This Moment Matters: Quick Tips from 6 Different Healing Traditions for Managing Stress
Amidst the whirlwind of the holiday season, finding moments of tranquility is invaluable. At the Center, we regularly draw from various Western and Eastern healing traditions to help us stay grounded. Here are a few quick tips rooted in some of our most valued therapeutic practices to help you and your family navigate stress and foster inner calm this season.
1. Qi Gong - Shaking
Quickly clear stress and reset your nervous system in less than a minute by engaging in intentional shaking. This simple Qi Gong exercise comes to us from our Center Qigong teacher, Lana Reed, and her teacher Lee Holden:
Stand with feet about hip-width apart
Begin with shaking the wrists, hands, and arms
Breathe in and exhale and let go
Now bounce into your heels
Feel a release across the base of your skull where we often hold a lot of stress
Inhale through the nose and exhale a few times
Feel your stress transformed into vital life-force energy!
If you’d like to see a video of this simple shaking technique, here’s a short YouTube tutorial.
2. Yoga - Grounding
One of the most reliable ways to find solace is in yoga’s grounding practices. Begin with a simple-yet-effective forward fold to center yourself. Then, take a mindful rest for just five minutes, focusing on reconnecting with your breath. If you're still feeling unsettled or want to try something new, practice alternate nostril breathing. To do this, you simply hold one nostril closed while intentionally and deeply inhaling and exhaling through the open nostril — then you repeat this process, alternating between nostrils. While this is a common practice during meditation, you can use this tactic at any time to restore balance and calmness. Want to know more about the benefits? Check out this article by Medical News Today.
3. Ayurveda - Warm Oil Massage
As winter deepens, indulge in this soothing Ayurvedic practice for bringing balance to your body. Consider massaging warm oil on your feet, head, or ears, nurturing your body and nervous system and easing the transition into the colder season. For recommendations on oils and techniques, we always refer our clients to our Ayurvedic practitioner, Belinda Baer. To help you get started, she shares the 6 Best Ayurvedic Massage Oils on her blog.
4. Meditation - Guided Meditations for Younger Kids
Meditation is a wonderful stress-reducer for any age; however, it's helpful to have kid-friendly tools when introducing children to mindfulness and meditation. For this, we love the online guided meditations from Green Child Magazine. The guided meditation scripts introduce younger meditators to breath awareness, letting go of anxiety, and inviting in positive emotions — and they provide you with a wonderful opportunity for quality time with your kids.
5. Aromatherapy - Flower Essences
Aromatherapy has been used for centuries to help with a long list of ailments, and today we still tap into our powerful sense of scent to alleviate stress and elevate moods. For this cold and bustling season, we enjoy the uplifting scents of flower essences. (We like the essential oils available at Anima Mundi Herbals.) Scents like ylang-ylang, vetiver, and rose geranium offer an almost instantaneous mood boost. Here's a guide to some of the most popular aromatic oils, so you can learn which flower scents are uplifting and/or promote emotional balance.
6. Psychotherapy - Train Your Brain
An important part of stress reduction is being able to manage the negative thoughts and feelings that inevitably crop up. For that, we turn to psychotherapy. When faced with stress and challenging emotions, it's helpful to know how to embrace self-compassion and approach your feelings with curiosity. With practice, you can train your brain to respond to negative thoughts with a more mindful outlook, and foster a sense of understanding and acceptance toward yourself and others. We like this article by McLean Hospital, which shares several quick and practical tips for bolstering self-compassion.
Finding moments of peace amidst the chaos is a gift to yourself.
If you're looking for guidance beyond these quick tips, please call the Center. Together we can find the right tools for growing the foundation of well-being in your life.