Stress/Anxiety
These practices have been specifically created and sequenced for watching online on Movement for Modern Life to reduce stress and anxiety you may feel in your life.
Within our anti-stress and anxiety series, we have a range of practices which include:
Yin-yoga
which cultivates a deep sense of awareness.The perfect antidote to urban life, Yin focuses on releasing and letting go via the deep musculature of the body and connective tissues, aiding physical, energetic, mental and emotional flexibility.
Restorative Yoga
is passive, designed to adjust the nervous system and rest the adrenal glands, enabling the body to move towards balance.
All of the practices on this site are designed to increase your awareness on the breath and movement, which will intrinsicly help you deal with any stress/anxiety you may feel in everyday life.
Filters
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20:00Beginners 4: Twist to unwind
Twists help you feel yourself again. So whether you’re stiff, stressed-out, sluggish, or plain out of sorts, Clare’s simple twist practice will leave you feeling grounded and re-energised. Perfect for morning or evening.
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10:00Easy Hips: 1
Tight or painful back, legs or hips? Take this easy series with Leila and benefit from this easy to follow straightforward routine. Easy and effective pain relief and maintenance for those of you who are new to yoga, who are working with injuries or those with very limited time. Props: Yoga block or stack of books. Yoga belt or tie/scarf.
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11:00Easy Hips: 2
In this second practice, Leila offers 4 simple poses that open the hips, backs of the legs, calves and feet to relieve tension in the hips and lower back. Take this easy series with Leila and benefit from this easy to follow straightforward routine. Easy and effective pain relief and maintenance for those of you who are new to yoga, who are working with injuries or those with very limited time. Props: Blanket or thick towel to roll.
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10:00Easy Hips: 3
The final part of the Easy Hips series builds on the series by giving a deeper and fuller variation for spaciousness on the hips and spine. Take this easy series with Leila and benefit from this easy to follow straightforward routine. Easy and effective pain relief and maintenance for those of you who are new to yoga, who are working with injuries or those with very limited time. Props: Blanket or thick towel to roll.
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09:37Yoga for the Workplace: Release Stress
A short yoga class using the wall, perfect if you're at the office, in a hotel room or short on space and you need to quickly release stress. With neck and shoulder stretches and hamstring releasing you'll find that just a few minutes is all it takes to transform body and mind and give yourself just the refreshing pause in the day you need. You'll just need a wall.
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37:29Re-Bound
This well rounded, gentle flow yoga class brings in the joy, a perfect class to uplift if you're feeling a little low. We will, with care, bring some joy and feeling back into the body and this present moment as best as we can through opening up to breath and back-bending postures along with a few other energising surprises. You will need a blanket, and a brick or something like it, and a playful light attitude.
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29:17Release Tension
A qi gong and yoga fusion sequence to release feelings of being stuck, feeling tense, or just when you’re not in your flow. With some chair variations to make all the practices more accessible, this sequence uses qi gong and yoga to clear out stagnation and shift your tension. A chair can be used in this practice to make the class accessible to all.
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42:40Self Care Flow
This yoga class is perfect for when we feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed or just have a busy mind. It is a gentle class for anytime; when you just feel that you need to be kind to yourself, when you are anxious and wired, or when you don't like what you're reading in the news. Come back to the reality of your body and breath with this flow practice. In this sequence we go through familiar and calming patterns of movement and spend time enjoying the internal life of postures through strengthening techniques that bring us more deeply into our bodies and the reality of the present moment. As we start feeling a bit better, we round it off with some self-massage and a powerful compassion meditation.
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36:44Re-Ground
A slow flow yoga class which is perfect if you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious. Adam's class is incredibly grounding. Move towards feeling stabilised and balance again by re-grounding anxious energy which embodies anxious mind and restless body. Learn to meet any anxiety with kindness by feeling its physical symptoms, not just the stories you may associate with it. We will use to the tools of yoga, including stilling our gaze and heightening our feelings of embodiment, to bring you back and re-ground you in the present moment. You will need a bolster and a block or a folded blanket.
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30:41Yoga For Happiness (4): Kindness
In this gentle vinyasa yoga class, the focus is on ahimsa (non violence). In the body, we can work with soft negotiation rather than force or brutality. In the mind, we can be aware of the tone with which we speak to ourselves. Pay attention to what you ask of your body in today's practice; notice when you are forcing it to do something it doesn't want to do / ignoring or overriding body wisdom. Pay attention to the internal dialogue and notice the tone of internal dialogue. Make a note of any recurring thoughts. Finally, write a mantra, something supportive and loving, that you can repeat to yourself (e.g. you are perfect as you are).
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48:57Yoga For Happiness (3): Patience
In this yoga class, Nikita will take you through a slow vinyasa flow with a focus on patience. If you are able to see with honesty where you are, you are able to grow from this point of awareness. But growth doesn't necessarily happen quickly. Expansions will happen a a rate and pace that feels appropriate to the body, the heart, the mind. When we rush, when we push too far too fast, we can often be met with some form of shut-down. Without any harsh judgement of yourself, consider the ways that you could be more patient. It could be moving more slowly on the commute, it could be by allowing your loved ones to do things in their own way at their own pace. Where can you afford to introduce some more patience to your life? You may need a brick.
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34:30Yoga For Happiness (2): Gratitude
Adopting an attitude of gratitude is a game-changer for journeying into joy. Gratitude for your breath and your body; gratitude for your relationships and experiences; gratitude for who you are and what you bring to the world; gratitude for the opportunity to see yourself clearly and non judgementally. This beautifully paced and sequenced vinyasa flow yoga class has shoulder and upper back opening focus, great to release tight shoulders and stiffness in the upper back and perfect to open the heart to gratitude. This class is about shifting from our habitual responses. You will need two bricks.
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10:00Meditation: Soft Pause
In the final part in our Introduction to Meditation Series, we start to watch the top and the bottom of our breath. You'll notice that there are round edges to the inhale and exhale, where each breath gently reaches a peak and then gives rise to the next. Either simply watch these spaces between breaths or gently hold for a moment at the top of each inhale, and pause for a moment at the bottom of the exhale.
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14:09Meditation: Exploring the Breath
In the fourth part in our Introduction to Meditation Series with Nikita, we learn how to explore breath patterns as a means to change the way we feel. Allow the exhale to be twice as long as the inhale to give the body a chance of releasing all the old, to make space for the fresh new oxygenated air to flow in fully. Start at an equal breath (e.g. inhale for six seconds and exhale for six seconds) then increase gradually to a ratio of 1:1.5 (e.g. inhaling for six seconds and exhaling for nine seconds). Eventually, breathing to a ratio of 1:2 (e.g. inhaling for six and exhaling for 12 seconds). Maintain for up to about 20 breaths and then return to normal breath. If you are asthmatic, you may find that it's tricky to get to the full 1:2 ratio at first, in which case stay at 1:1.5. This is another great technique you might want to use as a tool to anchor an anxious mind any time you feel overwhelmed.
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07:52Tune In Tune Up: The Solar Plexus
If you are looking for confidence in your life, help with any anger and healing those who we have hurt, this yoga class will offer a posture and mantra to help you tune into your solar plexus chakra and connect with yourself and others.
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07:53Meditation: Counting the Breath
In the third part in our Introduction to Meditation series, we start to count the breath. Get settled in a comfortable spot, either sitting or lying down, and begin to count your breaths backwards from 20 to 1. Say to yourself mentally, I am breathing in 20, I am breathing out 20. I am breathing in 19, I am breathing out 19, and so on until you reach 1. If you notice your mind has wandered away from this focus, draw it back. If you lose your count, start again. If you manage to get all the way to 1, try starting at 50 next time. You might want to use this exercise as a tool to anchor an anxious mind any time you feel overwhelmed.
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04:46Tune In Tune Up: The Sacral Centre
For some creativity, or when you're struggling to let things go in your life, this is the perfect short yoga class. Just two simple, assessible postures combined with sound will help you to let go in your life.
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10:16Meditation: Feeling the Breath
In the second part in our introduction to meditation class we notice the breath within the body. Notice the body's involuntary response to your inhalations and exhalations; from the most obvious, loudest reactions (like the rise and fall of the chest, the expansion and release of the mid body) - to the more subtle and quieter ones (like the gentle drawing back behind the eyes as you inhale, to the sensation of the palms of the hands as you exhale). Notice how you feel before and after doing this short meditation class, you might be surprised at how effective just a few minutes in meditation can be!