Feeling Anxious? 5 Ways to Ease Your Anxiety with Yoga and Meditation
I’ve been feeling a little anxious this week. Between my busy job and all that’s going on in the world, sometimes it feels a little much.
Thank goodness for my mindful yoga practice! Here are 5 simple yoga and mindfulness practices you can do any time of day whenever you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and life feels out of control. I call them my “5x5 practices” (5 practices, 5 minutes each). Pick the practice that feels right for you in this moment, or do more than one. Spend longer than 5 minutes if you have the time. It doesn’t matter as you will see the benefit no matter how much time you spend. I have to warn you, though – the more often you do these, the more often you will want to do them and the longer you will spend on each one.
5x5 practices
(5 practices, 5 minutes each)
1. Grounding and Breathing
Whenever I’m feeling anxious, the very first thing I do is pause, close my eyes, and feel the ground supporting my body. When we’re feeling anxious and things start spinning out of control, we tend to lose contact with our bodies and become ungrounded. It’s important to come back into our bodies, and one way to do that is to develop proprioceptive(where is my body in space) and interoceptive (how does my body feel inside) awareness.
Practice: Sit or lie down (you can do this standing too!) in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and notice where your body is connecting with the earth. Notice the sensations of your feet on the floor and your seat in the chair if you’re sitting, or the length of your spine on the bed, couch or floor if you’re lying down. Once you’re settled, you can begin to notice your breath coming in through your nose and out through your nose and see if you can start lengthening your breath without effort. Lay, sit or stand here breathing in and out until you feel your breath starting to even out. If your mind is running on high speed, you can try repeating one word like “breathe” or “calm” to replace the ongoing chatter. Stay here as long as is comfortable, then gently open your eyes, and slowly start oving your body.
2. Shake it off
This is a great practice to do when you’re feeling really anxious. When we’ve gone outside of our window of tolerance (a term coined by Dr. Dan Siegal, MD, Mindsight) it’s sometimes more helpful to do this exercise before doing any breath work. The body stores much of our stress throughout the day which is why movement often helps to relieve the discomfort.
Shake it off practice – One of my slow mindful yoga teachers, Kristine Weber of Subtle Yoga, provided the inspiration for this version of the practice when someone is really anxious. Start by standing in mountain pose. Take a moment to do some grounding (i.e., feel the earth beneath your feet, take some breaths) and then start to move by shaking your arms and lifting one foot then the other off the ground one at a time and shaking them as well. You can also lightly jump up and down, or swing your arms side to side. Dance! Doing this exercise for just a few minutes will help to reset the nervous system.
3. Interoceptive awareness – The Body Scan
There are hundreds of versions of the body scan available to explore, ranging from very simple and only a few minutes, to 45 minutes and beyond. The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program founded by Jon Kabat Zinn (Full Catastrophe Living) was my first introduction. Since then it’s become part of my regular practice, and I find it the easiest way to clear my mind of anxious thoughts and focus on my body.
Here’s a short body scan practice for you to try: Lie down on your back in a comfortable position, with your arms gently by your side and your feet uncrossed. Start by noticing your breath as it goes in and out through your nose. Then, starting at your feet, slowly place your attention on each part of your body, paying particular attention to those areas of your body that are sore, stiff or where there’s little feeling at all. Move up each leg, your torso, each arm, through your neck until you finally reach the top of your head. When you’re done, gently wiggle your fingers and toes and slowly start moving your body again.
4. 5 gentle yoga poses
These five yoga poses are some of my favourite to help calm my anxious mind:
5. Visualization Meditation
There are many ways to do a visualization meditation. The easiest is to download a free meditation app (there are many apps and most have a free version so have fun exploring!) and pick a 5 minute guided visualization. Or, you can picture your favourite, most calming place and envision all of the details. Picture yourself arriving there and staying for awhile. Here’s a short guided meditation to start you off.
Guided meditation practice: Start by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position and begin by noticing your breath. Feel the earth or chair beneath your body. Once you are settled, picture yourself walking through a well-marked, smooth path in the woods. Look around at all the flowers, trees and foliage, and notice if you can hear any of the woodland animals or birds rustling in the trees. After a minute or two, you reach a clearing and a small brook. Find a spot to sit down by the brook and look at your reflection in the water. Breathe in all the scents, listen to all the sounds. Stay as long as you like. When you’re feeling like you’ve had enough, slowly stand up and make your way back through the woods to the start of your path. Take a few more deep breaths, open your eyes, and carry on with your day.
Please let me know if you try any of these practices and how they worked for you. You can email me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com. And please share with your friends!
I have created a Build Your Resilience Toolkit that has more mindfulness, breathing and yoga practices, along with journaling prompts and affirmations. You can download your FREE copy here:
And, if you’re interested in daily tips and weekly slow mindful practices, please come join us on in our private FB group – The Journey Within Mindful Yoga and Life Change Community: