Ashley Darby Shares 3 Simple Yoga Poses to Help Deal with Stress and Anxiety

Ashley Darby is putting her yoga skills to good use. The Real Housewives of Potomac mom shared three simple poses that can be done at home to handle stress, which is always important, but particularly useful in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

“I know that this can be a time of uncertainty, heightened anxiety, and stress,” Ashley said in an exclusive video for BravoTV.com, which you can watch above. “So, today I’m going to offer a few poses that I love to do in times of anxiety to hopefully help you in this time of stress, because your physical and your mental health are of the utmost importance.”

Before jumping into teaching each of the poses, Ashley explained that mindful breathing is also a very useful tool.

“The first tool that I love to do when I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed is I count my breath,” she said. “If you find that you lose track along the way, don’t stress. That’s very natural. It just means that your mind has started to wander. Bring yourself back and count your breaths again. A great centering and focusing tool.”

The first pose Ashley shared is the cat-cow, which she says is “very helpful for relaxing the body and the spine.”

Starting on all fours, with your hands and knees on the ground, you can accomplish the cat-cow pose by relaxing your spine while you inhale and draw your chin up towards the ceiling. Then, exhale, and arch your back like a cat. Ashley suggests doing this five times.

Next, Ashley moved on to the butterfly. “It’s really an easy pose. It’s not meant to be stressful or tense,” she explained. “Here is a great time to focus on your breath again; inhaling and exhaling. You can either count your breaths, or visualize the air coming into your body, going down into the belly.”

To do the butterfly pose, simply put the soles of your feet together, and grab the top of your feet with your hands. The “wings,” which Ashley explains are your legs, “are just going to flap on the side.”

Ashley’s final pose is legs on the wall, which she says is one of her favorites.

“Everything is easy here, nothing is stressful,” she said as she explained that this pose is simply laying on your back, and putting your legs up on a wall with the soles of your feet up toward the sky.

“We’re just going to rest here. You can either count your breaths, you can simply relax, whatever you choose to do here,” said Ashley. “Some people end up falling asleep here because this pose is so relaxing, but we put so much pressure and tension on our legs, that this is another great way to help the stress and the anxiety, and all of those feelings of just tightness come out of the body.”

Ashley finished the lesson with a loving, important message.

“Ultimately, your breath and your body are the things that you have the most control of. So please, be safe, take care of yourself and practice the right things for you and your family. Love and light, babes.”

For the latest, most accurate information on coronavirus, go to the World Health Organization (WHO) website.