Yoga Poses to Relieve Calm Anxiety
Pose: Pranayama Breathing
Sit with your legs crossed
comfortably and your hands resting on your knees, your palms facing up.
Then, close your eyes and inhale slowly for 6 counts, allowing your
belly to expand. Pause for 2 counts before you exhale, then take another
6 counts to breathe out, drawing your belly back to your spine; pause
for 2 counts, then slowly inhale again. Repeat this breathing sequence
for 10 minutes.
How It Helps:
Any kind of exercise can fight frazzle,
but the slow, deep breathing of yoga (spotlighted in this move) has been
shown to be particularly effective at shutting off your nervous
system’s fight-or-flight state and putting it back into rest-and-relax
mode. One German-led study found that women who began practicing yoga
reported significant improvements in anxiety, stress and wellbeing,
compared to non-yogis --and that their levels of the stress hormone
cortisol actually dropped as well.
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