Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

We’ve all been burned out and exhausted and not sure how to cope at some point in our lives. Whether it is looming deadlines, emotional demands, climate change, political battles, family drama––the result is the same. Sometimes juggling all the challenges and all the wonderful gifts in our lives can feel overwhelming and we’re not sure how to feel better. Here’s how: Yoga can help lower your stress levels and your blood pressure because it’s an excellent practice to calm your nervous system. By combining physical asanas or postures with Pranayama or controlled breathing techniques, yoga can have a profound impact on your nervous system. When we are stressed out, our adrenal glands are working overtime and we’re often in a state of “fight or flight,” which doesn’t allow for adequate rest and recovery. Over time, if we fall into this type of pattern of constantly being in heightened over-active mode, our bodies and minds begin to suffer. As you’ve heard over and over, yoga offers a three-pronged approach to improving your life: physical, mental, and spiritual. While taking your usual sweaty Vinyasa or Power class will definitely impact your mind and heart, sometimes slowing down a bit and taking a more mellow class can give you more of the mental stress relief you’re craving. Our parasympathetic nervous system is designed to soothe and lower our stress levels. Certain styles of yoga, like Yin and Restorative, emphasize postures that can reset your nervous system in minutes. Gentle Hatha classes also focus more on unwinding and relaxing you. Of course, you’re releasing tightness and tension from your muscles, but you’re also soothing your brain.

Restorative yoga is a deeply relaxing practice that helps relieve stress. A hectic lifestyle is the biggest host to stress. Through Restorative Yoga, deep relaxation therapy can be attained. Restorative Yoga is a slow-paced practice that holds poses for long to attain deep relaxation. The practice opens up the body by being in specific positions and gives a completely different experience than most of the more rigorous traditional and contemporary yoga styles. There are three main components of the restorative style: use props all the time, transition into the poses slowly, and hold the poses for a longer period of time. During a restorative yoga practice, the yogis can make use of props like blankets, blocks, and bolsters for support. It also encourages long hold as it allows the muscles to relax, stills the mind, enhances the mood and its healing capacity, and is an amazing and effective antidote to stress. Here are the top three restorative yoga poses to help reduce stress: