The best yoga poses for stress relief.
As a health and wellness practitioner, you will already be aware of how important reducing stress is for your overall health and body function. It may not be possible to live a totally stress-free life, but there are certainly tools for stress management, like mindfulness. Another is Yoga. This ancient form of moving meditation focuses on a couple of essential keys for stress reduction and optimum physical health whilst using the breath as the foundation.
The best yoga poses to relieve stress are the ones that work with your own flexibility and allow you to deepen your breath aiming to make the exhale longer than the inhale to encourage relaxation. Let’s look at a few now.
1. The Breath
Although this may not be considered as a yoga pose of posture. The breath is an essential key for stress management, anxiety and depression and the use of the breath is different depending on which. For example, for anxiety and stress focus on the exhalation making it longer than the inhalation which will calm the nervous system and the mind. For depression focus on the inhalation (taking in the breath of life) and energizing the body’s life-force.
2. Child’s Pose
This pose or (Asana) should be included in any routine of yoga to de-stress. It calms the nervous system. A quiet and still Asana that is not physically taxing, you can focus on your breath helping to reduce anxiety. This asana is also great for assisting excitable children to settle. If you are pregnant widen your knees and place your head on your hands. Your focus in this Asana is to keep the length in the front of the body the same as the back of your body and relax the breath.
3. Legs up the Wall
This Asana has no cautions and is suitable for all people, this gentle relaxing pose is very restful for the heart and nervous system and is great yoga for stress and anxiety. Make sure to you focus on keeping your buttocks against the wall, you may like to use a yoga bolster or blanket for this. Relax and breath steadily.
4. Sun Salutations
This flowing movement sequence (vinyasa) is made up of different positions and is designed to warm and energise the body. Yogi’s with Yoga teacher qualifications suggest that this sequence is wonderful yoga for depression as it physically warms up the body to burn off pent up or nervous energy and keeps your mind from running over-time as you focus on the movements in the sequence.
5. Mountain Pose
One of the best yoga poses is the Mountain Pos. This Asana gives you a couple of minutes to be still, focus on your breath and connect to the stillness within. It is perfect for a pause in a busy or stressful day and will help you centre and come back to the present moment. Even while dinner is cooking you can take a few minutes to stand in mountain pose.
6. Bridge Pose
This Asana comes with a caution for people with a neck injury. Avoid this until you find someone with suitable yoga teacher training to work with you to safely execute this asana. This pose reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache and insomnia. It also has a calming effect on the brain and can assist with mild depression.
There are many different combinations of asana’s that can be put together as a program of Yoga for stress relief, anxiety and depression. A good Yoga teacher will work with you to provide you with the right Yoga program to improve your wellbeing. Yoga is not just about physical postures; it is also a way of life with a very ancient history and philosophy. All of this is integrated into understanding which asana’s and yoga practice will work best for you or your clients. Whether you work as a physical therapist or are focused on the emotional and mental well-being of others having the tools of Yoga may help you to shift a client to the next level of progress on their health journey as it treats everyone holistically. Working steadily on the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels to bring balance and energy to someone’s life. Ready to explore how Yoga can enhance the therapies you already offer. Take an immersive deep dive into Demi Internationals Advanced Diploma of Holistic Classical Yoga.
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