ISSUE #77 cont'd -- Anti-Anxiety Medications

Photo: Caer Weber

Further to my posts on other options besides or combined with medication ...

EXERCISE

I’m sure you know about all kinds of ways to exercise such as going to the gym, walking, running, swimming and so on. You have only to check your local community centre’s flyer to see all kinds of activities – sports like basketball, volleyball, badminton, or other activities such as skating or martial arts. There are also the more “alternative” type of activities such as yoga or tai chi and other strange sounding names.

YOGA
So what about yoga and have you heard of laughter yoga (see announcement #3 today’s date)? First of all the word “yoga” means “union” in Sanskrit, the union meaning that of mind, body and spirit. It’s a very complete form of exercise. It is made up of a number of postures or poses which you usually hold for a bit while focusing on your breath.

Yoga is more than simply stretching. It is about creating balance through developing strength and flexibility. Some teachers have you go through poses rather quickly so that heat is created in your body through the movement while others have you hold the poses so as to create stamina and perfect the pose.

Many people find yoga very helpful for stress and anxiety as it is very grounding and centering. It makes you bring your attention to the present and focus on what you are doing at the moment.

LAUGHTER YOGA
Well, you guessed it, it’s all about laughter. But there’s more to it than that. It combines laughter with breathing and people get both physiological and psychological benefits from it. Apparently people have reported many health improvements such as fewer respiratory infections, overcoming depression, and either relief or even cure of chronic medical problems. You’ve heard the term that’s been around for a few decades “Laughter is the best medicine” and laughter yoga may prove this right.

For more info go to http://www.laughteryoga.org/

TAI CHI

Originating in China it is practiced a lot here in the west now. It can best be described as a moving form of yoga and meditation combined. Essentially a sequence of movements originally from the martial arts but done slowly, softly and gracefully with smooth transitions between them.

For many people tai chi is very much a meditative exercise as, like yoga, you focus your mind on doing each movement correctly. Not only does your body benefit from the movements but your mind is calmed. Again this can be so helpful for stress and anxiety.

These are a few examples of things you could try to deal with stress and anxiety. Physical exercise is amazingly helpful to both of these as well as depression and other mental illnesses. The simple act of going for a walk can relieve a lot of stress as you get away from television, computers and hopefully your cell phone or Blackberry or whatever technology you like to play with. It’s a time to simply let your mind drift or you can focus on the flowers and trees along the way.