all my anxiety problems, I do think it has helped me cope by teaching me to breathe properly and relax. It cannot stop my anxiety from happening, but it can help shorten the time and lessen the severity of the episodes. I recommend that others with anxiety try it out as well to see if it works for them.
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