Life in an urban city is fast-paced, exciting, inspirational, and, well, stressful. At least it can be. Rather than turn to the not-so-healthy alternatives for handling stress (weekend binge drinking, eating, and sleeping ring a bell?), we turned to one of NYC’s yoga gurus, Yen from Yens Yoga for some tips on dealing with stress in a healthier manner.
Here we are in Central Park with 5 simple poses that can be done anywhere, so there’s really no excuse not to give them a try. Below, she explains each pose and its benefits.
1. Meditation Pose: This pose is the key to all stress relievers and mental clarity. It quiets the mind, eases stress, releases fear and self doubt. If everyone meditated at least 5 minutes a day, the world would be a more peaceful, harmonious, and less stressful place to live in with one another.
2. Dancer Pose: This pose helps with depression, as well as alleviates headaches. It makes you feel more connected with yourself, thus promoting self love and acceptance.
3. Pigeon Pose: This pose helps calm the mind, with the added bonus of fighting food cravings. It’s great before bed to create a clear mind and promotes peaceful sleep.
4. Tree Pose: This pose stimulates the body by creating balance, strength, and calmness. It will help in regaining concentration by giving a sense of grounding and a feeling of peace.
5. Mermaid Pose: This pose is great for restoring focus. It will strengthen your core, legs, feet, and back. It’s an all around full body stress reliever and one of the best in all of the yoga poses because it calms the entire body and prepares you for the last pose which is Shavasana, i.e. lying flat on your mat for some much needed R + R. Cue the zzz’s! (top photo)
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York...as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
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