Yoga techniques for stress overload

In this exhilarating age of endless to-do lists, smartphones buzzing with constant notifications, constant reminders of ever-evolving business and relationship demands, who among us isn’t stressed? Who has time to shop after work, creatively fit into the kids’ schedules, and juggle project priorities and other work tasks without feeling anxious or tense? Yoga was designed to slow you down and get you in touch with your inner self, making it the perfect system for maintaining the health of your mind and body to relieve stress, rather than create it.

yogic breathing

Yoga’s focus on breathing, especially deep abdominal breathing techniques, is a well-known way to reduce stress levels. Modern science has established that taking short, shallow breaths, which is how the average person breathes throughout the day, can lower carbon dioxide levels in the body and cause mental restlessness. Many people don’t realize that lower carbon dioxide levels can cause decreased tissue oxygenation, because carbon dioxide is an important factor in transporting oxygen from the blood to the brain and throughout the body. This is why strong emotions like anger or fear, which lead to rapid breathing, often create a more frantic level of thinking and an inability to focus.

Yoga teaches its practitioners to breathe deeply, using techniques to maximize the flow of oxygen to the lungs. This has a calming effect on the brain, which is able to slow down information processing and prevent an overload of the senses. The more a Yoga student practices, the better he or she will be at deep breathing techniques that lead to a relaxed body state.

Meditation

Although some schools of Yoga in the West emphasize physical practice, many forms of Yoga exercise both the mind and the body. Meditation is a concentrated effort to slow down the mind and body, through the practice of mantra, japa, mindfulness, or deep breathing to focus the ability to concentrate, while blocking out audio or visual input. Like abdominal breathing, meditation has a relaxing effect on a person’s mind and body.

series of yoga poses

A typical Hatha Yoga session begins with a centering designed to collect one’s thoughts, followed by a series of poses (asanas) designed to warm up the muscles and joints of the body. They are generally a bit more fast-paced and strenuous than the poses found at the end of a yoga class, which aim to slow down the body to allow yoga practitioners to access a more relaxed state of mind and body. Postures like Shavasana (corpse pose) should allow practitioners to rest active minds and bodies, while Yoga practitioners rid themselves of the causes of physical and emotional stress. As a result, yoga is a practice that can help relieve stress overload and improve mental health.

© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division