Unwinding without Wine

By Kristine Kaoverii Weber | September 18, 2021

COMMENTS

​When I was in my 20s, I used to drink wine to wind down in the evening. And while my issues with alcohol never reached Drew Barrymore proportions, my family has a history of alcoholism and I knew that, eventually, I would want to quit and learn how to calm my nervous system without substances. I had dabbled in yoga, but I didn’t really embrace it as a lifestyle health and wellness practice until I was living in Japan a few years later.

That’s when I gave the bottle the boot.

And it was great. Yoga helped me so much at that time in my life.

But the general stress of life 30 years ago seems like a lazy summer rain shower compared to the mega typhoons on steroids that is this moment, so I’m glad I began practicing back then so I could be slightly more prepared than I otherwise would’ve been for what we are in the middle of now. These past 18 months have elevated stress to a problem deserving a whole new DSM category.

Recently, I’ve had a lot of messages asking me to write about yoga for stress and anxiety. I‘ve written quite a bit already, for example this one.   

So, this week I thought I’d switch things up a bit and instead of write, offer a YouTube video where I talk a little about the neuroscience of the orienting response – how it helps us to feel safe – and how you can use a simple yoga neck stretch to calm your nervous system whenever you like.

Please check it out here. It’s only 8 minutes long.

And, BTW, I make little videos like these with yoga tips just about every Wednesday so please subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch them regularly.

Of course, if you really want to seriously reduce anxiety as a trait (as opposed to a state), a regular practice, carefully sequenced with the nervous system in mind, may help. Over the next few weeks I’ll be shooting a couple of longer videos, they should be available by the beginning of next month. I’ll send you links when they’re ready. They are free – so please keep an eye out!

Thanks for reading and watching and see you next week.❤️

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a simple way to learn and understand the neuroscience of yoga inside and out so that you can recall it effortlessly when you teach or in conversations with healthcare professionals? Please join me for Teaching the Neuroscience of Yoga October 2-3, an online workshop and retreat.