How often during the course of your day, do you say 'I'm tired' and feel worn out and frazzled with the conflicting demands on your time? When you feel like this, it is a sign that your body and mind need rest.
Yet, how often do you listen to your body? If you are a busy working mum, it can be difficult to stop and rest - especially if your children are young and still dependent upon you.
Your time is precious and like most women, you put your needs and well-being at the bottom of your list.
However, if you continue to ignore the signs and symptoms of stress, you run the risk of running on empty - your body will eventually rebel and your health will deteriorate.
To avoid this it is vital you take time, even if it is just 10-20 minutes every day to nourish and nurture yourself.
You will feel better for it and over a period of time your health and sense of well-being will improve.
Given the demands on your time, you may be wondering how you can fit 'rest' into your busy schedule.
What can you do that gives you the space and time to recharge and relax? Five Reasons Why Yoga Helps Working Mums to Relax and Feel Better Yoga, with its emphasis on rest and relaxation offers you a wide range of tools and techniques which you can easily slip into your day to help you relax.
Here are five ways yoga can help you to relax.
1.
Yoga helps you feel safe and secure in your body.
When you are stressed, unhappy or in physical pain, you feel tired all the time and lack energy to look after your health.
As you practice yoga relaxation techniques you learn to reconnect with your body and gain the strength you need to regain control of your life.
Regular exercise improves flexibility, suppleness and inner strength.
All solid qualities needed to help you feel safe and secure in your body.
2.
Yoga encourages you to reconnect with your inner self, with your inner goddess.
When you meditate or pray you take yourself out of your every day world and tune in with something greater than yourself.
In this space, it is easier for you to feel better, happier and more in tune with yourself.
3.
Yoga fuels your passion and gives you drive to achieve your goals.
As a busy working mum, it can be difficult to make time to clarify and find out what is important to you.
You can spend a lot of time meeting other people's needs and neglecting your own.
When you practice yoga, you feel energised, alert and alive.
Your body tingles with excitement and you unlock the inner drive and motivation needed to fire you up and keep you going.
4.
Yoga opens your heart and allows love in.
Yoga is a personal journey and as you journey through the different stages of your life there will be times when you go through very tiring and potentially soul-destroying moments.
For example you may be made redundant, lose a child, go through a long and painful divorce or separation.
All these life changes affect how you feel and how you allow others to comfort and get close enough to support and help you through.
Yoga poses, such as camel, cobra and the bow help to open your heart centre and encourages deep breathing, which helps to bring fresh oxygen and energy into your body.
5.
Yoga inspires you to create and expand your vision.
During the course of your day, it is easy to feel trapped and hemmed in by your daily routine and feel that you are stuck in a rut.
When you feel like this your mind feels cluttered and your body frazzled and stressed.
Yoga with its emphasis on deep breathing and stretching allows your body to expand and creates the space you need to breathe and feel full and open again.
When you are in this state, you are able to see beyond your immediate circumstances and gain an insight into what life can be when you release attachments and the need to constantly charge around and be busy.
As you can see, no matter how busy, full and complicated your life is yoga helps you to regain the inner sense of calm, clarity and ease you need to reconnect and be passionate about life again.