Stress? No way!

A lot to do? The time until Christmas is racing. And as contemplative as we somehow remember this time, it has not been for a long while. The cities are busy, the streets too, at work everything is urgent. Quickly do this and tick it off. The Christmas season is a real stress maker. So what to do? Sure: Yoga. Why this helps and how I became aware through yoga that stress does not actually exist:

There is stress: in my head. When I get a job after job at work, which can not be done in time until Christmas. If the evenings are full of appointments, if I’m late, because there is traffic jam again. If I urgently need to buy Christmas gifts, but the shops are already closed, when I finally have time. And then the friend, that I have not seen in weeks, is waiting for a call. But actually there is not the stress: Because it’s only in my head.

I feel this truth, when I’m on my yoga mat. My yoga style is dynamic, there are no breaks, there’s only the flow, movement and breath. This can be exhausting, but the breath carries me through the movement. And it’s calm, although I spend all my strength on an asana. Or at least I work on keeping my breath calm. If it is not anymore, I’ll switch down a gear and adjust the exercise to my daily routine. But I’m not trying to beat a yoga sequence against my breath until I’m about to fall over. Then it could be stressful. The stress in my head is my inner attitude in the Here and Now: I can do an exercise with the absolute will of “doing it” now and as quickly as possible. Or I can let myself fall into an exercise, let go in this effort, not already thinking of the next asana, but devote myself entirely to the moment and to be carried by the breath.

Create more with inner peace

This is the calm, that yoga teaches me, even if the exercises or challenges of life become exhausting. This calm does not mean that there is not much to do. On the contrary. My life is full of activities, plans, appointments. Many of them have to do with Acroyoga. And here it is the same: Acroyoga can sometimes be quite turbulent. You are changing the partners, somebody asks for help, you receive a good tip from another one or you finally want to get this one sequence done. But the moment, I practice with a partner, I try to be calm and to be in that moment. Because in the speed, hectic and inattention, it can happen, that I hurt myself or someone else.

As in yoga, so in life: By speed, the view narrows. One is only focused on the goal, no longer looking left or right. And when there are many tasks and goals, there is a feeling, that you can not do it anymore. Tunnel vision. Stress. We hurt ourselves. And this happens only inside. I can easily achieve the same tasks and goals, when I approach them in peace and calm –  as on the yoga mat. The silence widens my view of the big picture and helps me to devote myself to a task with full force at this moment. And I’m not even slower than when I hectically rush through my everyday life. On the contrary, I’m more surprised at how effortless and how much I can create when it comes with a good inner attitude. So: Just think the stress away.