4 Ways Yoga Relieves Stress & Anxiety

When we get stressed our bodies tend to constrict and we hold tension within our bodies. Practising yoga postures will stretch the body and consequently the tension our body holds will release. Also stress related chronic tension will clearly ease and the chance to then heal is very high as we continue our yoga journey. Holding yoga postures means putting the body into a stress momentum. During that time, we have the opportunity to observe and understand what happens to ourselves in times of stress, emotionally, physically, mentally and energetically which makes it an amazing tool for stress management, as we learn whilst holding postures also to:

When we are under stress, our breathing pattern will change considerably. Our exhalation will be compromised and in return our capacity to inhale as well. We end up with a very shallow breath. During the practise of Yoga we learn to control our breath as well as deepen our breath and our nervous system will respond in favour of relaxing the body. We lay the foundation for:

Meditation is also a very good for controlling stress. We can practise Meditation either sitting or laying down with a one pointed focus or by directing the restless mind consciously into one direction using various forms of visualisations or repetition of words or sounds. You will soon notice that your stress levels begin to lower and the awareness for yourself will increase very clearly. We start to:

When we are stressed it is difficult to fall asleep, our body is tensed and our mind is running 100 miles on hour and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. We loose precious sleeping time and end up with too little sleep. As a result, we’ll notice an increase in stress levels and we find ourselves in a vicious circle. Practising specific Yoga postures as well as breathing practises will trigger the body’s relaxation response and we will find a better and deeper night sleep again.