What is your go-to coping mechanism when you feel overwhelmed or can’t control your reactions to anything and everything? Does heading outside into nature help reduce your blood pressure or a phone call with your best friend do the trick? Did you know one of the best ways to manage stress and anxiety is through a balanced yoga practice?
Mindful movement and controlled breathing patterns positively affect your nervous system. Yoga helps us shift from fight or flight, a reactive state, to rest and digest, a receptive state of being. Through physical asanas and Pranayama breathing techniques you can lower blood pressure, regulate heart rate, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body. With an intelligent combination of active practices, passive practices, and meditation, like our new one-week Anxiety Relief program, you’ll feel more calm, energized, and balanced.
When our autonomic nervous system isn’t in balance, managing our emotions can be a challenge. Anxiety is often tied to anticipating the future and depression is often linked to an inability to release the past. Over time, if we fall into these types of patterns, our bodies and minds begin to suffer. Yoga teaches us to focus on the present moment, which encourages a grounded sense of being and a focused, clear mind.
Yoga isn’t simply about touching your toes or balancing on your hands, although both those abilities are great. The mental, emotional, and physical health benefits of yoga are intertwined, so even when your focus is predominantly on opening your hips and shoulders, you’re positively impacting your entire being.
Whether you need to relax with some restorative yoga to encourage your parasympathetic nervous system to kick in or you need a vitality boost from an energetic Vinyasa flow, yoga will help. Check out all these practices and see just how balanced you can feel!