Yoga For Stress Relief

Yoga For Stress Relief

A number of studies have shown that yoga may help reduce stress and anxiety. Yoga can help reduce stress because it promotes relaxation, which is the natural opposite of stress. Yoga can benefit three aspects of ourselves that are often affected by stress: our body, mind, and breathing.

The beauty of yoga is that you don’t have to be a yogi or yogini to reap the benefits. Whether you are young or old, overweight or fit, yoga has the power to calm the mind and strengthen the body. Don’t be intimidated by yoga terminology, fancy yoga studios and complicated poses. Yoga is for everyone.

One way yoga reduces stress is through regulating the nervous system — specifically the autonomic nervous system and its response to stress. Yoga encourages mental and physical relaxation, which helps reduce stress and anxiety. The physical postures promote flexibility, relieve tension, and alleviate pain.

Yoga poses may help you release physical blockages like muscle knots, helping release emotions and tension. They also promote the release of mood-boosting endorphins, which are the feel-good hormones that can positively affect how you handle stress.

Yoga poses for stress relief

You can get started with the following yoga poses to relieve stress.

Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana -Bitilasana)

This pose allows you to connect your breath to your movements as you calm your mind and release stress. Allow your breath to guide each movement.

1. Begin in a tabletop position.

2. Place your wrists underneath your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips.

3. As you inhale, turn your gaze toward the ceiling and allow your belly to move toward your mat, arching your back. This is Cow Pose.

4. As you exhale, draw your chin in toward your chest and bend your spine toward the ceiling, like a cat.

5. Continue to flow between these two positions for 1 minute.

Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Child’s pose helps create an inward focus and restore energy. It also supports mental and physical relaxation.

For more support, place a cushion under your forehead, torso, or thighs.

1. From a kneeling position, place your knees together or slightly apart.

2. Sit back on your heels.

3. Hinge at your hips as you fold forward, resting your forehead on your mat.

4. Extend your arms in front of you or alongside your legs.

5. Allow your torso to sink into your thighs.

6. Breathe deeply and focus on relaxing your body.

7. Hold this pose for up to 5 minutes.

Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)

Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose provides deep relaxation while boosting lymph flow and circulation.

1. Sit on the floor facing the wall, with your body as close to the wall as possible.

2. Lie on your back and place your legs up the wall with straight knees.

3. Position your hips next to the wall or a few inches away.

4. Place your arms alongside your body, or place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest.

5. Hold this pose for up to 15 minutes.

Corpse Pose (Savasana)

During this pose, focus on breathing deeply as you calm your mind and let go of tension.

1. Lie flat on your back with your feet slightly wider than your hips.

2. Allow your toes to splay out to the sides.

3. Position your arms next to your body at a 45-degree angle.

4. Align your head, neck, and shoulders with your spine.

5. Breathe deeply as you allow your body to fully relax.

6. Stay in this pose for 10–20 minutes.

Yoga is a great practice for everyone as it has an abundance of health benefits and it comes with zero side effects.

Yoga also has been shown to decrease the levels of cortisol, or the stress hormone, in the body. It can improve your sleep, digestion, immune system—all of which are impacted by stress. It can ease depression, sadness, and mood swings by restoring dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Yoga also tones the vagus nerve—otherwise known as the well-being nerve—which, according to research, allows people to more easily shift from a stressed to a relaxed state.

There are many benefits of yoga. But the best thing about it is that the more you practice, the more prepared you’ll be to manage daily stress and emotionally and physically fraught situations as they arise.