What helps me relax? - Meditation, yoga and more

Hello there!

It’s been a while since I’m not here but as always, there’s a reason for everything.

Making long story short, this past week has been INTENSE. A lot of things are going on in my life right now and I needed some time to get everything organized and calmed.

Now that my agenda is all set up for the upcoming days and that I’m very motivated to write again, let’s jump into today’s topic!

Today I’m coming to explain you my methods to calm down and relax when you know that big times are about to come (such as exam season, for example, in my case).

Photo Credits to: Marc Colilla (@marccolilla)

Before I start, I want to share a personal story that will clarify why I realized that I needed to learn and relay on different sources of relaxation.

Last school year was a tough one. I was finishing my academic studies on-line and I was having a year that was pretty demanding in ballet. Once I finished my academic exams it was time to fully focus on ballet and I went over it too hard. So much that it went to the point that when the actual exams came I was exhausted mentally and physically. I passed my exams and everything was good, but I was not content with my performance, my behavior and how I was feeling after that. It was the moment to take things seriously.

After repertoire exam last year

My lovely mum bought me a book that taught how Mindfulness works and what it is, and this is the first method I want to talk about.

Mindfulness is how experts call a way of organizing our thoughts. It based on Buddhism practices and meditation but it’s mainly a method that helps to organize our mind that it’s always so busy. Have you ever heard this sentence of «try to think nothing»?

It’s impossible and just people who are capable to meditate very deep can reach a point of freedom of thoughts in their mind, but that actually can be dangerous when not taught correctly. Anyway, coming back to the point, our mind is always busy and most of the times with several thoughts at the same time. You might be walking down the street (which is already an order from your brain to your body to move) with some music on (we’re having two already) while you’re thinking of being careful to not hit anyone, not step badly and take care of the street lights and signals (just keep counting) and at the same time you’re remembering a conversation you had, an item you need to go shop for and feeling how your lips are getting dry and that you should probably get your lip balm out of your purse and just in case hand cream too because hands are always better when hydrated.

Exhausted? Me too.

This most of the population these days. World is moving extremely fast and our brains are too so we think that we’re unable to control this rush of constant thoughts because it’s just the way it’s supposed to be.

Mindfulness focus on giving your full attention to one, and only one, thought at a time. This means, coming back to the example before. If you enjoy a good walk with music, then go somewhere calmer where you know you won’t have to bring your attention to chaos and actually listen and enjoy your music. Or even better, sit down, relax, and really give that piece the attention that deserves.

This is great for whenever you feel anxious and stressed and you feel like things are piling up and you don’t see the top of that mountain. Give yourself a break, breathe and start thinking consciously about what are you going to do about a certain situation.

Here is where meditation comes in. Meditation is a very ancient practice that has nothing to do with religion (although Buddhists practice it as a way of connecting with God). It’s meant to bring peace and awareness to ourselves. There’s of course several types of meditation that can focus on something in particular such as focusing on a life goal, bring love and develop compassion or just release tensions and bring a fresh focus back to our bodies.

People who meditate often can do it without any guidance but I’m still a beginner and I actually enjoy listening to a soothing voice that guides me through my meditation. Five minutes is enough and I like to use the app Simple Habit.

It has tons of different meditations for different occasions. To give and example, I’m a night owl and when I sometimes can’t sleep I try to use one of the sleep meditations that focuses on a specific breathing patterns that allows your body to relax and fall asleep easier. It has work for me, so if you’re interested, give it a try!

Another thing I really enjoy is aromatherapy. I was introduced to it by one of my aussie friends here in Germany and she convinced me to get into it as well and I’ll always thank her for that.

This is the exact diffuser I have.

(Link to the product down)

She had a diffuser and although diffusers, at least in Spain, are commonly used in baby’s rooms to humidify the air, I didn’t know that it could have an actual relaxation effect on young adults.

It’s very easy to use and now a days you can find thousands of essential oil boxes that can fit your personality or needs. She actually got me some awesome ones from the British brand Mystic Moments and I couldn’t be more in love with them. Also, my diffuser is from Innoo. Both things you can find them easily on Amazon. (I’ll leave the link down below).

This are the two packs of essential oils I got from my friend. 

One of my very last things that I enjoy a lot is yoga. It’s a different type of workout that it’s also based in breathing patterns and figures that stretches your body as gently or as hard as you like. Of course I’m not yogi here, but I’m very interested in finding out much more from this practice because I genuinely enjoy a good yoga practice in the mornings (as I did during the past holidays in Spain) or in the evenings (as I’m doing here in Germany).

Adriene Mishler, the yogi I like to follow along when having a yoga session.

(YouTube: Yoga with Adriene)

I also do a follow along yoga practice through YouTube videos and my favorite one at the moment is the channel of Yoga with Adriene. I was also introduced to her through my lovely Aussie girl and I must say that whatever you need or want, I’m pretty sure you’ll find it in her channel. She even has some routines directed to dancers that are focused on balance and deep stretches that I really enjoy but I’ve also tried some of the more mental routines such as «Self Confidence» and I feel refreshed and empowered after them!

All in all, there’s a lot of things that might help us to relax and this is just some of the ones that help me now that I’m focusing the very last stretch of my school life that sometimes can feel so demanding and hard.

I hope you give it a try if you never have and tell me down below what you think of it!

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Love,

Muriel



Links to products:

Diffuser Innoo

Mindfulness Manual (It's in Spanish but you can find several different manuals and guides in English or in any other lenguage actually)

Essential Oils (you can find this brand in Amazon too but there might not be such a huge range to choose from)

Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel