Relieve Stress With Exercise

Minna Lessig Shows You How

(CBS)  With everyone hoping the war will end any day, a lot of people are probably more stressed out than they've been for a while - if not ever. But there are specific exercises and breathing techniques that can be done to help relieve stress.

Resident exercise expert Minna Lessig visits Tuesday’s Early Show to take us through the following anti-stress exercises.

Breathing exercises - Deep sighs (in through nose, out through mouth), then into deep breathing - in through nose, out through nose.

It is important to learn the form of filling the abdomen and chest cavity, and evening out breaths (try to hold for a count at top and at bottom) because breathing is the key to living spontaneously, or in the moment - it calls forth your attention to the present moment. When you are breath conscious, you live healthier.

If you think about it, typically, when a person is in a stressful situation, their first reaction is to hold their breath.

Because stress is held typically in the neck, shoulders and back, the following exercises are good for those areas of the body:

Modified sun salute (using desktop or tabletop) - This series engages all the large muscle groups, utilizes the breathing techniques from above, and thus forces you to rest your mind and just be physical. Because it is a "strengthen while you lengthen" exercise, you feel "opened" and relieved of tension.

Form: place your hands on the desktop or table, and then walk or jump your feet back into a pushup position. You can do the whole thing or you can lower down and do a bit of a pushup. Or you can go into downward dog, and then walk feet together and stand upright and breathe with arms up overhead. Doing a few of these is helpful because you can't have your mind on other things when you're focused on doing these positions. It opens you up and relieves the tension.

Sitting on a chair (with 4 legs) - Seated forward bend, reaching through as far as you can, grabbing onto back chair legs if possible. This relieves tension in lower back and muscles running along spine.

Cross-legged sitting on floor and twisting for lower backstretch.

Shoulder stretch - From a resting position that looks like you are "bowing down," you slide one arm through, reaching until you feel a stretch on your shoulder and upper back.

Neck stretches – People tend to tug and pull too hard, creating more tension in this area. So Lessig demonstrates what she calls AIS for neck stretching (Active, Isolated Stretching technique). Basically, you are contracting one muscle group to stretch another and do repetitious stretching - it's still careful and slow, but you actually do reps.

Lion Stretch for face - If you're one of those people who grind teeth in their sleep from worrying, this stretch is for you! It looks really funny, but it really can help.

Form: open your mouth as much as you can and stick your tongue out as much as you can. This releases tension all around your face and neck. You can see in people's facial expression if they're a worrier, and that creates a lot of tension. And all of that can cause major headaches if you clench your teeth while sleeping.

In general, any exercise is really stress relieving. While exercising, the brain releases endorphins, which are opium-like substances that both ease pain and produce a sense of well-being. There are also other neurotransmitters that act as antidepressants - seratonin, norepinephrine and dopamine - the brain releases these as well, during exercise.

Also, because exercise helps relieve pent-up emotions held in muscle tissue, you sleep better (so necessary to feeling good and peaceful), concentration is enhanced, as well as is self-esteem and overall mood.

Lessig recommends exercising in a group or with a friend. The social interaction helps take your mind off worries, or at the least it helps you put things into better perspective.

If your mind is full with stressful thoughts, the body feels this and acts accordingly. So stay positive!