Take time out for you for stress relief this winter

How do you find relief from a world that wants more from you every hour, every day? Consider taking time out for you. Take an hour or more and contemplate doing some yoga or taking a well-deserved massage and get to a place that allows you to take control — even for a short time.

A mind-body practice, yoga combines physical poses, controlled breathing and meditation or relaxation. Yoga can help reduce stress, lower your blood pressure and lower your heart rate. Yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve a peacefulness of body and mind. It can also help you to relax, handle anxiety and manage stress without much physical effort.

Beginners like the slower pace and easier movements that entry level yoga offers. Yoga poses, or postures, are designed to increase strength and flexibility. Along with controlled movements, comes controlled breathing, which can help quiet your mind and allow you to be more in the moment. Meditation or relaxation is the end result of the exercise.

There are several health benefits to doing yoga on a regular basis. Yoga can help you reduce stress and anxiety, improve overall fitness and range of motion. It can also help in the management of chronic conditions such as heart disease, arthritis and insomnia.

The Mt. Pleasant Recreation Center offers classes in yoga. All of the classes offer traditional yoga poses.

“The early morning class is basic yoga, designed for someone just getting into it. It is the easiest of the three classes that are offered. The yoga class at noon, is just a bit harder and incorporates more fitness moves, which is our intermediate level that can still be modified to fit easy yoga. Our evening class is probably the most advanced, where the instructor has the class doing more of the advanced yoga poses, but it can also be modified so that any level can participate,” said Jordyn Dingman, Mt. Pleasant Recreation Center associate director and program director.

You can show up at the Rec Center without a mat — they have those available — or you can bring your own. You don’t have to sign up, you can just come in. If you are a member of the Rec Center, the classes are free, if not a member, the class will be $7 per class.

The first class is held Tuesday and Thursday from 6:15-7 a.m. at Studio B, with Sheila Moore. The second class is held in Studio B from noon-12:30 p.m. with Jordyn Dingman; and the third class is held in Studio B from 4:30-5:15 p.m. with Heidi Huckabone.

If you have restrictions getting up and down from the floor, the Rec Center does offer a fourth class, that is chair yoga.

”A lot of seniors that come to that class. We never get on the ground, everything is situated so that you are seated in a chair or standing,“ said Dingman.

The chair yoga class is Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:30-10 a.m. with Jordyn Dingman.

One of the best ways to deal with prolonged stress is with a nurturing massage. It can be a wonderful way to soothe your body and bring you back to a more relaxed existence.

“In the aspect of stress relief, a massage is very effective,” said Donna Hoaglin, of Wellness Connection of Mt. Pleasant. “One of the main things is that you are actually taking the time out of your daily routine to do something for your body and mind, and letting your body recuperate from the stress in your life.”

“So many people don’t slow down anymore, and doing a massage allows you to slow down and take that necessary time for yourself.”

There are several massage styles available to you and the goal of each is to relax the entire body. Whether with long strokes of a deep tissue Swedish massage, or aromatherapy massage, where aromatic oils and lotions play a key function in the massage, relaxation is key.

Many types of messages rely on encouraging the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural stress relievers. Some even go so far as to stimulate the limbic system — an area of the brain that controls emotions and influences the nervous system and hormones.

Massages release endorphins that allow the body to heal. Just by touch, a massage allows you to activate those endorphins and get you to a more peaceful state of mind and helping your body relax.

Reiki massage is a meditative practice that promotes a positive state of mind through gentle touch.

“Reiki is pure energy work,” explained Hoaglin. “You want your body to be in balance and you want your energy to be flowing in a clockwise manner throughout your body. Due to stress or injuries, you can have imbalances in your energy.”

Reiki is the process of trying to get your energy in balance throughout your body. It is not really a hands on technique, it is more of working with the energy around your body to get your body back in balance.

Cranial sacral massage or CST relieves compression in the head, neck and back. It can soothe both pain and release emotional, physical stress and tension.

Myofascial release is a treatment that helps restore range of motion and release underlying physical tension. It is a light stretch or friction on the skin that releases fascial tensions in the muscles underneath.

Raindrop therapy integrates essential oils with traditional massage practices. It combines aromatherapy with reflexology to bring about a balanced massage that can also improve focus and concentration.

“I think that any massage helps with stress release,” said Hoaglin, “People just need to come in with an open mind, a massage may not solve all their problems the first time, but it will definitely help with stress relief.”

Doing things that lighten your work day load such as doing a yoga class or taking in a much needed massage, go a long way toward making you feel less stressed in the long run.