Stay Fit With SOMA 8/3
This week’s theme is Stress Relief!
Every week we post exercise videos, nutrition tips, and more on our blog to provide you with opportunities to stay fit and active even at home! This blog will focus on ways to relieve stress.
Stress and anxiety are common experiences for most people. In fact, 70% of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily. It’s totally normal to feel stressed, but remember that these feelings don’t last forever! There are a TON of different ways to help relieve stress.
Exercise
Almost any type of physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if it’s not your Special Olympic sport season, exercise can be a great stress reliever. Physical activity can release feel-good endorphins and other natural chemicals that enhance your mood.
Exercise can also focus your mind on your body’s movements. This can make daily irritations fade away. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, housecleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active. If you need some more ideas check out last weeks blog on physical activity.
Listen to music
Listening to, or playing music is a good stress reliever because it can provide a mental distraction. It also reduces muscle tension and decreases stress hormones. Turn up the volume and let your mind be absorbed by the music!
If music isn’t something you enjoy try another hobby like gardening, sewing, or sketching. Anything that maintains your focus for long periods of time.
Deep breathing or meditation
During mindfulness meditation, you focus your attention and quiet jumbled thoughts. These thoughts may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation can instill a sense of calm, peace, and balance. This can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health.
Guided meditation, guided imagery, visualization and other forms of meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time. Whether you’re on a walk, riding the bus, or at home. You can also practice deep breathing anywhere!
Spend time with a pet
Unless you’re someone who dislikes animals, pets can provide excellent social support, stress relief, and health benefits. Pets can often improve your mood, and act as social companions. Pets are great listeners! They also encourage physical activity. You can either play indoors, or go for a walk outside.
Get enough sleep or take a nap
Stress can cause you to have trouble falling asleep. When you have a lot to do, or too much to think about, your sleep can suffer. But your body and mind need sleep to recharge. The quality and amount of sleep you get affects your mood and energy level. It even affects your concentration and overall functioning.
If you have trouble sleeping, make sure that you have a quiet, relaxing bedtime routine. Try listening to soothing music, putting clocks away, and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule.
Spend time with family/friends
Your friends and family are one of your best tools for handling stress. Talk to others, either face to face (but socially distant), or on the phone. You can even try video chat! Share what’s going on in your life. You can get a fresh point of view, while keeping your connection strong.
If you are feeling irritable or frustrated try some of these stress relievers. They can help you feel calm, and improve your daily mood! You don’t have to invest a lot of time or thought into stress relievers.
There is no Live Fitness this week, but keep reading for some exciting upcoming live fitness opportunities.
Comment down below! What do you like to do to relieve stress?
There will be NO Live Fitness this week. But there are exciting things ahead.
Looking Ahead:
Lisa’s Brave Yoga Session (8/12): Lisa the Co-Owner and Director of Programming from Brave yoga will be leading us through a 30-45 minute yoga session. Lisa is a licensed occupational therapist and is certified in yoga instruction and pediatric yoga. She currently works with youth at the New England Center for Children (NECC).
“We are committed to sharing the practice of yoga and mindfulness in an adaptive and nurturing way to improve the well-being of ALL individuals including those with developmental, emotional, and physical challenges. – Brave Yoga
Camden’s Soccer Skills Session (8/12) & (8/19): ATTENTION all soccer players and fans! Camden, one of our volunteers, will be running a soccer focused skill & fitness session. The session will include a 5 minute warm up, 10 minute soccer skills (including fitness), 5 minute cool down and then a 10 minute Q&A/ live chat with Camden about soccer.
Camden Alexander-James Francis is 16 years old and lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He is a junior at Concord Academy, an independent college preparatory school in Concord, Massachusetts. Camden is a multi-sport varsity athlete and was a member of his school’s first state soccer championship last season. He is also a member of the lacrosse team. Camden is extremely kind, studious, hard-working, and supportive. He has previously volunteered with the Special Olympics as he enjoys working with and teaching young athletes. Camden also volunteered at the Concord Senior Center and numerous local food pantries and food banks. He recently began writing a monthly letter to seniors in the local Meals-on-Wheels program. When not busy with school and sports, Camden enjoys spending time with his loving family, bubbly friends, and Brooklyn, his energetic and mischievous Goldendoodle puppy.
Why you should Commit to Stay Fit with SOMA:
- Access to our athlete fitness dashboard
- Wellness goals
- Nutrition tips and recipes
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