Yoga to reduce stress: How to practice to get the best effect?

In addition to the obvious benefits such as improving physique, regulating blood, yoga is also a miracle drug to help practitioners reduce stress and reduce depression due to work and life pressure.

Today, yoga is a subject that many people choose to practice when they have a need to exercise. There have been many studies demonstrating the benefits of yoga for health, especially its mental relaxation and stress reduction effects.

If you are looking to discover this magical use of yoga, do not miss some useful information contained in the following shares of easyhealthylive.com.

Anxiety and stress – Do you really understand them all?

Anxiety and stress are the most common mental illnesses today. Some people face this situation every day without knowing the real reason, while others face it due to psychological trauma or pressure in work and life.

There are many types of anxiety and stress, such as social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc. More importantly, this condition can have a negative impact on mental and physical well-being. with many symptoms such as:

• Excessive thoughts or obsessions
• Jitter
• Heart beats fast
• Vomiting or nausea
• Dizzy
• Sweat a lot
• Always worried, afraid of death
• Difficulty sleeping
• Difficulty concentrating
• Chest pain
• Extremely tired
• Trembling

Yoga can help “dispel” anxiety, “fly away” fatigue?

Many studies have demonstrated the benefits of yoga and meditation in reducing stress and anxiety. Specifically, yoga has been shown to reduce physical symptoms caused by anxiety and stress.

Research by Catherine Woodward, University of Mississippi, has proven that regular yoga practice not only improves muscle strength, body flexibility, enhances lung and heart function, but also brings many benefits to health. morale.

Research results also show that yoga helps restore and effectively treat anxiety, depression, chronic pain, improve sleep quality, improve health and quality of life.

Yoga has been shown to have a restorative and effective treatment of anxiety and depression

Yoga helps practitioners become more aware of the present, stop remembering the past or worrying about the future (two key factors that create anxiety).

In addition, when practicing yoga to reduce stress, you will not need to worry about experiencing unwanted side effects. This is what makes yoga a safe and effective way to treat anxiety and stress.

How should yoga reduce stress to be effective?

In order for yoga to become an effective method to support and treat anxiety and stress, you need to choose the right type and allocate a reasonable practice time:

What type of yoga is most effective in reducing stress?

A good stress-reducing yoga practice requires a combination of postures and meditation to regulate and manage anxiety.

When performing postures merge with the rhythmic movement of the breath, the body will be stimulated to release many “happy” hormones such as endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine. Specifically, you can choose one of the following four types of yoga:

Vinyasa or hatha yoga

If you are new to yoga, you should choose vinyasa or hatha yoga – gentle types of yoga with a series of movements in harmony with the breath.

Although these types of yoga can be physically exhausting, they are very beneficial for the mind. Because it helps you focus only on the movement without having time to worry about anything else.

Restorative yoga

Restorative yoga, also known as yin yoga, is a gentle form of yoga that restores the body, helps muscles release tension and regulates heart rate. This is a type of yoga that has a relaxing effect, after learning, many students share that they have a comfortable and pleasant feeling like being massaged all over the body.

However, this type of yoga does not work to reduce stress for everyone. Due to the long time holding the pose, some people report that they get distracted and think about other things while doing it. To avoid this situation, you need to have a high ability to focus on combining movement and breathing.

Bikram yoga

Bikram yoga is the perfect solution to reduce anxiety and stress for those who are afraid to practice new movements. Bikram yoga is a type of yoga consisting of 26 movements that are repeated throughout the class.

Students are often instructed to perform in a high temperature environment (about 40°C). Due to the continuous performance of a series of movements, you will have to pay attention and focus and do not have time to think.

Flying yoga

Flying yoga is not only for professional yogis but also suitable for beginners. With the help of the rope, students can perform inversions such as the banana tree pose or backstroke.

Flying yoga is not only for professional yogis but also suitable for beginners

When performing these postures, the sympathetic nervous system will be activated, the blood flow to the brain will also increase, thereby improving mental health. Many people share that they find this type of yoga unsafe.

If you also think so, don’t worry because the rope has a weight capacity of more than 900kg, completely safe for students and still retains its softness.

Yoga poses for effective stress relief

If you do not have time to participate in a specific type of yoga, you can take advantage of some basic yoga movements to help reduce stress such as:

• Child Pose: Helps to connect physically and mentally, and creates the best state of relaxation for the body.
• Cat-cow pose: Relieves tension and pain in the spine and shoulders – a common symptom of a lot of anxiety.
• Cloth Doll Pose: Relieves tension in the neck, enhances blood circulation to the brain, good for mental health
• Tree Pose: How to improve balance and concentration
• Bridge pose: Relax and stretch the spine, relieve stress, anxiety
• Legs up the wall pose: Relieves tension in the lower back, promotes blood circulation and creates a feeling of relaxation
• Corpse Pose: Relaxes the whole body and brings the mind back to peace.

Child’s pose helps to create the best state of relaxation for the body

Simple but surprisingly effective stress relief breathing exercise

• Ujjayi breathing exercises: There are many breathing exercises that help relieve stress, relax the mind, but the most popular is the Ujjayi breathing exercise, also known as ocean breath or victory breath. You can do this exercise anywhere and anytime.
• Method 4-7-8: This breathing exercise calms the parasympathetic nervous system, calms the mind, regulates heart rate, blood pressure, improves blood circulation, and reduces stress.
• Counting Breathing: This is a fairly simple breathing exercise to increase focus on the breath.

Breathing exercises in yoga are very effective in relaxing the mind and reducing stress

Tips to help yoga practice effectively reduce stress

• Comfort is the most important thing. To do this, you need to choose an outfit that is comfortable when exercising, not too loose or too tight to avoid feeling uncomfortable when you have to constantly adjust your clothes. In addition, you also need to practice under the guidance of a professional yoga teacher to make sure you are performing the poses correctly and without injury.
• Have water and towels ready, especially if you’re taking a hot yoga or bikram class. Dehydration will distract you, not only that, excessive sweating also has the risk of falling into the eyes, leading to discomfort.
• Don’t care what other people think. If you feel uncomfortable when performing a certain position, use tools such as exercise blocks, exercise ropes, etc. to support.

How often to practice yoga to reduce stress best?

• Practicing yoga for at least ten minutes a day will help reduce anxiety and stress very effectively
• Practicing yoga 2-3 times a week, about 1 hour each time can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety
• According to research conducted by Johns Hopkins University, the most effective way to fight depression is to practice meditation exercises for 20-30 minutes a day.
• If you feel nervous about a situation in your life like a job interview, first date, or public speaking, practice yoga 2-3 hours before the event. If you’re still nervous, take 10-15 minutes to breathe.

Practicing yoga can be very effective in reducing stress. However, the most important thing is that you must practice correctly. If you feel too nervous, stressed about attending a yoga class at the center, consider inviting a easyhealthylive.com home yoga teacher to feel more comfortable.

Reference source

How Often Should You Do Yoga for Anxiety? https://yogarove.com/how-often-yoga-for-anxiety/ Accessed date: 7/5/2020