Yoga is an ancient practice that combines deep breathing, meditation and body movements to relieve stress and improve your health. Although many yoga types exist, each has stress relieving capabilities. If you are looking for a place to start, the MayoClinic.com recommends hatha yoga, which involves progressing through postures at a slower pace. Using yoga as a stress relieving tool can help you improve your health and well-being.
Breathing
Deep breathing is your body's method of stimulating relaxation. During a stressful "fight or flight" situation, your breathing and heart rates speed up. To reduce these responses, you breathe deeply to calm the body. Yoga focuses on taking constant deep, cleansing breaths to slow the heart rate and reduce the production of stress hormones, according to HelpGuide.org. The deep-breathing aspect of yoga is easy to learn and can help you relieve stress after just a few minutes of deep breathing.
Concentration
Yoga's purpose is to block out the worries and cares of the outside world. Instead of focusing on work, family or other stressors in your life, you are to focus on your breathing and body positioning. Soft, soothing music, a dimly lit room or other soothing aspects may be incorporated into your yoga practice to further help you focus on the yoga poses at hand. When you emerge from your yoga class, your mind is more centered and less occupied by worrisome thoughts that lead to stress.
Muscle Relaxation
When you feel stressed, your muscles tense and bunch -- like your shoulders rising as your stress first onsets. Yoga postures are designed to encourage progressive muscle relaxation. As you slowly move through the yoga poses and become more relaxed, you stress melts away and the tension held in your muscles subsides. You can use your mind during yoga to encourage muscle relaxation. By visualizing each muscle becoming looser, more flexible, you can encourage muscle tension release. When you conclude a yoga session, your muscles should feel warm and less knotted than when you began.
Warning
While yoga can help you relieve stress and is a low-impact exercise, it is not indicated for certain people. This includes those with balance problems, high-risk osteoporosis and uncontrolled high blood pressure. Pregnant women and those with artificial joints may need to use yoga pose modifications as directed by your physician or yoga instructor. Also, if you leave a yoga class and do not experience stress-relieving benefits, you should discuss this with your instructor, who may recommend another yoga type of way to maximize your yoga practice.
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