A
book that I would like to share is called Yoga
for Anxiety: Meditations and Practices for Calming the Body and Mind. Mary
NurrieStearns, LCSW, RYT and Rick NurrieStearns wrote this book. I chose this
book because it explains anxiety and gives real life examples to help the
reader better understand. I also thought this would be a good book because
anxiety is most commonly caused by stress. The authors offer a wide variety of explanations
and practices dealing with anxiety that can be used for alleviating stress.
This book is one that can easily be referred to time after time.
Stress
and anxiety are extremely common for people of all ages. It is hard for most to
deal with. According to the book, when you are anxious your body wants to move
and prepare for action and is in a state of high stress. Our body is not made
to be under stress all the time. The constant response of stress and anxiety
can cause damage to physical health, energy, mood and overall well-being
(NurrieStearns, 2010). If we don’t become self-aware and deal with the issues
of stress then they can become a huge burden on our whole self.
Anyone
who has been to a yoga class knows that it is relaxing and you connect with
your inner self to become calm. Somewhere in the book it talks about how yoga
can help you gain new habits and recognize what causes your anxiety then you
become in control rather than letting stress and anxiety control you. The book
offers suggestions to practice for calming the mind. There is a focus on your
thoughts that empowers you. You may move from becoming aware to being able to
direct your awareness and focus on what really matters (NurrieStearns, 2010). Wouldn’t
it be nice to be more in control of our stress?
A
section of the book talks about the five capacities of the mind. The five
capacities are memory, imagination, perception, sense of identity, and
intelligence. Each of them have their function in the mind that allow the mind
to wander in many directions to the past, future, to taking in the outside
world, developing that knowledge of “Who am I,” and wisdom of insight, clarity,
and inner knowing (NurrieStearns, 2010). The book helps readers’ become self-
aware and gain a better understanding of these aspects.
One of the best parts of this book
is that it shows yoga poses that are good for doing when feeling stressed or
dealing with anxiety. Breathing is an important part when doing the yoga poses.
These yoga poses can be incorporated into daily life in order to help you
relive stress and anxiety. One of my favorites is called Child’s Pose (pictured
below). You should try it out! Just remember to focus on breathing.
NurrieStearns, M., & NurrieStearns, R. (2010). Yoga for anxiety: meditations and practices for calming the body and mind. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Hi everyone! My Book review is for a book called Difficult Conversations. I feel as though this book could be a good fit as far as the overall subject of our blog because stress is a big part of a student's life. I feel as though at least a bit of that stressed could be relieved with proper communication.
ReplyDeleteThere are three types of conversation that the books focuses on and all are important in making sure that both sides were heard.
The "what happened" conversation stems from the part of the conversation that involves the lack of understanding form each side. When the talk goes bad, it leaves both people wondering "what happened?"
This is best avoided by checking emotions at the door and also by being ready to listen with an open mind.
The second aspect of conversation involves the actual feeling that each is expressing during the conversation (i.e. anger,sadness, betrayal, etc). This is when it's best to accept the fact that it's alright to have these feelings. Also, try and stay civil. This can be hard, as we all know. Focus on the good of the conversation.
The third tackles the feelings that each of us have after the conversation has already passed (I'm a bad person, I don't deserve them o they don't deserve me as a friend, etc). We have to tell ourselves that these feelings are normal as well, especially when the other person involved is someone close to you. We are our own harshest critics and it shouldn't be that way. We are all imperfect to some degree.
There are always thoughts and feelings to be had but what is important is that we not let them get in the way of our successes in life regardless of where those potential successes may take place. At home, school, work, or in a social setting.Stress is a natural part of life sadly. Try and set a limit on the existence of that stress and be good to one another as often as possible.
Sounds like a great book. I agree that there is a lot of stress that comes from misunderstandings in conversations! Thanks for sharing this information.
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