My job changed a lot in 2020, and while I’m lucky to see most of my wonderful, amazing, inspiring clients and group ex pals in person again and not through a screen, there are many other aspects of my work that haven’t returned to 2019-level “normal”. No judgment – there are a ton of great reasons why everyone is still so stressed out…but that stress has also made the path toward fitness progress a little different. I have a lot of “hacks” to drop your stress levels and help your results come into focus, so let’s take a minute together try some!
1. Breathe!
Have I just written three blog posts in a row about breathing and chilling out? Maybe it’s a hint 😂😂😂
If you can’t stop to breathe gently and evenly for 5 deliberate minutes, stop for 2. If not for 2 minutes, take 1. If you can’t take 1 minute to breathe, take 3 deep breaths. Just a little deep breathing goes such a long way toward resetting your nervous system and dropping your stress levels over time, even if you don’t feel calm while you’re doing it.
2. Hum
Humming stimulates your vagus nerve, which helps you stay grounded and out of fight/flight/freeze. (No judgment, but it’s probably time to try life again.)
3. Walk outside!
Even a 3-5 minute walk outside tricks your body into being less stressed. The magic is in your eye movement…so the treadmill doesn’t count for this, but even in Houston’s hottest hours, 3 minutes is tolerable.
4. Read a few printed pages
Like walking, reading (not on a screen…I mean, as soon as you’re done with this post) uses our eyes in ways that calm the brain. Probably don’t walk outside and read at the same time, though.
5. Stretch…with your eyes
Use some of the stretches that we’ve done together that include eye movement, or try this 1-minute guided video to move your eyes and reset your vagus nerve
I hope that some of these hacks find their way into your everyday toolkit. Deep rest, quiet time, brain dump journaling (bonus points for trashing those pages right after!), regular movement, and lots of other options exist for lowering your baseline stress level, but this list is my set of tiniest, quickest tips to help you feel more chill. Let me know which ones you choose!
Dancing helps too, you know?
- Wednesday 6:30pm Zumba at Jerabeck Athletic Center – last class of the semester will be 4/24 (free; second floor dance studio, street parking)
- Saturday 9:30am Zumba at Montrose Collective (free, meets at 888 Westheimer, street/garage parking, and make sure to use your Zumba discount at the Plant Project!)
- Sunday 9am Zumba (free, meets at Levy Park – 3801 Eastside)
- Monday 6:30pm Zumba (free, meets at Levy Park – 3801 Eastside)
