Yoga, sometimes also referred to as moving meditation, is as old as time. This ancient philosophy addresses all the parts of the human body. It helps in the well-being of your body, mind, breath, personality, as well as your emotions. But yoga is especially helpful with stress relief.
Yoga results in an increase in self-compassion and mindfulness. This is due to meditation, controlled breathing, stretching asanas, and mental imagery.
Several studies show that Yoga for stress relief can help. It reduces anxiety, depression, and, thus, stress. A basic principle behind yoga is that your mind and body are in sync with each other. They are one and connected. This connection between your mind and body needs to be honed and balanced.
Practising yoga will help you do that. It will also guide you in staying calm and relaxed, even in the worst of situations.
Here is a beginner’s guide to yoga for stress relief. To understand yoga as a stress reliever, you need to understand the symptoms of stress.
Stress Symptoms
Image Source: Photo by Zafer Erdoğan: pexels
Symptoms of stress are generally easy to point out. You experience these almost every day. A racing heart, sweaty palms, and millions of thoughts in your head make you recognize your stress. To make it compact, stress wreaks havoc on mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
Stress can never be removed, but we can work on reducing its unpleasant effects. This is one of the benefits of yoga for stress relief. If you learn how to relax your mind and body, you can breathe better, and your symptoms of stress will vanish.
Here is a beginner’s guide to yoga for stress relief.
Here are a few symptoms of stress that one needs to be on the lookout for:
- Tense Muscles and Grinding teeth
- Depression, Irritability, and Loneliness
- Low Energy and Anxiety
- Dry Mouth
- Headaches and Shaking
- Millions of Racing Thoughts and Persistent Worrying
- Chest pain
- Lack of Focus and Forgetfulness
- Colds
- Loss of Sexual Desire
- Upset Stomach
How to Use Yoga for Stress Relief?
Image Source: Photo by Prasanth Inturi: pexels
Practising Yoga regularly will help you hone your physical and mental pace. Focusing on simple meditation, mindful breathing, and physical postures will assist in reducing stress. It will also enable the improvement of your lung capacity, respiratory function, and heart rate. Yoga also helps in lowering your blood pressure.
Exercise helps in the body's production of Endorphins. This in turn also boosts your energy.
Endorphins are hormones that are important for the cultivation of feelings of happiness and calmness. They are important for your health. Yoga also boosts your body's hormone production. Endorphins also play an important role in managing negative emotions and physical pain. These hormones are important for your physical and emotional well-being.
Here are the best yoga poses for stress relief. It lists poses that have unique benefits, from relieving headaches to improving your posture. They also guide in restoring your lymphatic and nervous systems.
1. Sukhasana
Sukhasana is a beginner-friendly yoga asana. It is a therapeutic pose that relieves stress, anxiety and calms your mind. This asana stretches your ankles, knees, groin, hips, and outer thighs. It also strengthens your back muscles gradually.
Not only this, it also improves your posture by leaps and bounds when practised regularly. A calm and happy mind is one of the best benefits of yoga for stress relief.
To perform this yoga asana, you need to sit in a cross-legged position on your mat. Your right foot/shin should be in your front. You can bend forward slowly after a few minutes with your arms out.
Adding this forward bend helps in increasing the exhale. This will lead to a relaxation response. Hold the forward bend with five breaths without pushing yourself too hard. Straighten up after this and switch your legs to repeat the movement.
2. Uttanasana
image source: Image by yanalya: Freepik
This asana has several benefits, such as quieting a busy mind, balancing the nervous system, and promoting calmness. It is also executed as a transition pose between different asanas. This asana will stretch your back, hips, and calves. It will reduce fatigue and stress. It will also stimulate the kidneys and liver. Finally, it will also aid in relieving you of Insomnia and headache. This is one of the most prominent benefits of yoga for stress relief.
To perform this asana, start in a neutral standing position. Bend your knees and push forward with your hips. You can place your hands at the front of your feet to balance. Try to engage your core muscles and breathe out when you fold. Shift the weight of your body to the balls of your feet. If you feel like your hamstrings are too tight, you can bend your knees a little. This will prevent any stress on your lower back.
After this, grab both your elbows with the opposite hand and focus on softening your neck, jaw, eyes and mind. Try and hold this pose for five breaths and then rise back up to a standing neutral position. This asana in yoga for stress relief has many benefits.
3. Balasana
The next asana for stress relief is Balasana. It is perfect for quieting a busy mind. Excess stress puts pressure on our adrenal glands. These glands are located just above the kidney. Pressure on these glands can cause burnout. This asana soothes the adrenal gland. It also stretches your thighs, back, and your ankles while reducing your stress. It also restores your lymphatic and nervous systems.
To perform this asana, you need to sit back on your heels with your hands out in front of you. Then, slowly start folding yourself until your forehead rests on the yoga mat. You can separate your knees or keep them together based on your comfort and allow your big toes to touch. Your arms can either rest alongside, rest under your head, or be extended in front of you. Try and hold this pose for ten breaths if you want to understand how to use yoga for stress relief.
