I am a firm believer in having multiple tools in your coping tool kit. Just as a screwdriver is not an appropriate tool for every job, we too need multiple tools or strategies in our coping kit. If journaling works to calm your nervous system today, it may not work tomorrow. Intense exercise may work one time and not the next.

I like to start with our six senses - things you can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., creator of Dialectical Therapy, (a type of psychotherapy that integrates behavioral science with concepts like acceptance and Zen mindfulness), identifies movement as the sixth sense.

I highly recommend that you add yoga to your coping kit. Yoga is a mind body modality that takes you out of your head space and focuses on the body. Yoga integrates both breath and movement. There are numerous studies that demonstrate that yoga improves symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD. Yoga helps to decrease back pain.

Your breath is one of your greatest tools - one that is already inside of you. Unless you have medical issues, you are unlikely to run out of breath. Your breath is free, and it is accessible 24/7. You may be aware of your body breathing. There is nothing you have to do. Your body will breath itself. Typically, our breath is shallow, and we breath from the top of our lungs. In yoga breathing, we breath from the diaphragm. As we inhale through the nose, our diaphragm drops and we can feel our belly rise. We bring our breath up into our ribs and into our chest. As we exhale through the nose, we release our breath from our chest, ribs and belly. Our breath can help us regulate our nervous system. When our exhale is longer than our inhale, we engage the parasympathetic nervous system for rest and digest.

According to John Raney, MD (author of Spark), any kind of movement (bicycling, tennis, gardening, walking, swimming) is miracle grow for the brain. Yoga movement helps to build strength and improves flexibility and balance. Yoga improves our proprioception, our ability to be aware of our body in space. Yoga also improves our awareness of internal sensations - interoception. Bessel van der Kolk, MD (author of The Body Keeps the Score), says “our sense of ourselves is anchored in a vital connection with our bodies. We cannot truly know ourselves unless we can feel and interpret our physical sensations.” To navigate safely through life, it is important to recognize our internal sensations. How can we take care of our body, if we are not in tune with what our body needs.

Yoga is not about the pose. It is not about the downward facing dog, cobra or child’s pose. Yoga is about how you feel inside. Learn to look inward and listen to your body. It is through the body you can change everything that you want to change.