“Thanks again, Mary, for your yoga flow and advice. I’ve been doing the stretches and breathing and feel much, much better. I’m moving at normal speed again. Steroids might help, but a holistic approach is certainly the best course of action.”

This note was sent to me by a friend who was just diagnosed with RA(Rheumatoid Arthritis) and was asking for movement that could possibly help. I was so happy to receive this note as this person wasn’t able to brush her hair or pull up her pants (painful to say the least).

You know I’m a firm believer in the power of breath as stress relief as well as taking a more gentle approach when our body needs it. This is what we talk about in Yoga as connecting mind and body.  

Many times when we are stressed, we want to go hard in a workout to find some stress relief.  Sometimes that may be the right idea, but if we continue to feel stress after the workout, we can try a softer approach by breathing and moving in a gentle way to help us kick in the Parasympathetic Nervous system (our rest and digest) to calm the Fight or Flight (Sympathetic Nervous system).

Here is a visual on the health consequences of stress:

I’m not condoning not receiving medicine to help with your symptoms, but I think adding in breathing and gentle movement can be a gift for your mind and body. If you find it difficult to meditate, try focusing on your breathing as your meditation.  

Lately my 2 favorite breaths to work with are:

Box Breath: Imagine you are breathing around the visual of a box - Inhale 4 counts, pause the breath for 4 counts, exhale 4 counts, pause 4 counts.

4-7-8 breath: inhale 4 counts, pause 7 counts, exhale for 8 counts. 

I hope you are able to give one of these a try this week.

If you are not a part of my yoga and pilates classes, I’m happy to have you join us, or check out my Youtube channel for a few shorter classes.