How has your body and spirit been feeling these days? Have you been tired or having trouble sleeping well?
—That’s just how I was feeling early in summer vacation. It was hard taking so many online classes in the spring term. I found that my brows would often be deeply furrowed. Now that we’re on a summer vacation different from those in the past, I think many of you feel this kind of fatigue.
In this article, I’m introducing yoga—an activity that’s gotten even trendier recently. By making it a part of your routine, you’ll be able to release your stress and become a happier “new you”!
Take a Deep Breath
All of our summer plans are canceled; travel, festivals, swimming, and more. How could you do this to our perfect summer vacation, Coronavirus! We’ve all taken many sighs of disappointment. If you’re feeling fed up with all the sad news from the pandemic, just take a moment to take a deep breath together.
Straighten your back, and place a hand on your chest.
And take a deep breath in through your nose.
If a worry comes up in your mind, just forget about it for a while.
Listen to your breathing, and feel the fresh air come in.
It’s natural that we must breathe to live. But, in this moment while your eyes are on the screen, you may be sitting with bad posture. This posture can make your breathing shallow without you even noticing. Shallow breathing affects your health and beauty by keep your metabolism from working well.
If you felt relaxed, felt distracted, or felt nothing during that breathing exercise, I want you to give yoga a try!
What is Yoga?
Yoga has a long history of over 5000 to 6000 years. From its birth in Indus Valley civilization to now, so many poses have been created. Almost all poses were derived from “Hatha Yoga” literally meaning force. Today, the development of hatha yoga has become popular all over the world. It’s kind of a modern form of yoga.
Guess how many yoga poses there are! ….about 84 million!
With so many of them, I think most of you have seen at least one of these poses before.
bridge pose which is good for preventing heat exhaustion
What’s the purpose of yoga? It’s to become comfortable and to control your feelings. When doing yoga, you need to focus on your breathing, like in the exercise from earlier. Then, you can face yourself.
I think it’s difficult because everyone has something they can’t stop thinking about.
But if you keep trying to focus on yourself, you will get better at it, ultimately improving your health and body.
What do we need?
Change into comfortable clothes, then let’s do some yoga exercises with a bottle of water and a yoga mat! If you take an easy lesson, you can use a carpet or a towel instead of a mat. Burning an aroma oil or incense and putting on some chill music can create a relaxed atmosphere. You can find recommendations from music articles on Her Campus ICU! Don’t forget to have enough space to prevent injuries!
Take a free lecture on Youtube!
You can take a yoga lesson usually in a studio or sometimes outside. But now, because of coronavirus, we can take an online lesson at home.
I really like doing yoga in a studio because all members, from advanced members to beginners, are welcome there. Especially I love the atmosphere that instructors create in the studio through music and aroma. I can’t wait to go back!
But for those who hesitate to go to a studio, I recommend taking free lessons on Youtube. It’s okay if you don’t know how to do yoga, or if you don’t have much time to go to a studio. You can take it anywhere and anytime for free!
B-LIFE Mariko
She offers many kinds of lessons so that you can find one to suit you! Visit her channel if you’re interested!
Haruka Kuriyama
She offers yoga lessons on zoom. She also offers information and thoughts about sustainability and organic lifestyles through Instagram. I’ve taken her lesson in person before and I absolutely respect her powerfulness.
Visit their SNS if you’re interested!
New You
I’m not a yoga instructor or a yoga master. Yes, I am an absolute beginner. But as a beginner, I wrote about what makes yoga an attractive activity from my perspective. For me, yoga has already become an essential part of my life.
Nowadays, because of coronavirus, it’s not so easy to try something new or meet friends. I’m the kind of person who’s always doing something, but now, I can’t make use of my energy. But now I’ve started to think of doing nothing as an activity. It’s important to take the time to clear our minds.
So if you feel frustrated with something, give yoga a try and find a new you.
