Healthy food?
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Exercise?
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Drinking water?
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You’re trying to do all the right things to stay healthy and happy (including joining Y4A for yoga classes and workshops). But if you are looking for a little something extra to boost your emotional health, maybe you could try tapping? No – not like Shirley Temple or Gregory Hines, though that would be fun! This kind of tapping combines psychology and ancient Chinese medicine as a simple and portable tool for mental health. It’s like psychological acupressure!
“Basically, you touch or “tap” acupressure points to release energy. Simple tapping can stimulate the nervous system, relax muscles, move lymph, and promote healthy blood flow. Plus tapping is a healthy self-soothing behavior. It deactivates the fight-or-flight response and calms the body and mind. Tapping while experiencing negative or stressful events can reprogram our mind’s response to it. The tapping basically stops the panic message before it hits the amygdala in the brain. In one study, an hour-long tapping session reduced the cortisol (the body’s stress hormone) by 25%-50%!
Sometimes referred to as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), the tapping is most effective when used in the proper spots on the body and in conjunction with positive affirmations. In other words, while tapping you should be repeating a positive mantra. Several websites are available for quick demonstrations, and many videos are also available to educate yourself about the technique.” (Link to article here)
Shaking your body works in a similar way – and chances are you’ve used this calming technique without even realizing it! Think about a time when you were all wound up with extra energy. You might have taken a moment to “shake it off” to settle down. Three quick shaking practices to get out of a stress response are:
1) Ping Shuai Gong – Swing Hands Exercise: This simple swinging-hands exercise improves Chi (qi) and blood circulation through the theory of “Ten fingers connecting the heart” opening all our body meridians and stimulating bone marrow to rid toxins from the human body.
2) Kim Eng – Shaking Practice: This simple shaking can be done anywhere, just shake out the part which feels tense. Jump, kick and throw your hand up. Surrender to the shaking. Let out any sounds that want to come out. You will feel the release of tension.
3) Crawling – The Best Mind Body-Exercise: Just get on fours with the kids and crawl and shake away your tension.
There are so many paths to health and we are so proud to offer instruction in yoga, meditation, and breathing to our students across the country (and continent via Zoom)! Keep working on your mental and physical health however feels best to you. You are important!
Explore more about wellness, the physiology of yoga, the science behind the practice, and the peaceful power that yoga cultivates in our classes, Y4A’s unique workshops, and on our Facebook page.