Story highlights

A lengthening stretch will induce feelings of calm and confidence

Taking your feet above your heart for 30 to 60 seconds reduces swelling

Taking deep breaths between bites can decelerate your holiday calorie consumptions

Editor’s Note: Dana Santas is the creator of Radius Yoga Conditioning, a yoga style designed to assist athletes move, breathe and focus higher. She’s the yoga trainer for the Atlanta Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Lightning, Orlando Magic and dozens of pros within the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB.

CNN
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There’s no escaping – it’s the season for stress! Whether you’re keen on them or dread them, the vacations tax our bodies and our minds. Spending hours in your feet shopping and cooking, the constant temptation to overeat and drink, navigating the vacation social scene – all of them take their toll.

In the course of the holidays, we’re often bombarded with more stress than some other time of yr. This is very true if you happen to’re playing host or traveling to go to family and friends.

The vacations require an important deal of physical and mental energy to handle these seasonal demands of cooking for and entertaining (and sometimes even refereeing) a house filled with clan. Traveling over the vacations – especially with children – can try the patience of even the jolliest souls.

For some, the vacation season may trigger serious feelings of sadness. Many, particularly those afflicted with seasonal affective disorder, are sensitive to the shorter, darker days. And, if you happen to’ve experienced a recent lack of a loved one or can’t spend time along with your family, you may find it especially difficult to get in the vacation spirit even at spirited events.

So how are you going to stress less and luxuriate in more this holiday season? Try these easy yoga-inspired techniques to revitalize your body and mind while calming your nerves – eorry not, there’s no mat required:

Stretch away your stress

If seasonal stress has you feeling frazzled, fatigued or down, do that opening, a lengthening stretch to induce feelings of calm and confidence.

A 2010 Harvard study showed that holding an open posture for 2 minutes lowers cortisol (a serious stress hormone) and increases testosterone (a confidence-inducing hormone).

While standing, simply raise your arms above your head at shoulder distance. Take five long, deep breaths. Then inhale as you reach and hold your left wrist along with your right hand; exhale as you side bend your entire body to the fitting, stretching out your left side. Hold for a breath or two. Inhale as you come your arms straight above your head.

Repeat on the opposite side.

Get-off-your-feet pose

An excessive amount of time in your feet socializing, cooking or shopping? For optimal stress-relieving leads to the least period of time, take your feet above your heart.

Simply lie in your back along with your legs elevated by a pillow, up on a chair and even straight up the wall (referred to as legs-up-the-wall pose in yoga).

Just 30 to 60 seconds like this can take the pressure off drained legs, improve circulation and reduce swelling. This can be solution to relieve ankle and leg edema after flying or traveling in a automotive for a protracted.

Breathe your solution to calm and control

First, concentrate on exhales as sighs of relief:

One other flight delay? Uncle Arnold talking politics that are usually not your personal on the table? You may catch yourself sighing. That’s good – take the cue out of your autonomic nervous system and repeat that sigh of relief, just larger and more intentionally as an prolonged exhalation.

Loosen up your shoulders, neck and upper back. Inhale through your nose and exhale out your mouth, emphasizing your exhalation. Remember to release your rib cage downward as you exhale fully.

Repeat five or more times to feel a rest response in your body and mind. Deep, diaphragmatic respiration engages our parasympathetic nervous system (the other of our fight-or-flight system) and inhibits our body’s production of stress hormones. It also stimulates feel-good hormones, equivalent to serotonin and dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential to mood regulation.

Secondly, breathe in self-control to avoid overindulging:

It’s a typical tip to count your chews while eating but that may be tedious and unrealistic. As a substitute, take two or three long, deep breaths in between bites to decelerate your pace, providing you with more time to be present and aware of your selection to take one other bite – or not. It also enhances your ability to concentrate on the sensations of your food – the smell, taste and texture –and heighten the pleasure of eating.

Follow these easy steps, and also you shall be quickly back in a festive mood.