RISE Blog | Alleviating Stress Through Meditation and Yoga

By: Taylor Skeete, Peer Educator
April 21st, 2022

Dealing with Stress through Meditation

Stress is something that many people, especially students, deal with regularly and managing stress is important for overall health and wellbeing.

According to Harvard Medical School (2014), mindful meditation is a practice that may ease anxiety and reduce stress. Mindful meditation involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing without actively controlling it, and paying attention to the present. Many people find meditation apps helpful in alleviating stress.

Calm is a free app that provides guided meditations directed towards sleep and relaxation. The Calm app is unique in that is provides listeners with the option to hear white noise, voiceovers, music, or guided meditations.

Headspace is another free meditation app that provides several different types of meditations including ones to target anger, sadness, focus, sleep, or mindfulness. One unique component to Headspace is that they provide listeners with bedtime stories to help with falling asleep and some guided meditations can be as brief as one minute. Don't have time to sit down and open the app? Headspace teaches you how to meditate on your own, anytime, and anywhere. These are just two of several meditation apps out there that may help you reconnect, relax, and recharge.

Waking Up is an app created by Sam Harris, a neuroscientist, philosopher, and New York Times best-selling author, offering daily guided meditations on mindfulness, meditation courses, and podcast-style episodes on meditation theory. Although the app includes a paid membership, if you are unable to afford it, Waking Up has a scholarship program in which they grant 100% of requests.

Being stressed is normal and RISE wants to support you in any ways you choose to safely relieve stress.

Yoga Poses to Relieve Stress

With finals quickly approaching, relieving stress during the last weeks of the semester is important. Here is some practical information you can implement right now to reduce stress. According to Mayo Clinic (2020), yoga uses a mind-body practice combining physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation or relaxation. Research has suggested that yoga may help to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and heart rate. And nearly anyone can practice yoga!

Although there are many yoga poses housed within different types of yoga, these are some beginner-friendly poses that anyone can use to be mindful of their body and its sensations like stress. These poses can be done at any time like before bed, after you wake up, or even before your first final. Being in a calm state of mind can even help with retaining information for your exams.

The first pose is called Child's Pose. If you are able, put your knees on the ground and then lay over them with your arms fully extended in front of you. This pose is known for stress relief, soothing the mind, and regulating the nervous system.

The next pose is going to be the Corpse Pose. If you are able, lay down on your back with your palms upwards and just focus on taking deep breaths. This pose is good for slowing down your heartrate and lowering your blood pressure.

Next is the Cat Cow Pose. If you are able, get on your hands and knees and first push your back up like a cat would do when they stretch, so there's an arch going upwards. Then reverse the arch so your back is hunched. This pose is good for soothing and stretching your lower back and it also massages the spine and relieves stress.

The last pose is probably the most well-known pose. If you are able, sit crisscross and put your hands or elbows on your knees. Make sure your back is completely straight and focus on taking calm and deep breaths. This pose opens your hips up, lengthens your spine and promotes serenity. It also relieves physical and mental exhaustion and anxiety.

To conclude, I hope these poses and exercises in meditation can provide you with the type of stress relief you need to ace these finals! If you would like to learn more about stress management, please visit our page here.

 

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