It would be fair to say that we’re having quite a stressful time at the moment in our retirement what with one thing and another. I won’t go into any details at this point although, no doubt, our worries will emerge in this blog at a later stage. The blog features the good, the bad and the ugly of retirement as I’ve said before.
Because we’re having a tough time I asked Mrs Summerhouse to write a blog about a yoga exercise designed to relief stress. This is what she came up with. It’s brief and simple and effective.
1. Sit or kneel using the floor or a chair (as in the above diagram). Close your eyes and relax all your facial muscles, neck muscles and so on downwards to your feet
2. Focus on your in-coming breath and mentally say, “I breathe in peace.”
3. Then on your out-going breath mentally say, “I breathe out turmoil.”
4. Repeat this for 10 minutes then reflect on how you feel.
The concentration on the words and your breathing will have a calming effect that will benefit the whole self.
This exercise can be repeated on a daily basis to act as a prevention of stress as well as a helpful ‘cure’. You can choose words that are relevant to you and suit your individual situation.