Take a moment to breathe deeply and practice yoga to unwind. Yoga is a fantastic approach to reducing stress, regardless of your skill level. Yoga encourages people to practice “mindfulness,” which can help people manage stress over the long term, and uses slow, deep belly breathing to lower your body’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Additionally, non-impact exercises enable you to benefit from physical activity’s stress-relieving properties.
The nicest part is that practicing doesn’t always require a studio. Once you have the fundamentals down, you may practice whenever and wherever you like, even if that means doing yoga in your living room for stress reduction. It might not be your first thought to get on the yoga mat when you’re extremely stressed out. But for certain people, it might be a wise choice. Taking steps to lessen stress may help some people avoid headaches since stress is a factor in headaches.
Learn more about yoga’s ability to reduce stress.
YOGA CAN HELP YOU DECREASE STRESS IN FIVE WAYS, BOTH IN THE STUDIO AND ON THE GO.
1. IT IMPROVES BREATHING
There’s a good reason why folks advise you to breathe deeply. According to Donielle Wilson, ND, CPM, CNS, author of The Stress Remedy, deep breathing literally slows your sympathetic nervous system, which functions somewhat like a gas pedal for your body. Yoga reduces the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in your body and increases the amount of oxygen your brain receives, both of which are necessary for optimal brain function. As a result, you are more composed and have improved problem-solving skills.
2. It imparts thoughtfulness.
When people are anxious, it may be because they are worried about the future or focusing on the past. Yoga, on the other hand, promotes mindfulness, which is the ability to pay attention to one’s feelings at the moment. Long-term stress reduction can be achieved by using mindfulness techniques throughout your yoga practice and putting them into practice throughout the day, according to Wilson. In reality, research published in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that after taking part in an eight-week program where they studied, practiced, and applied “mindfulness meditation” to everyday life situations, participants’ levels of stress were much lower. Even better, three months later, the subjects continued to experience less stress.
3. IT HELPS WITH SLEEP
A vicious loop exists between stress and sleep (or rather, lack thereof). According to Wilson, stress can interfere with your sleep, which in turn increases your stress. Yoga can assist in ending the cycle and reducing stress. In one study, specialists discovered that after just eight weeks of yoga practice, patients with chronic insomnia considerably increased both the quantity and quality of their sleep.
It makes you move.
The medical establishment is increasingly advocating exercise as a remedy for depressing symptoms like stress and anxiety. High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, can momentarily raise your cortisol levels, which could put your body (and possibly even your mind) under greater stress, according to Wilson. However, gentle yoga uses non-impact movements to help achieve the advantages of physical exercise for reducing stress without causing the release of stress-related chemicals.
5. THE MUSIC SLEEPS YOU IN
Your mood can literally be set by the music playing during your yoga practice. According to studies published in the Journal of Music Therapy, listening to calming music (like that played in virtually every yoga studio) might lessen the negative effects of stress on blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety. 3 How? According to Wilson, listening to music can lower cortisol levels while also causing your body to release feel-good endorphins.
Give yoga for stress relief a try if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now. For many, a smart place to start would be with these yoga positions for stress and headaches. For further details, see our comprehensive list of articles about stress.
If you want to learn yoga, join an online yoga course that helps you to relieve stress at home without going anywhere.
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