Anxiety, constipation & back problems work together, including for Dad

When my father visited Darwin from Melbourne, he would insist we went to the airport at 6pm … for a midnight departure! He suffered the anxiety that is felt by so many of us, including Senior Yoga teachers like me (Chris). Beginners yoga for anxiety and depression would have helped my parents. Like it helped me. Even easy restorative yoga poses for anxiety would have made a huge difference. Or a restorative yoga sequence for anxiety? But it was all a bridge to far for them, as it is for many.

I saw the same anxiety issue with both my parents trying far too hard to plan everything in advance. If they were going from their home near Geelong, into Melbourne, it became a huge logistical event.

For a mere hour and a quarter drive, it became an exercise in ticking off lists, planning for a week ahead, and endless stress.  

When it came to the drive itself, Dad would not go on the new freeway. He preferred to go on the much slower old roads that he already knew.  Both Mum and Dad always suffered from anxiety. It was already in their constitution. They had a nervier disposition than some. 

Getting older made it much worse… because they never learned to manage or reduce it… at a time when they could have done things to get control of it. 

In the challenging 2020’s, anxiety is even more evident. Yoga is an easy way to help address it. 

beginners yoga for anxiety and depression

Supported shoulderstand

Anxiety contributed to constipation & back problems

For Dad, constipation was another part of the awful drama of getting older… made worse by anxiety. Anxiety causes people not to relax enough to be able to go to the toilet. 

Hardness in the abdomen and butterflies in the stomach, which are aspects of anxiety, in turn lead to constipation. It got worse again when my father stopped drinking enough water… because he had developed an increasingly weak bladder. 

Such urinary issues are largely due to untoned pelvic floor, or at least that is a very significant part of the issue. Not drinking enough water therefore meant my father got dehydrated, and this of course makes you a bit crazed or dazed.  Even though my father ate well, the constipation problem persisted. 

With constipation, and full bowels, you also get lower back problems… because the lower back is not relaxed.  With constipation, one spends too much time gripping the buttocks inwards…and this is all part of lower back problems. 

Relaxing is a learnt skill

The ability to relax does have be learned…so you can relax from both a physical and mental point of view. In turn, such relaxation, plus the type of pelvic and other toning my father could have gotten from yoga, would have avoided the type of escalating horror story I saw with him. 

The yoga poses we do in Beginner Yoga, or even the level above it, will start you on the journey to relaxing… and managing or reducing anxiety. In turn, you can avoid that horrid escalation my father suffered; or numerous other health and discomfort conditions that we all see around us everyday. 

Beginner yoga poses are easy, and can be done by people at any age. If necessary, your teacher will modify the poses further, so you can manage them.  The poses in the Beginner Level classes at Flametree are designed especially for people who think that yoga, and physical activity of any kind, is beyond them.

Props that make yoga easier & more effective

Flametree also has a large selection of yoga props and equipment. They make it even easier to get into and out of positions that give you many benefits.

If you are doing yoga online or on-demand, then teachers show you how to use household furniture and other items as makeshift props.

There is also a separate page on the Flametree site about how to use props, and where to get them.

Flametree’s yoga equipment includes the rope wall that you can see in some of the pictures on this site. Among other things, a wall with ropes on the bars gives you an easy way to do inversions.

Huge benefits of getting upside down

Inversions means getting upside down, with or without a rope wall. Many also use a sling to do this. It’s one form of the aerial yoga that has become popular. In the inverted poses, the blood supply to the brain, head, and neck is increased with no extra effort on the heart. 

Better circulation improves the functioning not only of the brain but of the endocrine glands located in the head and neck—the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, the pineal and thyroid gland—and of the sensory organs in the head.

In turn, these glands beneficially impact many of your mental and physical functions. You can also keep using the ropes or slings when you are at a very advanced age… like the 80’s and 90’s. 

Beginner yoga classes, including restorative yoga poses for anxiety

If you are worried about whether you can manage yoga, try our special focus beginner classes, like the Gentle Yoga class on Fridays at 10.15am, or Sundays at 11AM (Darwin NT time), and Easy Restorative Yoga class at 4pm on Saturdays. Among other things, you’ll learn restorative yoga sequence for anxiety that is a huge help.

Please also consider the Back Care Yoga Special Focus class at 7pm every Wednesday. 

Special Focus classes are useful to all beginners, even though they have a particular focus.

All classes are LIVE online and in-studio. Live online means you can see and hear the teacher, and get on the spot guidance. But you can also turn off your own video if you wish. This means you can see and hear the teacher, but nobody can see you!

The classes are part of Flametree’s Beginner Yoga Course. You’ll find a wide variety of beginners yoga for anxiety and depression, including restorative yoga poses for anxiety.

What if you can’t lift yourself off the toilet?

If you’re still not convinced, let me finish with this quote from the book called “You: The Owner’s Manual”.

“Maybe you’re not terribly worried about your mental state, bones, joints, and muscles right now, but they’re hugely important to the way we age, if for no other reason than this: 
having an athlete’s heart or Albert Einstein’s brain doesn’t mean a darn thing if you can’t lift yourself off the toilet.”

Something as simple as a restorative yoga sequence for anxiety can make a huge difference for any of these debilitating conditions. 

Try beginners yoga for anxiety and depression, & more

Flametree has a large timetable of LIVE online & in-studio classes. 

Flametree teaches genuine, modern classical (Iyengar) yoga that fully delivers all the many benefits of yoga. It gets you into the correct positions to naturally help your body and mind work to maximise your health and full potential.

Use one of these generous introductory deals to give it a try.

NON-BEGINNER yoga deal: 14 days unlimited for $29.

BEGINNER yoga deal: Intro poses in a 2 week free trial & money back guarantee. Do it online, or in-studio, or both. 

 

There’s more about restorative yoga poses for anxiety on the

Flametree Facebook Page

 

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