An Introduction to Yoga for Stress Relief
You know the old adage, “if you want something done ask a busy person”. According to the online magazine Health, a reasonable amount of stress can increase brainpower, motivate us, and even increase our resilience. However, went pushed beyond our personal levels of reasonable stress, we experience the negative impacts of too much stress on our our mind, body and souls. Most of us are aware of common physical symptoms - overeating or undereating, trouble sleeping and fatigue. But you may be surprised that according to the Mayo Clinic, stress also can manifest itself into emotions of anger, sadness, and restlessness. Their research also found that the inactive ways many of us try to reduce our stress - watching TV or surfing the internet may actually increase our stress levels over the long term. Sometimes stress also triggers mental breakdown. For these reasons, consider incorporating yoga into your daily routine.
HOW YOGA COMBATS STRESS
Breathwork: Yoga requires that you focus on your breath, which brings you to the present. When you are in the moment, you are not focusing on the past or the future - the main sources of stress. Breathwork, or pranayam, is a science unto itself and there are many different techniques that can be incorporated into a yoga practice. Try this one from one of my recent blogs.
Mental Focus: Research has been shown that even just 20 minutes of yoga make it easier to keep distracting thoughts at bay. Think about how much more productive you could be if you were able to more easily focus and get a much needed mental break. When you can get your work done, you don’t have the stress of a long “to do” list.
Nervous System Support: Your nervous system is composed of your sympathetic and your parasympathetic system. Yoga impacts the sympathetic nervous system (aka “fight or flight” instinct) by focusing you on the present moment. It also brings greater balance to the overall nervous system by strengthening the parasympathetic nervous system (aka “rest and digest”) so that you are less reactive. ; pituitary gland; releasing stress hormones and impacts adrenal glands.
Movement of energy: Kundalini Yoga, in particular, is very efficient at moving energy in the body. Targeted exercises help to remove energetic blockages in the body. This shift in energy allows for greater ease in the flow of energy in the body. With greater ease, comes reduced stress.
ADDITIONAL SURPRISING BENEFITS OF YOGA
In addition to combatting stress, yoga has additional benefits that you may not be aware of.
Boosts your immune system;
Increases your creativity, particularly when you include second chakra exercises;
Balances your hormones; yoga has been shown to reduce the symptoms of menopause;
Increases your intuition by quieting the mind and supporting your pituitary gland. In Kundalini Yoga, you are often instructed to focus at the brow point. By doing so you cross your optic nerves over your pituitary gland and bring energy to your master gland, which is directly related to your intuition;
Increases your willpower by strengthening your navel center or point of chi. Think of it as a hub and spoke system with your navel center as the hub and tens of thousands of energy channels radiating from it.
Experience the benefits for yourself by practicing at home with my online classes or join me for outdoor Kundalini Yoga classes!