Meditation and Yoga

Let’s talk about meditation and yoga. I am not someone who likes the froufrou yoga or the third mind’s eye hoopla. I like my yoga to be physically moving and no hard to pronounce words. I like it to make me sweat. I do not like the super difficult and slightly dangerous poses (if done wrong). I do like hot yoga, yes, it is slow. But I feel so good after.

Lately, I have noticed my anger has skyrocketed. When I am not blogging, writing a book, or teaching fitness classes, I’m an insurance agent that specializes in Small Business Health Insurance. So, of course during these horrible trying times, my job is about ten times more stressful than usual. Yes, even more stressful than during fourth quarter when about ninety percent of my business renews. It is because these small businesses are suffering. They are having to lay off their employees, which means they are calling me upset and telling me they need to cancel their company’s health insurance plan. Yes, I have cried with a few of them. I am a very empathetic person, so I am feeling their anguish about tenfold. It sucks.

Trail running usually makes me feel better. Breathing in the fresh air. Feeling the dirt under my feet. Admiring nature’s beauty. I go out, hit the trail with some good tunes and I can shut it all out. Well, jerkoffs are out in force, since no one is working, with their dogs off leash. Can anyone explain that to me? Why people think it is okay to be in public with their dogs off leash? Other people use the trails and other people have dogs that do not react well to other dogs running up on them. But I digress.

So, see anger. I have started doing more of the froufrou yoga and meditation. Why is yoga and meditation so good for us? Well, it is because when we are stressed our bodies release a hormone called cortisol. Elevated levels of cortisol effect the brain. It makes it hard to function. It makes it hard to focus. It also effects our bodies. When you are stressed it can cause irritability, rapid weight gain, muscle weakness and fatigue, high blood pressure, oh I could go on.

I recently downloaded a guided meditation or relaxation app. Holy moly is it amazing. I braced myself expecting froufrou. It was not. It was the sound of waves crashing on the beach. It was a gentle voice telling me to breathe. It was relaxing.

When you do mediation, it can bring those cortisol levels down. Our bodies need us to not be stressed. When your running or regular fitness routine are not working to bring those stress levels down, it is time to step it up a notch. We need to take care of our minds so that we can take care of our bodies.

Yoga, froufrou yoga. I struggle where to even start. I still struggle with froufrou yoga. But I like instruction on how to take my mind away from everything and focus on breathing. Focus on what my body is doing. Focus on how to properly be in the pose. If the yoga could just lose the hard to pronounce words and the third eye’s mind, I would be happy. It is hard to get that detailed instruction when the yoga is faster. I like to know the benefits of each pose. I like when an instructor comes over and corrects my form, again hard for them to do in the faster paced classes.

I have said it before, our bodies need yoga or yoga style workouts. Especially if we are long distance running or if you sit at a desk all day long. Our bodies need that stretch. They need that time to unwind and relax. Froufrou yoga has its need. It slows us down.

All of this has made me realize that I want to get a certification in trauma informed yoga. It is not the 200 YTT but it would help me in all other fitness that I do. It would help me help others to find peace.

In this fast-paced world, we need to take that hour to slow down. We need that twenty minutes of guided meditation or relaxation. I say this a lot, give your body what it deserves. Know your body’s worth. Stay tuned for next week’s post.