insideKENT Magazine Issue 85 - April 2019 | Page 123

HEALTH+WELLNESS
60 Minute Stress Reducers
CONT.
Exercise
Exercise is one of those surprising ways to relax that,
until you try it, you might not be too sure about.
Surely exercise is all about working up a sweat,
competition, trying to outdo yourself and everyone
else around you?
Not necessarily – and even when it is and you’re
playing in a tournament or some kind of sporting
game, it can still be extremely relaxing.
When you are exercising, you are thinking about
exercising. You are focusing on exercising. You are
all about exercising. That means you’re not thinking
about the argument you had with your other half
or the nightmarish journey to work. You’re not
worrying about how to pay the bills or the house
move or the job interview or anything else that might
be causing you stress otherwise. Your mind is on the
task at hand.
When this happens, your stress levels will lower.
Think of it as ‘out of mind, out of life’ if it helps.
Your brain is a magnificent thing and it can do some
pretty impressive stuff, but it can get fixated too, not
allowing you any rest or relief from the problems
that are plaguing you. Use exercise to plug the
gap and by the time your 60 minutes is up, your
mind will have relaxed. The negative thoughts will
probably still seep back in – after all, you still need
to deal with them – but you’ll be clearer of mind
and more able to work out what you need to do to
combat the problems.
Yoga
We’ve already talked about how exercise in general
can help you to de-stress, but yoga in particular is
something that many people find absolutely ideal.
Anyone can take part no matter what your fitness
level is, and that inclusivity is one of the things that
makes this practice such a good one.
Yoga makes you more flexible, gives you better
posture, gives you more energy, improves your mood
and reduces stress – quite possibly the ideal exercise
for mind and body.
body practice, it helps you to be more disciplined
whilst also achieving the peace that you can
often need when the world is stressing you out more
than normal.
What’s also excellent about yoga is that there are
many different types to try. What works for one
person might not be so great for another, but with
some trial and error (as well as some background
reading to help you along) you should be able to
find the route that works best for you.
Hatha yoga is the most common type and many
beginners love this because it is a slower, (relatively)
easy way to practice this technique. It’s the one
that you will most likely think of when you are
imagining what your yoga class might be like, and
the one that many people swear by. Don’t worry if
you don’t like it. Don’t push on with something that
isn’t making you happy; you’ll only cause yourself
more stress. Instead look around for another form
of yoga to try out.
Yoga is a great stress buster because it combines
many stress-reducing techniques (exercise, deep
breathing, and meditation) and rolls them into one
amazing hobby. Because yoga is essentially a mind-
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