Learn How Yoga Relieves Anxiety Holistically | Yoga for Anxiety

Every one of us feels anxiety or stress and tension at some point in our lives. Anxiety could be for various reasons ranging from examinations, public speaking or job interviews or even for small things. Anxiety by itself is not a serious illness. It starts to become a problem when it starts interfering in the day to day life.  When anxiety becomes excessive, it has to be treated. Here is where yoga comes to the rescue. Yoga not only relieves stress and anxiety, but it also helps remove the stressors that cause anxiety.  In severe cases of anxiety, yoga alone may not help, but it can complement other prescribed medications.

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How can yoga help to relieve anxiety?

Regular practice of yoga calms down a person and helps him to feel relaxed. Yoga exercises include not just the asanas or the physical exercises; they also include the breathing techniques (pranayamas) and meditation. Yoga has helped hundreds of patients to feel better and made them strong and better equipped to face life.

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When a person is anxious, it drains his energy and the body is constantly stressed.  When there is no exercise for the body, there is tension in the muscles. Breathing becomes labored and the mind is constantly wavering. This is where yoga comes to their rescue. Yoga relaxes the body and the mind through various physical and breathing exercises and also meditation.  There are many yoga exercises for anxiety. If we can practice a few of them regularly, followed by a few minutes of meditation, our body will become relaxed and tension is released from the body. There is free flow of oxygen to all parts of the body making us feel fresh and relaxed. Breathing exercises can reduce panic attacks and help us cope better with anxiety.

Some of the simple yoga postures which help relieve stress:

Balasana or Child pose – This is a very simple asana. It is a resting pose which involves sitting on the knees and bending forward with arms forward or by the side. This pose is both comforting and soothing.

The corpse pose or savasana – This again is a relaxation pose by just lying down flat on the back with arms at your side and focusing on the breath.

The half moon or ardha chandrasana is a balancing pose with one leg raised to 90 degrees and one hand on the floor or block. Balancing helps to keep the attention on the body and not on the mind.

Supported shoulder stand or Salamba Sarvangasana – is an inversion pose and all inversion poses help relieve stress and anxiety.

Tree pose or Vrksasana is an easier pose and involves balancing on one leg. It helps calm the mind and improve concentration.

There are a number of other poses like Legs up the wall or viparita karani, the standing forward bend or uttanasana, the fish pose ot matsyasana, the garudasana or eagle pose and the head stand or Salamba sirsanaa which serve the purpose to relieve anxiey and make a person calm. The head stand is a bit complicated and cannot be done by beginners.

So it is better to make practicing yoga and meditation a daily habit. There is a wider acceptance to practice yoga and meditation in the United States even among the medical practitioners as a non drug alternative to treat anxiety.