stress relief Archives - Stress Free Mama

How to Get Out of a Studio and Enjoy Outdoor Yoga

Do you love being outdoors? Have you ever thought about outdoor yoga for a change of scenery from your usual practice area?

More and more yoga lovers are heading outdoors during the spring and summer months to make the most of the weather. But be warned, there is a very good chance you will not want to go back inside to practice once you have tasted outdoor yoga!

Under the sky

For a long time I put myself off the idea, because I told myself that I needed to be in my own ‘private space’ where I could control my environment. The idea of being on display whist practicing my asana’s was incredibly off putting because I knew I would have trouble concentrating if I felt that I was making a spectacle of myself and people were staring at me.

Eventually I plucked up the courage to give it a try and having experienced the freedom of meditating in various outside locations, there is no looking back for me. I now have a few favorite spots depending on weather and time constraints

I discovered that it is a shame to confine oneself to practicing indoors when you could be enjoying the experience and freedom of taking your yoga outside and connecting in a natural environment.

Here are some tips that will help you to get the most out of your al-fresco yoga!
[Read more…]

By Julia Rymut;

10 Minute Morning Stress Relief Activites to Start Your Day Relaxed

For many women, your day starts running from the morning your alarm goes off.

Kids, breakfast, showers… Maybe you throw in some exercise and a few emails…

By the time you get to work, get the kids to school or start your official day, the few morning hours feel like a week.

But when you start your day in a frenzy, you set up your nervous system to be on overdrive. You train yourself to see daily activities as fires to put out. Your energy may hit a wall by mid-morning because you deplete your night’s rest so quickly.

Mornings are important.

You need to take time to refresh your body, set your intention for the day and begin a daily pace that is life-affirming, not life-draining.

This is not news. You are probably nodding in agreement. But when it comes to adding one more thing to your morning routine, it seems like more work and more craziness. You may imagine setting your alarm clock even earlier just to fit in “me-time.” Eventually you decide that stress relief activities add stress.

How do you find time to ground yourself without taxing yourself? [Read more…]

By Julia Rymut;

7 Easy Steps to Stress Relief with Essential Oils

Essential oils are great tools for stress relief. They are safe, easy to use and smell good.

But when you start with essential oils, it’s hard to know where to begin.

When I started using the oils, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know their effects and it seemed so complicated. Now I love them and use them regularly for stress relief–sometimes changing my essential oil routine every day.

But when I started, I needed something simple and easy to remember.

When I learned this daily routine I had my answer.

Now I’m sharing my super-dooper, not-so-secret Daily Essential Oil Routine for Stress Relief.

Follow this easy routine every morning and notice if your mood improves and your energy increases. These 7 steps are a great beginner routine.
[Read more…]

By Julia Rymut;

Yoga for Stress Relief

Yoga is excellent for stress.

Doing yoga for stress relief is one of the most effective ways to move back into a calm frame of mind, and it can do it almost instantly. Yoga stretches and relaxes the body and calms the mind. It can change a crazy day to a peaceful one. It grounds, centers and puts you back inside your body so that you can accomplish what you need to do.

Yoga can relieve your stress by:

increasing your oxygen flow
slowing or stopping the lists of things-to-do in your mind
giving you a chance to do something nice for yourself
keeping your body in good working order to better cope with stressful situations

Yoga stress relief is one of my favorite tools for stress. I have done many yoga classes and many yoga styles. After a good yoga class, I feel fresh and relaxed, much like the “glowy” feeling after a sauna.

Choosing Your Yoga Class

If you have never done yoga, the many teachers, studios and traditions can be daunting.

To pick your first class, you might make convenience your most important consideration. Can you get to the class easily? Is the location convenient? Can you afford it? Sometimes work places or your hospital/clinic provide classes which fulfill these qualifications.

Once you have done enough yoga to know the difference between triangle pose and warrior pose, you may want to pick a particular style and study it more deeply.

Some yoga traditions will emphasize that they are relaxing or restorative. Often these classes will have quiet, longer poses. The poses will often emphasize forward bends and they will be supported. The classes will slow you down by being, well, slow.

However, to reduce stress, consider this: sometimes one can relax by focusing deeply on vigorous poses as well–but the key is focus.

If you are competitive with yourself or your neighbor, or if you turn your mind on and “think” too much, active yoga classes will be one more thing in your energetic day. You’ll become cranked up and euphoric, and take that rush with you when you leave the studio.

So if you can go deeply into your yoga practice, don’t limit your stress relief to just restorative yoga.

Here is a list of some popular yoga styles:

Iyengar yoga

My favorite yoga style is Iyengar. My first yoga classes were Iyengar and perhaps I’ll never love another school as much as this one.

Iyengar yoga is best known for its use of props. Props are used to allow you to get the benefits of a pose, even if your body can not get in the position completely. Some people love the props, others hate them. Depending on the instructor, the props can make a pose more deep or they can be a nuisance that you fuss with.

For me, the props are the least important part of Iyengar yoga. Iyengar yoga is taught with very precise instructions about how to move and position the body. I often feel very deep movements which I have never experienced (translation: I often come home very sore!). My poses are better and my body becomes more limber.

Because of the precision, Iyengar yoga is good for focusing the mind. My undisciplined thoughts focus on my body, and then body and mind come together.

Anusara Yoga

Anuara yoga has its roots in Iyengar, and teaches precise poses, however it is slightly less technical and more heart centered. In the classes I have taken, it is definitely supportive, with people clapping when someone does a difficult pose.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram is called “hot yoga” because it is done in a hot room–a very hot room. The heat helps your muscles to relax and your body to detox. Be prepared with an extra set of clothes for after class, because you will not want to wear your soppy yoga attire home.

The same set of poses are done in each class. This sequence is designed to be an overall body workout, a tonic of sorts, which balances the whole body and detoxes the system.

By Julia Rymut;

Tips for Moms to Reduce Stress

Sometimes you race from one appointment to the next. You get so busy that figuring out how to slow down becomes another challenge. You could use a few quick tips. For moms on the go, here are 10 great ways to reduce stress.

In the spirit of David Letterman, we will start with #10.

Drum roll please….

The Top 10 Quick Tips for Moms to Reduce Stress

10. List 3 things you are grateful for. Better yet, buy a pretty journal and start a “Gratitude Journal”. Each morning list 3 things to be grateful for. To up the ante, list 3 different things every day.

9. Take a walk in nature. Even if your nature walk is around the city block, take a walk, breathe deeply, notice the flowers and trees, listen for birds. A 10 minute walk can be quite refreshing.

8. Take a weekend “at home vacation”. This is one of the best tips for moms because it is so not what we do at home. Take a weekend and pretend you are at a hotel, only you are in you PJ’s at home. No chores, no laundry, no business. Tell the kids you are on vacation and they heat up the frozen pizzas themselves for the weekend. Rent a bunch of chick-flick videos, give yourself a facial, and take naps.

7. Plan a fun unusual date with yourself. Do something you have always wanted to do. Drive by that new florist everyday and wondered what she has? Stop in. Always wanted to glaze some pottery at the you-glaze-it-yourself shop? Give it a try. Skinny dipping in the lake? Why not?

6. Plan a retreat. Pick up the phone and make a reservation for a weekend alone at a retreat center. Plan to spend time not talking, not being interrupted, not caring for others. Just be quiet and relax.

5. Get together with a girlfriend. Eat chocolate.

4. Take 1 hour and do something creative that you enjoy. Paint, write, dance, work in the garden. Make time for creativity.

3. Exercise. Plan some exercise which you really enjoy. Better yet, be outdoors if you can. Sun. Getting your heart pumping. It all make you relax more.

2. Make a “(insert your name here) Budget”. Make a budget of your time (like you would budget your money) which includes time for yourself. If every week you have an hour for something you enjoy you will begin to replenish yourself.

…And the #1 Idea of the

Top 10 Quick Tips for Moms to Reduce Stress….

1. Do it! You know what you need. In your deepest heart, you already know what is lacking for you and what would make you feel better. So do it. Whatever it is, find a way to give yourself what you need.