Relieve stress and settle your nervous system

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article in the New York Times that featured a short movement practice for stress relief. I was excited to see that many of the movements in the article are very similar to the ones I like to use with my private yoga clients whose nervous system needs a bit of extra care. Whenever we feel stressed or anxious, we can all benefit from shaking the body, gentle rocking, pushing-pulling, throwing and hugging actions, deep breathing, and anything else that can help us discharge unwanted chaotic energy.

In this short standing yoga practice, we do all of these actions in a particular order to help us relieve stress and decrease agitation. You can do most of these movements anywhere, and it’s helpful to do them any time you start to feel antsy. For this practice, you will need a steady surface to sit on and a throw pillow that finally gets to live up to its name 🙂 Please give it a try and see how it feels!