8 Ways to Take Care of Yourself During Election Week and Beyond

By Liam Waller

If you are feeling stress along with many other emotions surrounding today’s elections, you are not alone. A lot is on the ballot this year and for those of us who hold marginalized identities and/or care about social justice, it can be a lot to process. No matter the outcomes of this election there will still be much work to do to advance social justice and push us closer to a collectively liberated future. Creating a self-care plan can not only support us this week but in the struggle moving forward. 

1. Prepare in advance

Prepare some food, knock out important assignments, and check-in with your support systems in advance. It can be hard to get things done and think clearly when we are experiencing excess amounts of stress. Making things as simple as possible to navigate during challenging times can aid in practicing healthy coping skills and staying grounded. 

2. Vote (if you can) 

Voting can be a tool for social change and can itself can be a form of self-care. Although many people continue to be disenfranchised in our country, if you are able to vote, make a plan to get to the polls or or early vote/vote by mail where possible. Same day voter registration is not available in North Carolina, but is in many other states. Find out if you’re registered as well as your polling place here. 

3. Connect and organize on the local level 

The presidential election is certainly in the spotlight this year, but there are many local races that are just as important, and connecting with groups doing advocacy and campaign work closer to home can help us feel much less powerless and make meaningful change in our communities. 

“In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed… It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.” – Ella Baker

4. Check-in on how you are feeling in your body

Your body can tell you a lot about what you need. Take a moment to pause and think about how you are feeling and how the world around you feels. Could you use a nap or a walk? Is it time for a snack or some water? Are you holding tension in your body you could stretch out? Do you need some time for yourself or do you want to call a friend? Taking a moment to pause and check-in on ourselves can give us the opportunity to prioritize what we need at the moment and care for ourselves. 

5. Get grounded in nature

We can learn a lot from the world around us about growing, resting, collaborating, and shaping change. We can bring the healing of our natural world into our lives in so many ways. Here are some ideas: 

• Bring nature into your home with a new house plant!

• Tune into a nature TV show and transport yourself to a distant location

• Take a walk and take time to notice your surroundings

• Take a moment to notice how nature works together and ways in which collaboration may be occurring

• Do an activity you love outside

• Go stargazing or take a moment to see the night sky in all of its wonder

6. Take a Screen Break 

Taking a break from social media and the news can be healing. Take a moment to notice how you are consuming media and where might it be beneficial to take a break or set some limitations?

7. Remember that you’re not alone

Although you may feel isolated, in part because of the pandemic, remember that countless others around you in your town, state, and country, are feeling that same way you are right now, and are working to make this world a better place. Recognizing that your anxiety is collective, rather than yours alone, can help you move toward acceptance of your feelings, which in turn makes space for self-compassion and empathy for others. 

8. Engage in community care 

Leaning into a community for support or to support others can be a transformative experience. Healing and collective liberation is often cultivated in community with individuals who share similar identities and lived experiences. As the Black feminist poet Lucille Clifton said “Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.”

Organizations like Black in Boone and Radical Kindred are working to cultivate community space for Black and LGBTQ+ folks here in Boone, NC to find community and support each other. Take a moment to think about communities you’d like to be involved in and if it may be a good time to connect. 

What are ways that you’re taking care of yourself and those around you this week?

7 Things Therapists Working with Non-Binary Individuals Should Know

By Laura Kacere, reprinted with permission from Cathartic Space Counseling

When non-binary clients seek out therapy, it may be that they’re seeking out a safe space to explore their gender identity and expression. They may already understand their gender identity and seek support in coming out to friends and family, or they may be seeking therapy for something else entirely, like for anxiety and depression. Regardless of what is bringing them to your office, it is imperative that therapists create a space that feels safe and affirming, and this requires a level of knowledge and comfort on the part the therapist.  

While we often think of clients as teachers, and it’s important to trust that clients know their own experiences better than clinicians do, we also have to take responsibility for educating ourselves on the common experiences, and common mistakes, that clinicians and others often make when working with non-binary clients. Although there is more research and training in the mental health field today than in previous years around working with transgender clients, it is still very limited, and there is far less understanding in the mental health field around non-binary and other gender non-conforming identities.

When we have a better sense of the issues affecting our clients, we are more effective in helping individuals further explore their sense of self to build greater authenticity and congruency in their lives. Through my own work with non-binary clients, as well as with all clients (gender experiences and expressions pertain to all of us!) I’ve found the following 5 principles to be useful considerations.

Educate yourself: terms and experiences

The term non-binary usually refers to people who identify their gender outside of the binary, as neither man nor woman, or both, or somewhere in between. While I use the term non-binary here, the term genderqueer is often used in the same way – generally as a catch-all category to refer to individuals identifying outside of the gender binary. Under the “non-binary umbrella,” there are many more terms that may more accurately describe a person’s gender, such as bigender, gender fluid, gender neutral, agender, and more. Use this list to explore other terms and definitions. Learning about pronouns (and asking every client what their pronouns is!) can also help you feel more comfortable using language that creates a safer, more affirmative environment.

It’s also important to learn about experiences of marginalization that your non-binary client may experience, both through interpersonal interactions – including street harassment, microaggressions, and bullying, as well as on a systemic level – including higher incarceration rates, discrimination in housing and employment, and a general lack of protections for gender non-conforming individuals.  As with any marginalized community, we cannot consider mental health concerns as separate from the environmental context of distress and systemic oppression.  

Be open to seeing gender as a spectrum, not a binary

Our understanding of gender has continued to expand over recent decades, thanks to gender theorists like Judith Butler, who have questioned the limitations and innateness of gender. It’s worth digging a little deeper into feminist and queer theory to explore these ideas further, but I think the most important thing to acknowledge is that limiting gender to a compulsive binary categorization can be inaccurate, and even harmful.  Gender, both in identity and expression, exists on a spectrum, from masculine to feminine, and framing it this way allows all of us more room for self-inquiry and exploration.

You can use this Gender Unicorn activity to help clients explore their gender on a spectrum that also differentiates gender identities from presentation/expression, as well as from their sexual and emotional desires. By making space for clients to explore their gender in their broad and open way, you make space for clients to explore their gender based on their own needs and desires, within the context of their environment, relationships, and history, rather than on your own.  If these concepts seem confusing to you, there are plenty of resources out there to learn more about it – here are two that I find helpful:

Gender Spectrum: Understanding Gender

Nat’l Geographic, How Science is Helping Us Understand Gender

Explore your own experiences of and views on gender

Regardless of your views on gender, as well as your personal gender identity, it will be extremely useful for you to do your own work exploring your internalization of societal expectations and norms when it comes to gender. Be careful about how you bring your assumptions around gender into the room, and acknowledge and unpack your own biases before seeing non-binary clients, so as not to further stigmatize or invalidate their experiences. Understanding your own ideas about gender will help make sure your therapy room is supportive and validating for gender exploration.

For more support in exploring your gender, check out therapist Dara Hoffman-Fox’s book You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide To Discovery

Don’t pathologize: Gender exploration/fluidity does not equal dysphoria

This is pretty simple, but a necessary rule to make clear for working with any gender non-conforming client. Don’t assume that because a client does not always feel like they fit into categories of “woman” or “man”, that this is symptomatic of a pathological nature within them, and that their distress will be relieved when they “choose a category.” This only further stigmatizes your client, and will likely set up a dynamic in which they don’t feel there is space to truly explore who they are with you.

Despite the fact that gender dysphoria exists as a diagnosis in the DSM-V, we have to be incredibly careful about using this as a general framework for understanding clients who seek therapy due to questioning their gender. There may certainly be moments of dysphoria or distress as clients uncover parts of themselves and shift toward more authentic expressions, changing aspects of their presentation/bodies, and coming out to friends and family, but in this process, it is often the environment within which a client exists that causes the stress, and less reflective of intrapsychic conflict or pathology. We live in the world that often feels unsafe for gender non-conforming individuals because it is unsafe, and there is a lot of vulnerability involved in coming out as/presenting as non-binary.

Feeling overwhelmed, confused, anxious, or sad can accompany this gender exploration for a variety of reasons; but this doesn’t mean that exploring gender is a problem, or that it is the cause of the hurt. In fact, it is often through the process of gender exploration and change that these symptoms of distress decrease.  

Uncertainty is okay

Make space in your sessions for doubt, for uncertainty and insecurity, for the discomfort that comes with this often scary inner exploration alongside a pushing of societal categories. In “What’s My Gender,” author Micah writes about “certain uncertainty,” saying:

You are not only diving deep into what it means to be you, but having a non-binary gender (or just considering the possibility) means coloring way outside the lines of what exists in society, sometimes even coloring off the page entirely! So of course it can be both a very scary, though exhilarating, experience.

Help your client to be okay in that uncertainty by normalizing it, and allowing yourself to sit in that uncomfortable uncertainty as well.  Remind them that it’s okay to not know right away, and even for your identity to change over time. Helping a client let go of the expectations or urgency of “needing to know” can open up a whole new space for clients to try out new things, access more inner creativity and playfulness, and pay more attention to what they notice inside around what they like and don’t like.

Don’t push for linear transition or an “end” goal

When we talk about gender non-conformity, we often talk about a transition with an end goal, as if there is one final true expression of one’s gender. This is more likely to be the framework of therapy with a transgender client, but often, with clients who identify as non-binary or gender fluid, the changes may be more subtle, sometimes only internal, or may constantly be in shift. Be careful about asserting that a linear process must take place before they can consider themselves to be the gender identity they associate with. Being non-binary does not require any particular expression or presentation, it simply requires a person to find it authentic and true to who they are.

Trust your client

Lastly, but most importantly, as with any client, it is so important to trust our clients’ own understanding of themselves over your ideas about who they should be. Respect their choices – they may ask that you use different pronouns from one session to the next, or they may express their gender in ways you don’t understand, and that’s okay. You don’t need to always understand why, and maybe they don’t need to either. Just be respectful, honor their choices, and make it clear that you recognize them as the expert on their gender identity. Validate your client, every step of the way. This can be a scary process, and your client may be faced with a lot of external pressure to conform to gender expectations. Make your therapy room at least one space where your client can safely express themselves.

To learn more about what non-binary clients may experience, or if you think you may want to explore your own gender, consider these resources, or contact me at laura@evergreencounselingwellness.com.

Help! I Think I Might Be Non-Binary, But How Can I Know?

The Gender Playbook: A Guide to Figuring Out Your Non-Binary Gender Identity

This Is What Gender Non-Binary People Look Like

Gender Unicorn (I truly love this – print these off and color in where you feel you are at any given moment)

GenderSpectrum.org

Feminism & Mental Health, Part 2: Prevention and Healing

By Laura Kacere, reprinted with permission from Cathartic Space Counseling. Parts of this piece have been reprinted from an earlier piece written by Laura Kacere for Everyday Feminism, entitled “5 Awesome Ways Feminism is Good for Your Mental Health.”

According to a 2016 national survey, 6 in 10 women in America identify as feminists, with 7 in 10 calling the movement empowering. Taken before Trump was elected, it’s possible this number is higher now; the growing number of people who have shown up to protest and challenge our current administration’s sexist and racist policies seems to reflect a growing awareness and willingness to speak out about how they negatively affect us and our communities. If women are finding themselves empowered and connected to the broader struggle for their individual and collective rights, could this also be protective against depression, anxiety, and PTSD? Could feminist awareness and activism be a part of the healing process?

I’ll never forget when I first became a feminist. I was fifteen, a difficult age for many girls, as their bodies start to change and awareness of their bodies as potential sexual objects, their expected roles in society, and the messages about who and what they should be start to crystallize. Depression, low self-esteem, and confusion about identity are common at this age. I remember coming across a book that helped me understand the context and causes of what I was experiencing, that I was not to blame, and that I was not alone. My confidence grew, and I learned how to make my own decisions about how I received and responded to sexist messaging, in fact, I could reject them altogether, and join in with others who did, too. Developing a feminist identity at such a young age in a world that is so hostile to girls can have a radical effect on one’s sense of self. Being able to critique cultural pressures, as we learn to recognize and resist oppressive cultural messages about our bodies, our value, and our roles in relationships and society can create a new sense of personal and collective power in all of us.

Research shows that feminist identification can protect against and be a mode of recovery from depression and low self-esteem. The mental shift that can come with feminist awareness, including understanding and letting go of internalized sexism and self-blame can deeply impact our psychological well-being.

Research also shows that feminist identification and perspective can play a huge role in body image and protecting against body image dissatisfaction, and that women with higher levels of feminist identity tend to have lower levels of disordered eating, despite experiences of sexism.

It’s also been confirmed through research that women who identify with feminist values tend to have better overall wellbeing, particularly when it comes to our sense of purpose, our autonomy, and personal growth.

It’s not surprising that self-efficacy, or one’s belief in their ability to succeed and accomplish goals, is also significantly associated with feminist identity and attitudes. It seems that feminist identity, attitudes, and behaviors are not only good for our communities, but are significantly beneficial to our own well-being, including our psychological wellness, our relationships to our bodies, and our belief in ourselves.

Feminist therapists tend to believe not only in the power of building knowledge, but also in the healing power of building and engaging with community. Collective action has always been a core organizing principle of political movements. And coming together to connect – to see that the “personal is political” – has played a significant role in the feminist movement since women first learned that “it’s not just me.” And research shows that participation in collective action provides needed emotional support and an outlet for the difficult emotions we experience, like anger and stress.

Being a feminist may certainly sometimes feel like it causes more distress, as the burden of staying informed alone can heighten the emotional weight of anger and stress, especially in our present moment. But it also means that we can connect with the larger social justice community to take action to change those very structures. We gain a sense of strength in numbers, as well as support from others as we heal from and sustain our emotional wellbeing amidst these challenges.

It is also important to remember out that mental health is a feminist issue, that the stigma and shame surrounding psychological disorders have a strong force in our culture, and serves only to isolate and further harm those who struggle with these issues. It’s so important for us to do the work of supporting one another as we navigate this difficult world. This might mean encouraging a friend to get help from a mental health professional when they need it, or speaking up about your own struggle with mental health if you feel ready to do so. It might mean placing mental health advocacy at the center of your feminist work.

As a feminist therapist, I can attest to the power of both individual therapy and collective support. It’s important to make space for healing in the very specific ways that you need and desire, and this can often be done in a therapy room, with a trusted therapist. At the same time, I often encourage, where possible, making intentional choices about connecting with other people and ideas through books, online, or in person, around issues that we care about. An understanding of our pain in a broader context – to see the ways that our hurt has been experienced by others like us, to cultivate empathy and connection toward others, and to see the resilience and hope of those around us – can be a big part of managing our distress and healing from trauma.

Seeing the universality or shared human experience of pain and suffering is a building block of self-compassion. In this sense, I believe that not only is feminism good for our mental health, but that our deepening awareness of how oppression impacts our mental health can support our fight for equality. When we do our own work, building insight and awareness into our mental health struggles, we strengthen ourselves, and have the potential to better care for those around us and support movements for justice.

Feminism & Mental Health, Part 1: The Gender Disparity

By Laura Kacere, reprinted with permission from Cathartic Space Counseling

Did you know that women are nearly twice as likely to be affected by depression and anxiety disorders as men? Women who are unemployed, less educated, and have less access to wealth are at even higher risk, as are women of Color and immigrant women. Post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects approximately 7.7 million adults in the U.S., is also more likely to occur in women than men. Why are women more likely to be affected by these largely diagnosed disorders of depression, anxiety, and PTSD? What’s the relationship of gender and mental health? And what role can feminism play in all of this?

It is common to try to understand mental health through the framework of the medical model, the way we tend to view physical ailments, viewing mental health concerns as disorders of the individual, and therefore treating them as such. Psychologists like Alfred Adler have identified the significance of viewing “the individual in context,” noting not just the impact our social and cultural environment has in shaping us, but on the role our connection to community can play in our development and in healing.

Limiting our understanding of disorders to the individual “out of context” disregards the larger systemic and cultural factors that play a role in such a disparity in mental health. Perhaps it can be seen most clearly when it comes to PTSD, for example. According to the National Center for PTSD, women are more than twice as likely to experience PTSD in part because sexual assault is the most common traumatic incident leading to traumatic stress, and women make up 90% of adult victims of sexual assault, with about 1 in 3 women experiencing a sexual assault. These numbers reflect a serious cultural and societal problem around gender and power.

The issue of sexual violence has become a more frequent topic of discussion in media recently, as women are increasingly feeling empowered to speak out about their traumatic experiences. There seems to be a bit more safety at the moment in a culture that otherwise lends itself to victim-blame (though there is certainly still a lot of this happening); we’re seeing that when women speak out in large numbers, a culture of support can be created, which often means survivors are less likely to carry the burden alone, and less likely to blame themselves for the violence they’ve experienced. Receiving social support – from family, friends, and the wider community – is a significant protective mechanism in preventing the development of PTSD. Our cultural response to women about their traumatic experiences can play a huge role in how they view what happened to them, and how they heal.

As with PTSD, we cannot view depression and anxiety as separate from the sexist oppression that women experience in our country, and worldwide. Women’s economic disadvantage, connected to such issues as inequality in wages and the lack of accessible reproductive healthcare, lends itself to higher rates of stress, and fewer resources to manage mental health challenges.

There is much research still needed on the adverse psychosocial experiences of women, but research does show that 3 important protective factors against depression include autonomy/ability to exercise some control in response to events, access to material resources that allow for that autonomy, and social support. When we simply look at the feminization of poverty in the U.S., as well as limitations in bodily autonomy that stem from limited access to reproductive care and the large prevalence of gender-based violence, we can see how these protections do not exist for many women. Along with the violence (or threat of violence) of devastating policies and interpersonal harm that affect our mental health, it is also the daily microaggressions and “benevolent sexism” that can lead to chronic stress, as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression.

According to the World Health Organization, “Depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms and high rates of comorbidity are significantly related to interconnected and co-occurrent risk factors such as gender based roles, stressors and negative life experiences and events. Gender specific risk factors for common mental disorders that disproportionately affect women include gender based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality, low or subordinate social status and rank and unremitting responsibility for the care of others." And as one might guess, racism similarly increases adverse mental health reactions, including increased anxiety, depression, and stress.

In short, sexism, like all forms of oppression, is bad for your mental health. So how does feminism fit in with all of this?

Feminism can be understood broadly as the advocacy for women’s political, social, and economic equality. I want to clarify here, that when I speak about women, I am including transgender women, who face painfully high (and rising) rates of both systemic and interpersonal violence and discrimination. The kind of feminism that I believe in will lead us in the direction of progress and support for our mental health centralizes the needs of transgender women, as well as those of women of Color. This is an anti-oppressive or intersectional feminism that challenges a historical legacy of White feminism and understands the fight for gender equality must include fighting the overlapping systems of racism, heterosexism, wealth inequality, and other forms of oppression.

Experiences of trauma on a systemic level, such as poverty and incarceration, and interpersonal/individual, such as sexual abuse and intimate partner violence, as well as the less overtly traumatic yet insidious harm of compulsory gender roles and objectification of women’s bodies are all rooted in these systems of oppression. Feminist therapists have helped radically shift our understanding of these kinds of distress as fundamentally connected to social context, arguing that how we think about healing from trauma and other mental health concerns can be rooted in feminist awareness, and that feminist identification and activism can be healing for trauma survivors, as well as for those struggling with depression and anxiety. But how does feminism actually help us recover and heal?

Check back next month for Part 2 of this piece: Feminism & Mental Health: Prevention and Healing

Yoga for Anxiety, Part 3: The Poses

By Laura Kacere, reprinted with permission from Cathartic Space Counseling

Yoga asana is one of the 8 limbs of yoga, and refers to the physical poses. While most of the other limbs of yoga focus on meditation, it can often be difficult to calm the mind while the body holds anxious or stressed energy. In a yoga practice, the poses are often used with the intention of energizing or calming the body first in order to set the stage for the deep focus of meditation.

Yoga poses are able to have a deep effect on the body’s relationship to the mind and to emotional balance. They have shown to decrease physiological arousal, reduce heart rate and blood pressure, and ease respiration. They also increase heart rate variability, which shows the body’s ability to respond to stress in a healthy way.

Setting time aside to practice yoga can be enormously helpful in reconnecting yourself, tuning into your body’s needs, and decreasing your anxious thoughts and sensations.

The poses that tend to be most effective for reducing anxiety are also the most calming, and can be beneficial to do in the evening, especially if you struggle with racing thoughts and anxious energy as you wind down to go to sleep. You may notice, however, that when you try these slower poses, your anxious mind races. This can be the perfect moment to practice breathing and mindfulness, explored in my previous posts. You may also find that a more active and faster-paced yoga practice works better for you, and that’s okay.  There are many different ways to practice the physical poses of yoga, so explore different yoga styles and see what works for you. Just make sure to continue to practice breathe awareness and mindfulness as you move through the poses.

As with any kind of physical movement, consult your doctor if you’re unsure about doing these poses, or attend a yoga studio in your area to get assistance from a trained instructor. Listen to your body, and if any of these poses cause discomfort or pain, or you feel lightheaded or out of breath, move out of the pose immediately. If you are pregnant, consult your doctor before beginning this practice, and consider taking a pre-natal yoga class in order to know which poses are most beneficial for you.

Seated forward fold in a chair

Do this forward fold in a chair, like at your desk or at a table. Doing the pose seated, as opposed to standing (described in the next section) can be a safer way to practice if you have back problems, or have tight hamstrings, and is accessible to everyone, regardless of your flexibility level. It can also be a great pose to do while at work or school during the day, when you feel stressed or anxious. This pose can be energizing as it reverses the blood flow to your head, yet promotes deep relaxation by allowing your spine to lengthen and your neck and shoulders to relax.

Sit toward the edge of your chair with your legs in front of you, knees bent, and your feet firmly planted on the floor. Start with your hands on your knees, and take a slow, long inhale through the nose. As you exhale, move your hands forward and down your legs, allowing your belly to come forward toward your thighs. Keep your seat in the chair and your feet on the ground as you move your hands to your ankles or the ground, and allow your head to relax and hang over the knees. Relax your neck and shoulders, and breath slowly through the nose, allowing the spine to lengthen, and the head to hang heavy. You might even close your eyes. Stay here for a few breaths, and when you’re ready to come out, rise back up as slowly as you can, staying firmly grounded in the feet, and allowing your head to come up last. Take a few deep breaths once you rise back up to your seat, and notice any changes in the body and mind.

Standing forward fold

For a deeper stretch in the legs, try this pose standing.  Start with your feet firmly rooted on the floor and hips distance apart. Bend your knees slightly, fold forward at your hips and bring your torso slowly down toward your legs. If balance is difficult here, place your hand on a chair or a wall as you come forward into the fold. Make sure to keep the legs slightly bent, at least in beginning, so that you don’t stretch too deeply in the lower back.

Bring a little more weight into the heels, as it is natural to move weight forward into the torso when folding forward. With the feet rooted down, allow the neck and head to relax. If you feel steady, bring your hands to opposite elbows and rock gently from side to side. Allow the spine and chest to lengthen as you inhale and exhale slowly through the nose. If it feels okay, you can start to straighten the legs. Allow the crown of the head to point down toward the ground as you lengthen and soften the spine with each breath.

To come out of the fold, release the arms and root the feet down into the ground, knees slightly bent, as you very slowly rise up. If you move too quickly, you may find yourself with a headache, so rise up as slowly as you can, and take a deep full breath once you’re back to standing.

Legs-Up-The-Wall pose

This is my favorite pose, and is a great one to do at night before bed. It takes very little work or energy, and yet has tremendous benefits; it is said to be good not only for stress and anxiety, but also for insomnia, headaches, lower-back pain, and menstrual cramps. Where the forward folds increase blood circulation to the head and torso, this pose inverts our legs and pelvis, energizing and refreshing those areas of the body.

Start by sitting on the floor next to a sturdy wall. Sit close enough that you’re seated almost right up against the wall, and then with one smooth movement, swing the legs up against the wall as you bring your back to the floor. Your body should make a right angle now, with your seat against the wall, or a few inches away, your legs vertical, and souls of the feet facing the ceiling. Your back, shoulders, and head should be completely supported by the ground so that you can completely relax. There are ways to modify this pose with pillows, blankets, and even a chair if you would like more support. If you start to experience any pain or tingling in your legs or knees, come out of the pose. But if you feel comfortable, you can stay in this pose for 5-8 minutes. Try practicing mindfulness in this pose, allowing the body to relax and the mind to be still.

When you’re ready to get out of the pose, bring your knees into your torso and gently roll to one side. Stay here for a few breaths, and then use both hands to push yourself up to a seat.

Child’s pose

This pose is one that can generate feelings of safety and groundedness, and is one of the most commonly used poses for anxiety. Start by coming to the floor on your hands and knees, with your toes un-tucked and knees slightly apart. Sit back onto your heels. If this is uncomfortable for your knees, you can bring a blanket in between your thighs and shins. You can also place a long pillow under the torso and beneath your seat for even more support in this pose.

Walk your hands forward and bring your forehead down to the ground or to a blanket. You can keep your arms stretched out in front of you, or bring them by your side with the tops of your hands on the ground by your heels. Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose and relax into the pose.  Let your spine stretch with this poses, allowing your back to act like a shell that feels protective and safe. Stay in the pose for a minute or two, as feels comfortable.

Tree pose

Balance requires concentration, focus, and a lot of awareness of your body in space, which can often allow you to let go of any other anxious chatter going on in your head. It can be easy in balancing poses to get frustrated with yourself when it gets hard. Tree pose is one of the most commonly-practiced standing balance poses. See if you can try this pose without judgment; if you fall out of the pose, notice the thoughts that might try to tell you you’re not doing well. See if you can let those thoughts go, and gently move yourself back into the pose.

Start by standing with your feet hip distance apart and pressing firmly into the ground. Before beginning a standing balance pose, I often lift all 10 toes off the ground and stretch them wide before placing them back on the ground, attempting to take as much floor space as possible. Notice the support of the ground beneath your feet, and take a few slow breaths here to establish balance. Then slowly lift your left knee, bringing your left foot off the ground, and turn your left knee out, opening your hip. Rest the soul of your left foot either just below the right knee or on the inner right thigh. Your right thigh can then push back, engaging the strength of right leg by lifting the kneecap if you can.

Bring your hands, palms together, at your heart, and bring your gaze to one thing in front of you that isn’t moving. Keep your visual focus on this one thing, and notice if you’ve stopped breathing. Take a few breaths in this pose. When you’re ready to come down, gently lower your left leg, and bring your foot back to the ground, toes facing forward. Take a long slow breath here before switching to the other leg.

For more poses for anxiety, explore this great list of poses on Yoga Journal.