Meera Watts: My Ayurvedic Experience

Anxiety is something that unfortunately a lot of people are facing. A difficult place to be in. It can keep you awake when the rest of the world is sleeping, it can keep you worrying while it isn't helpful and it destroys a peaceful mind. Read this guest blog of Meera Watts with her story about how yoga helped her to face her anxiety.

My Own Story of Self-Healing

Anxiety feels like a prison.

It's a dark place with limited windows. It can keep you awake when the rest of the world is sleeping.

And you know what's worse?

It can completely take away your freedom that you'll be stuck in isolation for days and even weeks.

That was how I felt and it wasn't fun.

Yoga has been a really effective method of healing in my case and I am still on my way to getting complete control of my thoughts and anxiety. The practice has helped me address and overcome the mental challenges and the questioning that often shakes me.

Practicing yoga made me more aware of my core and that beneath it, there's this great desire to heal. It showed me a glimpse of what freedom feels and looks like after my self-imposed isolation. It made me feel safe, in control and grounded.

The philosophy of yoga fortified the union of my mind, body, and spirit. It enabled me to recognize and take advantage of the delicate balance that keeps me grounded in the present. It slowly peeled my worries of what has yet to happen.

Before all of those things happened, I thought yoga was just about physicality and pure fitness- but I was wrong.

In the first few months of trying out yoga, I felt like a meat getting thawed out. I literally felt more loose as if my body has just released all the tension it was experiencing. I began accumulating more hours of sleep at night and I started waking up more energized.

The journey, however, wasn't that easy.

I wasn't that flexible so I had a hard time performing the poses. I was stiff and even my mind wasn't really into what I was doing.

Despite that, I worked hard and here are a few things I learned along the way.

Enjoy each moment

One of the negative effects of anxiety is that it takes away the joy in our lives. It makes us worry about those things that won't happen or are yet to happen.

Each time I feel anxiety creeping in, I relax and practice deep breathing. If I'm at home, I slowly go into a relaxing pose. It can be the Corpse Pose or the Downward Facing Dog Pose.

I remain in one of those poses until my anxiety subsides. If that isn't enough, I continue to do my sequence.

Meditate daily

All the things that happen each day, whether it's at work or at home, can easily make anyone feel anxious. It's like you're always experiencing a constant adrenaline rush.

Each morning and before I get to bed, I practice meditation. Every time I start to worry too much, I meditate, too.

Breathe properly

Breathing is an essential part of yoga and it's something you need to focus on if you want to get the best results.

Breathing affects your daily concentration, emotional state, and even stress level. It can also make you calmer and healthier.

This sounds really easy but it can take some time getting used to- at least in my experience.

Be with positive people

I began distancing myself from people who are adding more negativity to my life and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Although I lost a few people, I gained a lot of positive-minded people who breed relaxation, peace, and joy.

Realize that nothing is permanent

There's nothing permanent in this world and that applies to problems, challenges, and obstacles, too. Everything around you is temporary and that should make you feel calmer and more relaxed.

In Conclusion

Getting over anxiety isn’t that easy. It’s not something you can get rid of in just one night or in a single yoga practice. Like most of your goals in life, you have to commit to it. Practice it daily and remember to apply its principles to your life.

If you experience setbacks, don’t stop. Instead, keep pushing forward. In my opinion that’s the only way you can win over anxiety.

About Meera Watts

Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, CureJoy, FunTimesGuide, OMtimes and others. She’s also the founder and owner of SiddhiYoga.com, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa and Dharamshala) and Indonesia (Bali).

Website: https://www.siddhiyoga.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/siddhiyogaacademy
Instagram: https://instagram.com/siddhiyogainternational
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/siddhiyogainter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meerawatts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meerawatts
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/siddhiyogateachertraining

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