{"id":24209,"date":"2023-09-05T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=24209"},"modified":"2023-08-28T15:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T22:19:23","slug":"kiryns-wellness-corner-getting-focused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2023\/09\/05\/kiryns-wellness-corner-getting-focused\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiryn\u2019s Wellness Corner<\/em>: Getting focused"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, September, the month of getting back to work or school after summer holidays. If you\u2019re anything like me, September feels a bit like New Year\u2019s: exciting new beginnings of classes or work, or returning to the rewarding and comfortable rhythm of structure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kiryn’s Wellness Corner<\/em> is a wellness column that appears in every issue of Nexus<\/em> (photo by Kiryn Quinn\/Nexus<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whether you\u2019re experiencing your first journey away from your parental home or going back to school after a long period off, it can be a bit anxiety-producing or just generally over-stimulating with the excitement of new adventures. The social practice of meeting up with friends\u2014old or new\u2014over coffee seems like a great way to balance upcoming responsibilities with social time. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you likely know, coffee is a stimulant, great for when you need a burst of concentration or to focus on your studies or to meet a work deadline. When it\u2019s consumed daily or multiple times a day, however, it can lose its beneficial boost and lead you down a road of needing more and more for the same buzz. When we\u2019re entering a period of increased energetic stimulation, it\u2019s more supportive and balancing to reach for a lower-caffeinated, or altogether decaffeinated, drink you enjoy. It can take some getting used to, but you\u2019ll notice with a bit of time that you\u2019ll feel less jumpy and anxious, and even, for some people, less irritable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga is also great for balancing out anxiety or over-stimulation. If you have time for an entire class, wonderful. Pick a slower (notice that I\u2019m not saying less challenging) style of flow or even opt for a yin class or a relaxing restorative one. Balance out the stimulating yang with some grounding yin energy. If you don\u2019t have time for a class or even a few sequenced postures, opt for the ol\u2019 reliable: savasana. In Sanskrit it literally translates to \u201ccorpse pose,\u201d and it involves deep, full body rest (not napping), on the floor with a bit of focused breath. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lay down on your back, legs slightly wider than hip distance apart (support your lower back with something under your knees if necessary), open your arms about 45 degrees away from your body, with the palms facing up if comfortable. Then, take five to 10 deep and slow three-part breaths. Breathe in through the nose down into the low belly, out into the ribcage, and, finally, up through the chest, right to the collar bones. Pause and then slowly exhale, through the mouth in reverse: chest, ribs, and then belly. Repeat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Until next time, keep it real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah, September, the month of getting back to work or school after summer holidays. If you\u2019re anything like me, September feels a bit like New Year\u2019s: exciting new beginnings of classes or work, or returning to the rewarding and comfortable rhythm of structure.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re experiencing your first journey away from your parental home or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-september-5-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24210,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24209\/revisions\/24210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}