Yoga exercises to relieve stress and anxiety
With the world slowly returning to a new state of normal after the corona virus, it can all be a little overwhelming. New stresses and old stresses bubble up to the surface, and you might be feeling a little uneasy. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Millions of others are feeling the same anxiety surrounding our current state of affairs, and that’s normal. Don’t worry though, here are some yoga exercises to help you reduce anxiety and live in a post pandemic world.
Mindful Breathing
Breath is vital to our bodies. Not only does breath literally keep us alive by oxygenating our blood and organs, but it also plays an important role in cueing our brain on how we are physically and mentally feeling. Often times, when we’re nervous or stressed our breath will become short and shallow. Sometimes we forget to breathe all together!
However, if we can remember to breathe slowly and with intention, we can reduce the initial panicked feeling we get when under stress. Taking ten deep breaths nice and controlled can help calm your mind and your heart rate.
additionally, pranayama breath techniques like Alternate Nostril breathing can be used to reduce stress. Alternate nostril breathing helps balance our bodies natural masculine and feminine energies. It has also been known to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. When activated, our parasympathetic nervous system will reduce our heart rate and blood pressure. Furthermore, it can move us out of our sympathetic nervous systems fight or flight response often triggered when were in distress.
Restorative Yoga
Overall, restorative yoga can be an effective practice in calming our mind and our body. Restorative yoga is an extremely nurturing practice. When we move into yoga postures with the assistance of props, we allow our muscles to soften and our bodies to fully sink into the posture. Restorative yoga can reduce the tension we hold in our deep tissues by providing assistance with the use of props to hold our bodies up. This means there is little to no work on our end as the practitioner, and we are able to fall into a state of ease. check out my post about my favorite restorative yoga postures!
I know it’s challenging moving forward after a crazy year, but hopefully these yoga exercises helped! If you want more, check out my post Yoga Poses for Stress and Anxiety.
