Alternate plans for finding inner peace and gaining deep relaxation - Meditation or Yoga retreat style…
Find Indoor Peace!
Utilize your home atmosphere to create a relaxing environment during this stressful time!
Start your day off with yoga in your living room or yard. Many of our local SB yoga studios are offering discounted or free online classes streaming live daily.
Here are a few links to the online yoga servers:
https://www.powerofyourom.com/schedule
https://www.divinitreesantabarbara.com/going-virtual
Links to free guided meditations in English & Spanish from UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center:
https://www.uclahealth.org/marc/mindful-meditations
End your yoga practice by relaxing in a bath with essential oils and candles or treating yourself to a self manicure, pedicure, or massage.
How to give yourself one heck of a killer massage
Original content from today.com By Arrica SanSone.
No time to get a massage? Work out the knots on your own with these pointers.
"There are many self-care techniques you can try for relaxation or to soothe achy muscles," says Jennifer Durkin, a massage therapist at Soothe Massage Therapy in Worcester, Massachusetts. "And you don't need expensive equipment or lots of time."
Whenever you feel sore or need to de-stress, give yourself some TLC with these mini-massages:
Head/Scalp
"Scalp massage is something you can do anywhere, any time, to relax and feel refreshed," says Alice Sanvito, massage therapist at Massage St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. Place the heel of your palms under your hair on either side of your head near your temples. Push the scalp up toward the ceiling, hold a few seconds, and release. Work in sections across your entire scalp.
Face
"This feels good if you have a tension headache starting," says Durkin. Use your fingertips to lightly draw little circles along your hairline, cheekbones, above your eyebrows, and where your jaw connects. Gently rub your ears and earlobes between your fingertips.
Hands/Forearms
Too much texting? Relax one arm, palm up, on top of your thigh. Push the heel of your other palm slowly along the forearm in the direction of your wrist. Use enough pressure to feel some heat, but not to give yourself a brush burn. Do the same thing across your open palm all the way down toward your fingertips, and again over the mound of your thumb, says Durkin. Repeat a few times, and switch hands.
Neck/Shoulders
"Slouching forward over a computer can make shoulder and neck muscles tight," says personal trainer and yoga instructor Mindy Caplan. Drop your shoulders so they're not hunched up by your ears, and slowly tuck your chin to your chest to stretch your neck. Place two or three fingertips on the back of your neck where your neck and shoulders meet. Press firmly and hold, releasing when the muscle feels more relaxed. Roll your shoulder forward and back slowly. Repeat as needed.
Lower Back
Place a tennis ball on the floor and lie on it, or position it between your back and the wall. Move your body slowly up and down and side to side so that the ball massages any areas of muscle tightness (avoid your spine to prevent injury). Press hard enough to squish the ball a little but not so that you're feeling pain. Just a few minutes of rolling is sufficient. "You don't want to overdo it and aggravate already irritated tissues," says Sanvito.
Thighs
Loosen up tight quads after sitting all day by rolling a tennis ball or foam roller (found at sporting goods stores for around $20) on top of your thighs. You also can use the palm of your hands to make small circles, working your way up the thigh from the knee. Or lean forward and run your elbow in a single stroke along the thigh from the knee toward the torso, says Durkin. Make several passes at slightly different angles along the thigh.