Have you ever heard someone say that their job is slowly killing them?? The sad part is that it may actually be true. Work culture nowadays has become hectic with so many deadlines to complete and this can lead to work-related stress. Work-related stress has become a major cause of anxiety and many other related diseases like hypertension and severe depression.
We all go through the feeling like this at some point in my life where we feel short of the breath, numbness, racing heart and mind. Whereas the little anxiety is necessary to skillfully channelize your mind and keep you focused on your work. The too much anxiety can tear down your entire personality, nervous system making its entire functioning very difficult and kill you slowly. A state of excessive worry, uneasiness and fear of unknown like something might happen is something that should be treated and this is where yoga helps you. Yoga soothes your anxious nervous system and calms it by activating the parasympathetic nervous response. Also, the practice of slow and controlled breathing helps in calming your anxious brain hence help in relieving your stress and anxiety.
In yoga, it is said that your breath is key. Your breath is the best thing to hold as it has the ability to calm our anxious nerves. While we are anxious our breath becomes shallow and fast especially from our chest as if we are grasping for air which in turn increase its intensity and make us feel more anxious and worried. In yoga there are special deep breathing exercises or pranayama are practiced that help with anxiety.
This form of breathing exercise is very calming in nature for both our body and nervous system. You can easily practice this by starting taking a long and deep inhale and focus on your abdomen. As you inhale notice how air filled your abdomen and your belly protrude, your ribs expand outwardly. While you exhale feel your belly contract. Through this entire process try to keep your shoulder chest and entire body still. Try to keep the length of your inhale and exhale equal.
When people are stress and anxious our body muscles started constricted and our body started accumulated tension in various body parts like shoulder, back etc. Practicing yoga asana like Child pose, downward pose, savasana helps us release the tension from these body parts. When you are practicing these yogasana try to be aware of your breath and surrender yourself and keep your mind focused. You can also practice sun salutation in a relaxed way to gain the maximum benefits.
Yoga is a form of exercise that works for your holistic wellbeing. It makes you move, increases your flexibility make you strong, and improve your overall wellbeing. We all know how much depression can affect our body, it can make you fatigue, weight gain or loss, unhealthy eating habit, hair loss, sleep issues, unbearable body pain and it can take a life out of a person. The practice of yoga incorporates controlled breathing that helps in calming the anxious mind and the physical yoga poses helps to release the tension from the body and helps in bringing to the present moment. Studies show that yoga helps in reducing pain in cancer patients.
The practice of yoga asana is to prepare you for the seated meditation. The practice of meditation helps in calming the anxious mind and the body. Even a regular practice of 10 minutes a day can hugely impact your mind in a positive way. Meditation helps you to let go of every thought that is not serving you without any judgment. It helps you to lets go of anything with any fear and judgment and reduce the impact of your thoughts on you.
Yoga teaches us to be more loving and caring towards yourself and helps us to self-introspection. It encourages us to live in a healthy way and nourish our bodies with the best food because when we are kind and loving towards ourself then it reflects on outside.
