• Abdominal region – your belly will inflate like a balloon on inhalation and deflate on exhalation.
• Ribs and middle chest region – your ribs will expand and contract like an accordion.
• Upper or clavicle/collar bone region – place your thumbs under the collar bone to feel the movement of this area during breathing.

Breathing exercise begins:

1. In a comfortable position on your back, with your body relaxed, place your right hand at the top of your chest with your thumb at the collar bone and the left hand on the middle of your abdomen.
2. Inhale and exhale through the nose.
3. First focus on bringing breath into the lower part of the lungs by inflating the belly like a balloon. Next allow the air to expand to the middle chest region, then expanding further to fill the upper/collar bone region.
4. On the inhale feel each region of the lungs expanding, imagining the inhalation filling up a glass of water from the bottom up.
5. On the exhale, empty your lungs, allow the abdominal region to fully deflate.
6. Continue long, deep, slow breaths while keeping the body relaxed until the breaths become smooth, even and uninterrupted (approximately 15 – 20 breaths).

The breathing exercise can also be done in a chair with your back straight but in the beginning you may find it easier to practice in the lying down position.

You can practice this breathing exercise any time you feel anxiety is getting in your way or you feel the need to bring yourself to the state of relax or calm. If you find meditation to be challenging to practice on your own, search out a Chicago Yoga Studio that teaches meditation.

Water is one of the oldest and most profound healers the Earth has to offer. Immersion in water is a time honored way to relax, and using swimming as a tool for relaxation can be a tremendous help for anyone looking to better manage stress or anxiety.  Half of all people who enter a vigorous exercise routine drop out within a year, so setting an easy paced schedule that works realistically within your lifestyle is important for using swimming as a stress management tool.

Using deep, diaphragmatic breathing is crucial to getting the deepest relaxation from a swim. Diaphragmatic breathing is simply deep, intentional breaths taken in to fill the lungs at the bottom of the rib cage, and then exhalation to completely release air.  In swimming the main work should be done during the exhalation phase of the breathing process, when you are using your arms to thrust your body forward.

Swimming has traditional benefits for the mind and body, such as helping strengthen the respiratory system, build endurance and balancing hormones and blood sugars- both crucial to mood- as well as the extra benefits of the body’s buoyancy in water. After an invigorating swim, letting your body float in the water, with arms and legs relaxed, while doing purposeful and deep breathing, has a profoundly relaxing effect on the nervous system. Water moving around your muscles and joints has a massage like quality that further relaxes the body and so, the mind.

The best way to most effectively maximize the relaxing qualities of swimming is to set up a routine of steps that your body and mind will begin to anticipate, already relaxing before you have even hit the water.

• Before entering the water, use your towel as a loofah over your entire body. Breathe mindfully while doing so, relaxing your body and focusing on the sensations while letting any intrusive or stressful thoughts move in and out without focus.
• Enter the water and begin to swim slowly. After a few laps, use diaphragmatic breathing and a swim stroke that you find most relaxing.  Remember that both swimming and diaphragmatic breathing are quickly tiring, so don’t be surprised if your endurance isn’t what you expect at first.
• Swim until very tired, but not completely exhausted.  Swim a few laps increasingly slower.
• Find a comfortable spot and float in the water, relaxing your entire body.  Breathe in and out in a relaxed manner.

The deep relaxation experienced after a swim is beneficial to the mind, body and spirit. This is a good time to eat a light, healthy snack, and you might find that napping after a swim leaves you more refreshed and positive than you remember feeling in a long while.

After a short period of time doing this routine, you will probably be surprised to find that you are not only looking forward to your swim time, but that you actually feel more relaxed before even reaching poolside.  Over time, the relaxing benefits of a regular swim routine will overlap outside the water and you will find that you are calmer and more centered overall.

About the Author: Steven Hamilton often contributes on behalf of Keifer.com. Kiefer is the best in class provider of men’s competitive swimsuits and women’s competitive swimsuits.

The definition of pranayama is the expansion of the energy body through breathing. A simple definition for such a powerful activity. Understanding the breath and control of the breath can have profound effects on your daily life. Disease, dullness, doubt, negligence, laziness, excess craving, delusion, instability and lack of concentration can all be impacted by incorporating pranayama into your daily routine. “These nine obstacles to self-knowledge disrupt and scatter the mind… in order to prevent these obstacles from arising you should habituate yourself to meditation upon a single principle… or the obstacles can be lessened by forcibly exhaling, then retaining the prana during the pause following exhalation.” Yoga Sutras of Patanjali as interpreted by Mukunda Stiles.

The practice of pranayama goes deeper than just the inhale and exhale. It is true breath control and allows for stimulating the chakras, which has subtle internal effects that science is still trying to uncover. In order to truly tap into the power of pranayama, one must understand the bandhas. Therefore we recommend you discuss the complete practice of pranayama with an experienced professional. With that being said, it is difficult to say the effects you will feel from the breathing exercise we will introduce to you in this article. We are all individuals and within our own search to remove the obstacles that disrupt and scatter the mind, we will have different experiences. If you are just beginning your practice of breathing, you can try the easy breathing exercise to start the inquiry into breath control. Below is more complex breathing exercise (pranayama) that is more in line with what Pantanjali is describing in the Yoga Sutras and can be practiced at home.

Kevala kumbhaka: retention of the breath
In a comfortable seated position begin to inhale and exhale through the nose.
On the inhale, start with inflating the lower part of the lungs, then expand the middle chest region, and completing the inhale by expanding the upper/collar bone region.
Exhale in the reverse
Continue long, deep, slow, smooth, uninterrupted breaths while keeping the body relaxed, not tensing or shrugging the shoulders (approximately 5 times).
(If the breath is not smooth and uninterrupted see the easy breathing exercise for more description on the breathing technique)
At any point of the inhale or exhale interrupt the breath with a hold for a comfortable amount of time without exaggeration or tension in your body or breath. The holding of your inhale and/or exhale should not be predetermined. For example, you should not inhale deeper than usual because you intend to hold the breath on your exhale. The breath should remain smooth and controlled and the holding (or retention) of the breath should be a pause in the flow as oppose to a hard stop.

This breathing exercise will help you train the breath for more complex pranayamas. As you grow in your breathing practice, you should seek the guidance of an experienced professional. Some yoga studios or yoga instructors may have insight into helping you grow in your practice of pranayama, but there are other experienced professionals that can help you grow in the practice of pranayama and meditation as well.

Well, the study of chakras goes deeper than just a couple of yoga poses. By definition they form part of a subtle energy body along with the energy channels (nadis) and the subtle winds (prana) but the study of chakras is complex and somewhat difficult to understand. Below is a quick summary of the yoga poses, effects and other benefits to help you have a general understanding of what your teacher is speaking of in your yoga classes.

(1) Muladhara chakra (root chakra)
Associated color is red. Supporting our structure. Associated element is earth, representing security, releasing our most basic fears and insecurities.
Yoga Poses: Balancing postures, hip opening movements, and some back bends
Meditation Point: Time in life where security and stability existed

(2) Swadhisthana chakra (sacral chakra)
Associated color is orange. It is the origin of our individual self. Associated element is water, symbolizing our creative energy, becoming in touch with our intuitive voice.
Yoga Poses: Twisting movements
Meditation Point: Unlimited creativity and joy

(3) Manipura chakra (solar plexus chakra)
Associated color is yellow. It is the connection point to your will and personal power. Associated element is fire, the experience of power, expression and expansion, allowing one to break the constricting nature of ego, where communion with ones true nature begins.
Yoga poses: Warrior I pose
Meditation Point: Become who you are

(4) Anahata chakra (heart chakra)
Associated color is green. Representing compassion and unconditional love. Associated element is air, that which is ever new, constantly pervasive and self-sustaining. When you connect with the life around you through the heart chakra, your love will flow like air.
Yoga Poses: Chest opening movements
Meditation Point: Love

(5) Vishuddha chakra (throat)
Associated color is blue. Ability to speak and to listen will be free from inhibition. Associated element is ether/space and is known as the chakra for abundance and the doorway to liberation.
Yoga poses: Chair pose or chakrasana (Jalandhara Bandha)
Meditation Point: Open communication, the Truth

(6) Ajna chakra (third eye)
Associated color is violet/indigo, it represents inner awareness, discriminative wisdom and penetrating insight into the nature of things, life, people and our own true self.
Yoga poses: Inversions, meditation within the movements
Meditation Point: Awareness and creativity

(7) Sahasrara Chakra (Crown – Top of the head)
Associated color is white or all colors.

The bandhas involve the contraction or squeezing of muscles. Contraction of these muscled affects the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, endocrine and energy systems. When a muscle is contracted a nerve impulse is relayed to the brain triggering other neuronal circuits and nerve centers. The bandhas help control breath, and breath controls consciousness. It would be difficult to explain how to contract the muscles used for the bandhas, so we recommend you discuss this activity with an experienced professional. We will only introduce the effects of the three major bandhas, we will not touch on the actual practice of contracting the muscles or attempt to explain how to incorporate them into your yoga practice. This should be done under the supervision of an experienced professional. Hopefully, understanding the effects will lead you into deepening your practice.

Mulabandha stimulates both the sensory motor and the autonomic nervous systems in the pelvic region. When Mulabandha is performed, pelvic stimulation activates parasympathetic fibers emerging from the pelvic spinal cord. The parasympathetic nervous system supports the day to day functioning of internal organs on an individual basis.

Uddiyana Bandha compresses the digestive organs, adrenal glands, kidneys, and most important the solar plexus. It tones the sympathetic nervous system, which controls our “flight or fight” function, encouraging it to work more efficiently. Having control of the sympathetic nervous system has direct effects on stress and anxiety.

Jalandhara Bandha stimulates the parasympathetic spinal area in the Medulla Oblongata regulating heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure. Activating this bandha also allows one to achieve a sense of rest, relaxation and general wellbeing.

As the bandhas are intimately related to the chakras, it is natural for the contraction of the muscles related to the respective bandhas to affect the chakras. The performance of bandhas in conjunction with pranayama deepens the effects of both. Once again, we recommend these exercises and practices be done under the supervision of an experienced professional.

The study placed two groups of mice in the same stressful, intimidating environment with other bigger, stronger and more dominant mice. The doctors observed the brain cell activity in the rodent’s medial prefrontal cortex in order to understand the emotional responses. The first group, which was not subject to exercise prior to the encounter “responded to the repeated stress by becoming depressed.” The second group that was allowed to access running wheels and other equipment prior to the encounter “appeared to be, Dr. Lehmann said, stress-resistant.” When the exercised based mice group was out of the stressful, intimidating environment, they bounced back and continued to explore as oppose to hiding in dark spaces as the non-exercise based group.

Interestingly, the doctors studying this case mentioned that the mice ran only when and for as long they wanted. The study does not state that long hours of exercise is the answer to being stress resilient. Actually, the extreme can have the reverse effect.

Workout. Don’t over do it. It will not only make you stronger physically but mentally.

In Osho’s words “meditation in its essence is the art of being aware, aware of what is going on inside you and around you”. When you meditate you become a witness, you are more of a watcher than a doer.

Although meditation itself is not a technique there are many guides and paths to reaching a meditative state. The key is to be patient and enjoy the small successes, such as 5 seconds of calmness, 2 seconds of focus and then let your practice grow and blossom.

If you are a beginner, here are a couple of easy tips to get you started. When you are trying to meditate:

• Turn off your phone and everything else that does not allow you to disengage yourself.
• Find a special place/space that enhances meditation and designate specifically for meditation. Find a place where nature has not yet been disturbed or polluted. If you cannot find such a place, a quiet room or small corner will do just fine.
• Be comfortable. Loosen any uncomfortable clothing and find a posture that allows you to forget the body.
• Understand that it is a gradual process.
• If you find meditation to be challenging to practice on your own, search out a yoga studio that teaches meditation.

The truth is that it requires some effort and it can be frustrating at times but it is worth to give it a try. Why? Well, it is believed to have positive health benefits such as help you reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

Meditation starts with the breath, so here is a meditation technique you can try at home. Some yoga studios may teach a similar technique during yoga classes.

Since everything starts with your breath, let’s focus on this area of stress relief first. The deep breathing in which yoga focuses requires an engaged, focused mind, and once the mind is tuned with the breathing, the crazy “mind chatter “ slows down and allows you to relax.

By the practice of the physical movements, “asanas”, you will be able to switch your focus from your chaotic thoughts toward calm because the yoga poses require concentration and balance. With these deep stretching and strength movements you will allow for the body to release endorphins, as it does in most physical activities, contributing to an overall feel-good feeling.

Another way is during the relaxation phase of the practice (“corpse pose” or “Savasana”). This usually happens at the end of the practice, after you have stretched deeply and brought deeper awareness to your breath. This state of release is an important part of the stress relief effects of yoga.

With that being said, I believe that the best way to understand how yoga will help you to reduce your stress levels is to hit the mat and see it for yourself.

Find a Chicago Yoga Studio near you.