Yoga for Stress Relief

Yoga meditation and poses promote inner balance

Stress can be the culprit of many types of physical and mental illness. Common symptoms of stress-related illnesses include headaches, muscle tension, depression, insomnia and heightened blood pressure.

According to the American Yoga Association (AYA), performing yoga workouts can help to improve the health and function of the body, mind and soul through its combination of breathing, meditation and stretching exercise. Controlled breathing and exercise can prepare the body and mind for meditation – a known cure for stress. Yogis promote the fact that it’s easy to tap into a quiet mind through meditation and controlled breathing exercises, both of which promote healing the damage done by everyday stress.

A few yoga techniques have been specifically designed to release the tension of accumulated stress. For example, performing Hatha yoga postures, specific yoga stretches, controlled breathing and meditation can ease tension and calm the overworked muscles of the body and mind. Stress can often be relieved simply through meditation alone. In meditation, yogis focus on their breathing, perhaps some relaxing background sounds from a yoga CD and simple peaceful thoughts.

During yoga meditation your focus is drawn from the direct sources of stress (external factors) and re-focused on peaceful reflections of the mind and soul (internal factors) that ease the mind and promote inner healing. Yoga is highly recommended by many naturopathic doctors and even contemporary physicians to aid in stress management. After adopting meditation into their lives as a form of stress relief, many yogis claim they are able to cope with stress more effectively.

In addition, yoga meditation can prevent the onset of added stress through deep breathing. For example, when you feel stress accumulating take time out to focus inward and breathe deeply. This will increase your lung capacity and blood circulation – effectively calming your body and mind. Performing simple yoga poses can also help to drain the lymphatic system and stimulate certain glands – also lessening stress in your muscles and joints.

Yoga poses and meditation have also been looked upon as emotional healers because they’re said to balance the mind, offering mental control and intellectual sharpness. Through yoga you will learn how to rely on your own body and mind as a healing physical and mental tool to restore inner balance.