Why is dry land training important? Aside from doing things like make you stronger, healthier, and more efficient; it’s also good for injury prevention and giving you something to work towards when you can’t get out on the water.
You probably started out like most other girls when it comes to swimwear. When you were young, you almost exclusively whore one piece swimsuits.
Recently I’ve given up on the traditional bikini. I’m talking about stringy, triangular halter bikinis or any swimsuit where the straps are thinner that two fingers.
Learning to do cool stuff when you’re no longer young and fearless sucks. But when you get it, it’s liberating. As a gymnastics coach, I can’t even begin to tell you how personally frustrating it is to teach a kid how to back-handspring in 3-7 days.
Stress can come from many places in our lives. It can come from work, family, the daily grind, or even ourselves.
Stress can come from many places in our lives. It can come from work, family, the daily grind, or even ourselves. Using meditation as a tool for managing and combating stress is a great way to overcome it and generally lead a less stressful life. When practiced regularly, meditation also has benefits outside of destressing as well. To combat stress, meditation equips you with the tools to relax, recognize that you are getting stressed, accept situations for what they are, and give you a clear enough headspace to deal with them.
If you are new to meditation, it can feel a bit weird. You may feel silly sitting there in silence, or you might have trouble keeping your focus. The good news is, that part of this practice is to be non judgemental about yourself, but to recognize that you’ve made a mistake, and to pick yourself up and start again. If you are not sure where to even start, there are many good guided meditation apps out there, so you can practice in the privacy of your home or wherever your are. The one that I use is called 10% Happier. Some other good ones include: Calm, Breethe, Simple Habit, and Meditation and Relaxation Pro. These apps include many guided meditations that will help get you started and even include some meditations specific to helping you manage stress.
Most meditations, and certainly every guided meditation I’ve ever done, start with taking a deep breath and relaxing the body. With guided meditations, they will often ask you to relax very specific things: your eyes, jaw, shoulders, face, and other places you didn’t even know were tense. After some regular practice, you’ll even be able to recognize when you are carrying tensions in these places without meditating.
In itself, being able to relax will help you get less wound up, and in turn … less stressed!
Another large facet of meditation is noticing what is going on within your mind and body. Being able to notice when you are starting to get stressed can often help stop it in its tracks. The idea is to be non judgemental about it. You’re looking for the “oh, I’m starting to get stressed.” And not “uggghh, I’m getting stressed!”.
Sometimes you might notice the signs of stress in your body like heat, tingling or tension. In other cases it’s in your mind. Especially if you are someone who spends a lot of time inside your own head, the cause of your stress might actually be you. Being able to recognize when you are following trains of thought that stress you out instantly gives you the power to stop them. Recognizing that a thought is not helpful, positive, or productive will also help prevent you from going over negative thoughts over and over again.
This next one might sound a little bit counter intuitive to reducing stress, but it is effective. Normally I will end up here if I’ve tried the above, and I’m still getting more stressed. To help explain, let’s recall a story from Joseph Goldstein a world renowned meditation instructor.
He tells the story of himself being on a long bus ride. The bus is packed, he has a headache, and he’s starting to get wound up. He’d tried his best to relax, he’s recognized what he’s feeling, and it’s just not going away.
Another lesson from meditation is living in the present. The end game isn’t to make stress go away completely, it’s to experience it in the present. To recognize, and to feel it. So if you’ve reached this point, take a few minutes, and just let it happen. What is it like? What does it feel like? Is it really so bad? Doing this not only helps with reducing stress (in my experience, I’ll usually feel better within minutes of doing this), but also helps you recognize that part of what makes stress so bad is you. Recognize that life is fluid, forever changing, and this too, will pass.
Now that you have the tools to work with stress, you should be better equipped to deal with it in your every day! While practicing meditation is a great way to strengthen and improve your headspace, no one wants to stop their life in a stressful situation to sit and meditate (could you imagine at work!). But being able to take a second, recognize and feel, wherever you are is a great way to work through!
I hope that after reading, and perhaps trying these things you have a different outlook on stress.
So stress less, and enjoy life.
You probably started out like most other girls when it comes to swimwear. When you were young, you almost exclusively whore one piece swimsuits.
Recently I’ve given up on the traditional bikini. I’m talking about stringy, triangular halter bikinis or any swimsuit where the straps are thinner that two fingers.
Stress can come from many places in our lives. It can come from work, family, the daily grind, or even ourselves.
Copyright, 2023
