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Stress, anxiety, insomnia — we become hostages of the rhythm of life, we forget about ourselves, plunging into worries and eternal anxiety. Try to return to the body, feel the rhythm, the movement. Play next to people who wish you well, advises psychologist and trainer Evgenia Melinger. And you will realize that you have become yourself again.
Now we live at a fast pace, there is a lot of information around us, and often unnecessary. Stress, anxiety, neuroses have long accompanied us in everyday life. How to beat anxiety? You can find a lot of advice on the Internet. Marathons and challenges promise that you won’t recognize yourself at the end. But can they be trusted?
Capoeira definitely helps me. It is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines dance and punch, music and song, energy and cunning. Very often in the classroom you can hear laughter, which is rarely seen in training, other martial arts. There is no sparring in capoeira like there is in karate or wrestling. In capoeira, they don’t fight, they play.
And this martial art helps many to deal with anxiety, fear and insecurity. I have developed 5 rules for myself that I use to deal with these problems. Perhaps they will be useful to you too.
1. Return attention to the body
When you are nervous, feel anxiety, fatigue, loss of strength, the most important thing is to give attention to your body, direct attention to it. Try to feel everything you do with your body:
- how do you breathe, do you breathe at all;
- how the feet touch the ground and feel contact with the floor;
- How does the chest open when you inhale?
- how clothes touch the body;
- how you enjoy the position of the body.
The satisfaction from physical fatigue and emotional uplift are priceless. Capoeira is great for getting in touch with your body. There is joy in it, it develops strength, endurance, flexibility, gives a good mood. The body will learn to enjoy training, even if at first it will be difficult for you.
2. Find your team
It is desirable to engage in any activity in a friendly, supportive team. 50% of success is support. Therefore, first study the team: is it interesting to you? Without this point, capoeira will definitely not be capoeira. An eco-friendly attitude, clear and realistic training goals are essential for such an activity.
Capoeiristas play: they move opposite each other, striking, dodging, doing wheels, handstands and other elements. The goal is to show the mastery of your body, technique, the ability to follow the rhythm, respect your partner. But the most important thing is to create the most beautiful, exciting game. And not due to the fact that one person did everything perfectly, standing in the position of «I’m cool», but thanks to the interaction with each other.
The game should inspire both participants and spectators. And this is possible only if we rejoice and enjoy the process.
3. Sing, dance, play
When two play, the rest stand around them, playing instruments, clapping and singing. Songs have always helped a person in work, in experiencing negative moments, in mourning, in joy, at meetings of loved ones, on campaigns. In capoeira, songs have a historical and philosophical meaning. They are about the fact that life is a game, that when you fall, you have to get up, and get up beautifully. Everything that is sung about in capoeira is expressed through the movements of those who are playing at the moment. And this is her magic.
4. Feel your worth
Nothing can erase bodily experience. In training, a person learns to fall correctly and then get up differently. He knows that the one who cut him does not hang over him and does not humiliate him, because he believes in him and, if necessary, will stop and help. There is no value in capoeira, but there is value for each and everyone together. Here in training there is an atmosphere of support, enthusiasm, interest in people.
5. Move to live
The game experience changes character. If the body knows that it can do a lot, we begin to think and feel differently: even in a difficult situation, we react to what is happening outside the box, creatively, with humor. It is as if we feel with our whole body that there is a way out of the impasse.
If there is no opportunity or desire to go to capoeira, remember what you were fond of, what you liked as a child. Maybe it will be dancing, skating, rollerblading, basketball, horseback riding, bungee jumping, jump rope, whatever. Don’t forget to take care of your body. You can start dancing or jumping, throwing the ball into the basket on your own. Or even just go out every day to the park and walk 2-3 km. The main thing is regularity. Both the body and the soul will thank you, and life will become calmer and more harmonious.