Tag Archives: Mental Well-being

FINDING BALANCE THROUGH YOGA

You are already a yogi.

We all know Yoga is good to lengthen the muscles and increase flexibility, but what we often forget is that yoga offers a much wider range of benefits to keep our mind, body and spirit in check and functioning properly. The best thing is that a part of you already practices yoga, you just don’t know it.

Have you ever stopped and stood quietly to appreciate nature? Or laid back on the couch and just breathed slowly? Or have you ever stood on your tiptoes and stuck a leg out whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, just for the fun of balancing? Well, these are all forms of yoga in their own way.

The beauty of yoga is that it lives in our every movement. From the beginning of our existence, we naturally know how to breathe and eventually everyone develops movements which can be interpreted as yoga poses. Regrettably, throughout the years we have forgotten how these movements are so natural to us. Along the way as well, often due commercialism and social media influence, people have come to believe yoga is only to be practiced by super attractive, super flexible people.

What is yoga if it’s not about stretching?!

It’s true, when you say you do yoga people think straight away that it is all handstands and palms together. But in reality, it is a process of small changes over a long time. ‘Yoga’ comes from the Indian Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ which means ‘to join’. It’s a unity or a oneness. In spiritual terms, it can be described as the union of the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness.

This can understandably make it sound a bit daunting but please don’t be intimidated. yoga is for everyone, it is accessible to all levels of society, gender, age, ethnicity and physical abilities. It promotes inclusion, self-awareness and diversity, which is what this world needs.

It does not matter if you stopped practicing or have never tried it, you can start at any time and your body will remember everything you learn. Yoga is flexible after all.

 

The many different types of yoga

One problem many newcomers to yoga face is which type of yoga they should start with. There are many styles of yoga to try and you should explore as many as you can, but here is a little break down of the main styles;

Vinyasa: This is a flowy style of yoga which allows you to move from one pose to another fluidly in a sequence. It is good for those who like faster paced movements, it’s also great to bring out your creativity when you want to work on a new sequence. It is a good starting place for beginners with lots of energy because it can be fun and invigorating.

Ashtanga: This style is very active, it helps you synchronise your breath with the movement.  Ashtanga is about finding strength in stillness by holding poses for longer than you would with vinyasa. Sometimes these poses are unbalanced therefore it can require a lot of strength and focus to hold them for longer periods of time. There is also a lot of focus on correct breathing techniques.

This is also a good place for beginners as there are many levels of ashtanga, with difficulty increasing with each level.

Yin: This style allows you to go deeper into pose, and also yourself, as it’s a very slow-paced style. The aim for Yin is to increase circulation throughout the joints and to target the connective tissues of the body.

Yin can be tough for newcomers to yoga who may become distracted or lose patience whilst in a pose. Taking the time to practice Yin however can be incredibly rewarding, allowing the mind to relax and ignore life’s pressures whilst lengthening the muscles and opening up the body.

So why try yoga?

Yoga has a wide variety of benefits which supports our pursuit to live a better life. These benefits are not just physical, they can be mental and spiritual too.

Helps with a number of ailments

Yoga is proven to improve your balance and coordination through exercising the nervous system. This heightened activity can build the grey matter in our brain leading to improved focus and concentration. This can help reduce the effects of certain ailments such as vertigo, ataxia and even Alzheimer’s disease, by exercising the nervous system in a safe and controlled way.

It’s good for your body

The movements through yoga practice exercise the whole body through a number of different poses. These low impact but weight bearing exercises activate and strengthen your muscles, bones and joints. This is great for stabilising your weight and avoiding aches and pains.

Supports your inner body

Within our bodies is the endocrine system, responsible for keeping our hormones in check and balanced. When life becomes stressful this system can become unbalanced and leave us feeling tired, irritable or anxious. Practising yoga relaxes the mind and allows this system to regain control and balance our hormones. The exercise can also stimulate happy hormones such as dopamine, melatonin and serotonin, making us feel confident and content, as well as helping us get a nicer sleep.

Finds a steady rhythm in our mind

Though it doesn’t have to be, Yoga can be a very spiritual practice. Good yoga teachers will teach breathing as a part of their class. These yogic breathing techniques can steady the breath, find rhythm and ultimately steady the mind. When we are feeling uneasy our body is using our sympathetic nervous system. Slow and controlled breathing is proven to move the body over to our parasympathetic nervous system. This puts us in a state of relaxation and tranquillity. The more we practise yoga the better our body can achieve this state, massively benefitting our mental health.

Start your yoga journey

A great place to get started if you are unsure is at home following a yoga teacher online. Here is a recommendation for you to try.

Yoga with Michaelle 🙂

The best ways to stay mentally and physically prepared for your profession.

Living in the unprecedented times that we currently do, the pandemic has forced many people to put their careers and professions on hold, in particular the Musical Theatre industry; a high intensity, hard working and extremely physical job.

For me and many other fellow performers it has been a matter of making sure our mental well-being and physical health has been looked after in preparation for theatres to return again so we can go back to pursuing our career just like many others will have had to do in other professions, such as personal training or other sporting careers.

Key motivators for your profession that can be specific to YOU…

As hard as staying motivated is during these times where motivation has to be driven by yourself and nobody else, there are many ways to keep positive and stay motivated for when your profession returns such as:

  • Setting realistic physical achievements that will enhance and improve your performance when you return to work such as walking 5000 steps per day or joining in a live workout three times a week to build up stamina again.
  • Make the physical exercise you are doing specific to YOU and your profession. As an example on a long walk I would listen to music from the musical I am going to be working in next to motivate me and help me enjoy the physical exercise more. Make. It. Suit. You.
  • Make a story board or a mood board with pictures of all of the things you would like to achieve or things that inspire you that you can set as your Lock Screen on your phone to remind you daily of where you would eventually like to be in your career.

Here is an example of mine…


An interview with Musical Theatre professionals…

Here is a clip of fellow Musical Theatre performers Alex Steele, Maddison Rowe and Esme Bacalla-Hayes answering some of my questions on how they are staying mentally and physically healthy in preparation for when the industry reopens again. Including advice and insightful information as to how and what YOU could do to improve mental well being, motivation and physical performance in preparation for YOUR profession…

An overview of general tips the girls suggested that help with mental health that everyone can benefit from…

  • Make a to do list for the day ahead and check things off as and when you do things, great for peace of mind and to relieve stress.
  • Make your bed and tidy your room, as silly as it sounds it really does make you feel a whole lot better.
  • Try to keep yourself in a routine throughout the day, it keeps the mind occupied and focused.
  • Most importantly, KEEP GOING, YOU’VE GOT THIS. A positive mental attitude is key.

Physical exercise and its effects on your mental well-being…

It becomes very apparent after talking with three professionals that are awaiting their career to restart that physical exercise can have a huge impact on not just your physical health but your mental well-being and motivation too which are both huge factors to keep in mind during the current circumstances where mental well-being and motivation can be affected the most.

Things physical exercise can help with in particular are:

  • Positivity.
  • Feeling more alert and energised.
  • Relieving stress.
  • Sleeping better.
  • Increase in self confidence.

So here are some tips on how to specifically stay PHYSICALLY prepared for your profession…

At home workouts!

At home workouts are a great way to start getting physically prepared for your career again. It is something you can do at your own pace within the comfort of your own home, without feeling like you have to keep up with anyone else. It is also a FREE and easy way to keep active without needing much equipment.

Setting 3 workouts per week on specific days would be a great place to start to enable your body and mind to adapt to the changes that are being made in regards to physical exercise, when you feel ready you can build the quantity of workouts OR how long you workout for.

‘Short on time? Hate the gym?  Too tired to exercise after work? 10 minute workouts are just what you need.’ NHS.uk.

If you’re struggling to find the right ones for you here are some of the workouts I like to use for some inspiration…

  • Gabby Allen workouts.
  • Courtney Black workouts.
  • Joe Wicks workouts.

These are all FREE and available on either YouTube, Instagram or Facebook so go and have a try!

 

A simple walk can work wonders!

’Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier’ NHS.uk.

Walking is one of the most underrated forms of exercise yet it is so beneficial for both the mind and body. Taking a long walk can be just as beneficial as a short workout in regards to burning calories. A great way to track how far you have walked and how many calories you have burned is buy using the ‘Fitness’ App on either your phone or Apple Watch if you have access to one.
Here is an example of a walk I went on and just LOOK at how many calories I burned… from a walk!

REMINDER!

However with this all being said this is just a reminder to everyone that it is very much OKAY to have days where you don’t feel motivated or don’t feel like you want to workout and be your most productive self. It is OKAY to feel anxious or stressed about the future and how your profession will be affected by this pandemic. It is OKAY to rest and take a day to look after your mental health in other, more comforting ways. Do you know why? Because we are human and each day is never the same for many reasons. The most important thing is that we have the tools and knowledge to come back from these more trying and difficult days, knowing that the simple walk or workout may make you feel that little bit better…

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/?WT.tsrc=Search&WT.mc_id=Brand&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7YyCBhD_ARIsALkj54oDk_1UUTj367kj3bmTXOcjeDA-NPKg9eLB-BsFS5o6MXhyXICqKq0aAmuIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds