Pūr Energy Life - Winter Edition (Dec 2020)

PŪR ENERGY LIFE
YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF
Read Christina’s journey into yoga and how this helped her to
significantly reduce her levels of stress and anxiety. She’s now trained in
children’s yoga, chair yoga and Yin yoga to help others to experience
the benefits for better health and happiness.
Why did you start doing yoga?
I started my yoga journey just over six years ago
when I was experiencing anxiety. At that time, I
noticed a difference in my posture as a result of
not breathing correctly. This contributed to the
hunching of my shoulders forward and my
breathing became very shallow due to the
anxiety I was experiencing. It was a vicious cycle
until I decided to motivate myself and attend my
first ever yoga class.
What benefits did you notice?
I started mainly doing yoga as a form of exercise
but noticed how the classes incorporated lots of
to do my study with Calm for Kids in London. This
way I could put my yoga and teaching training
into what I love to do most. I work with small
groups of children under eleven years old. My
classes incorporate stories which include simple
yoga postures. As well as the physical benefits,
my teaching involves mindfulness and breath
work. This helps children to have better focus,
and to be aware of their breath so that they can
deal with their emotions more efficiently. Parents
have told me that their children are less stressed
afterwards. Most importantly the classes are fun
too!
mental focus and the postures were done whilst
concentrating on the breath. After about three
months I found my anxiety was lessening and I
noticed how by practicing the correct breathing
techniques, I was straightening up my shoulders
and I even managed to halve the dosage of my
asthma inhaler. My asthma was late onset and
came on mainly due to the stress I was
experiencing. By practicing yoga, I found that I
could manage my stress more efficiently.
How did you start teaching yoga?
Two and a half years ago I wanted to teach
again. I wanted to work with children and
incorporate yoga into schools, and so I decided
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