How To Let Go of Anxiety and Stress With Yoga and Meditation

Anxiety is a huge problem in today's world, especially among women. Our lives are busy and full of trying to do and manage too much and create the outcomes we want. We rush through tasks to get as much done as possible. We can't sleep because we are thinking about everything we have to do tomorrow. We worry about everything that could go wrong. This creates a toxic emotional environment, making it even more difficult to get done what we need to. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce stress and anxiety and increase productivity.

1. Breathing
In all the hustle and bustle of daily life, we often forget to stop and breathe. It may seem like such a simple thing to do, but taking two minutes to sit still and breathe in and out can make such a huge difference. It is a great idea to take time between activities instead of rushing from one to the next. We drive away from work in a hurry because we have too many things to fit into our evening. We rush through the grocery store, hurry to the car, drive home, rush to put the groceries away and start dinner. Even when we sit down to eat, it still feels like we're rushing because we've been rushing all day. We forget how to relax. Instead of hurrying, take a moment to sit in your car when you pull up to the grocery store or the gym or your home and breathe and relax. You will get everything done today. You will get home and get dinner prepared. Relaxing while you are doing it will make it so much more enjoyable and stress free. Try to enjoy your day instead of hurrying through it.
2. Yoga/Meditation

If you have time in your day, or even once a week, yoga and meditation can really help to relieve stress. In our anxiety bubbles, we forget about our bodies – how they feel and where they hold the stress from our minds. Through yoga, we can become self aware of our bodies again and how they feel – every muscle and every spot of tension and release it. Loving your body and taking time to feel it and become aware of it again is essential to reducing anxiety. Meditation during yoga or even separate from can be extremely refreshing. Concentrating on breathing and how your body feels gives your busy mind a break. Daily worries and stresses are just that – stresses of the day - no more important than that day itself. Your mental state and body last much longer and maintaining your inner peace is more important to dealing with any daily obstacle than each obstacle itself. Just like sleep can provide you the answers you need in the morning, meditation can open your mind up to solutions. Letting go of the worry is often the best thing you can do.
4. Recognizing and Letting Go
Anxiety comes from us trying to control things we can't control. We get anxious over the health and safety of others, the weather, if we will have enough time, whether a certain outcome we want will happen, and whether certain things we don't want to happen will happen. None of these things are things we can control. It helps to recognize this – that us stressing about what we can't control will not help anything, but in relaxing we can deal with whatever happens. Do not trust that what you want to happen will happen, but control the pieces you can, relax, and in relaxation know you will deal with whatever happens. Let go of the compulsion to control. Whether you believe everything happens for a reason or not, everything that is going to happen is going to happen, whether you stress about it or not. Take control of what you can and let go of the rest.

Stress causes health problems and reduces productivity, but above all, it prevents the enjoyment of our time. When you are anxious, you are not living in the moment and being present in your day, which is a tragedy, because each day is all we have. Fortunately, we can learn to let go of anxiety and begin enjoying each moment again.