There are many ways to help combat anxiety, but yoga is a great holistic approach to help get over anxiety.
Stress, fear and anxiety are emotions all of us feel at some point in our busy lives. Whether it’s stress about meeting a deadline for a proposal, to the anxiety of having all eyes on you in the next board meeting. We all feel these emotions as we live our daily lives, but in some cases, they become so persistent and ubiquitous, that they interfere with our daily lives. When we cannot function properly because of these emotions, it is time to begin to look for some solutions.
Of course there are many ways to go about for finding a cure or a remedy for anxiety, but here at Downtown Physiotherapy and Health, we prefer to suggest more holistic approaches to help your anxiety.
How Can Yoga Help With Your Anxiety?
Yoga in itself isn’t a complete cure for anxiety, but it does certainly help in relaxing you. Yoga helps relax your muscles by releasing the tension from the large muscle groups throughout your body, and flushes your body and mind with fresh oxygen and nutrients that help increase the feelings of “wellbeing” throughout your body.
The breathing sequences followed in yoga practices also helps in reducing the feeling of stress that people with anxiety get. The sound of the breath as you inhale and exhale are particularly helpful in gently switching your attention from a focus on your feelings of anxiety towards a particular situation, to relaxation that can be felt throughout your entire body. This even and smooth breathing practiced through yoga can really help you feel at ease and relaxed when you begin feeling anxious.
5 Particularly Helpful Yoga Poses for Anxiety
The daily practicing of yoga is essential if you wish to combat anxiety through a holistic approach since the regular practice of yoga helps you in discovering a love for yourself and succumbing to the quiet and serene. Here are 5 yoga poses that you can try at home to help you combat your anxiety.
1.Eagle Pose – This pose is particularly helpful in calming down the mind and enhancing the feeling of serenity by quieting the mind. This pose turns away your attention from outside factors that may be filling up your mind, and gears your attention toward what your body is doing. Try holding this pose for 30-60 seconds, switching sides each time.
yoga poses to reduce anxiety downtown vancouver
2. Child’s Pose – This is one of the quintessential relaxation yoga poses in any sequence you’re doing. This pose in itself is very comforting and self-soothing. Because this pose is for relaxation, it helps in quieting the mind down and slowing down any thought processes that may get in the way of your practice.yoga poses to reduce anxiety downtown vancouver
3. Corpse Pose – This pose is the ultimate relaxation pose. Great for doing for extended periods of time as either the end to your yoga practice or a meditation sequence, this pose really allows your body to relax and just sink down into its being.yoga poses to reduce anxiety downtown vancouver
4. Half Moon Pose – This balancing pose is great for cultivating a habit of shifting your attention and focus from events and thoughts that may be making you anxious. This pose helps shift the focus from your mind and into your body—focus on your being.yoga poses to reduce anxiety downtown vancouver
5. Tree Pose – This basic standing pose helps your body find it’s natural balance. This pose is particularly helpful in helping to focus the mind in finding the balance between having a racing mind with a million thoughts, and a still mind that is fully concentrated on what the body is doing. This beginner pose really helps you realize the integrity of your practice—if you’re not focused on your body, you may fall over!
