The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes, everything from wearing masks in public to isolating at home to illness. There have been some ups in the past year—a renewed interest in baking bread and doing puzzles to relax come to mind—but also plenty of downs, including the toll the pandemic has taken on mental health.
Even if you’ve never struck a tree pose, the May/June issue of Yoga Journal may help you explore ways to clear your anxiety and boost your mood. There are plenty of visual examples, too, if you do want to learn to plank, for instance, which is a great way to build core strength without doing sit-ups.
Featured in this issue is psychologist and author Gail Parker, who has spent much of her 75 years practicing and teaching yoga therapy as a way to heal emotional wounds as well as relax. Parker gives examples of relaxation poses and suggests mantras of affirmation to deepen yoga’s healing power.
In that same vein is an article featuring the latest science, expert advice, and practices to help heal our minds from a past year filled with anxiety, hopelessness, and depression as we learn to reenter life after the pandemic. Learn how stress affects the body, how each part of the brain is changed by depression and anxiety, and how yoga, mindfulness, and meditation can ease negative feelings. In addition, “9 Ways to Cheer Up Naturally” offers suggestions on boosting mood and easing depression through natural remedies. 
Also in this edition are a recipe for a healthy turmeric salmon meal, gathering the essentials for a calming picnic in the forest, and the importance of slow-flow yoga, including five pages of photographs and descriptions on how to practice 16 different poses in a calming sequence.
Great articles like these are just a few clicks away with Flipster. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, check out Yoga Journal or any of the other magazines in our online collection, including Mindful, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Prevention.
Log on to Flipster with your library card number. (If you need a library card, apply online or contact the Herrick Library staff by calling 619-825-5010 or emailing us at info@herricklibrary.org.)
