In the world we live in, life can be challenging. For most of us, waking up early, working late at night, daily commuting, exercise and so on is a lot to balance. With so much on one’s mind, it's easy to feel stressed. Stress is present every day. It can be mild, or sometimes unbearable, resulting in hypertension, depression and similar illnesses.
Therefore, finding ways to relieve stress and stop it from creeping deeper into our lives is imperative, and one way to shake off stress is to practise yoga. We all need an effective solution that helps us overcome mental disturbances and allows us to live peacefully with a healthy mind and body. For any stressed individual, yoga can be a game-changer. Meditation and physical asanas in particular are magic for overcoming stress immediately.
Yoga boosts mood and energy and is ideal for reducing stress in day-to-day life. If you need help managing stress and anxiety, yoga may be a great solution and self-care ritual.
Here's how yoga reduces stress and anxiety effectively:
Ultimate relaxation: Yoga reduces stress and promotes relaxation. Yoga can benefit three aspects of ourselves that are often affected by stress: our body, mind and breathing. Practising yoga daily, even a little bit, can drastically boost your well-being. It generates positive energy in your body, making you calmer, focused, balanced and relaxed. Whether you are at home, work or elsewhere, yoga is always there to help you relax.
Instils mindfulness: When we're under stress, we often start thinking more about the repercussions of our actions, or wonder about the future instead of being in and enjoying the moment. Yoga lets you think and engage in introspection and puts you in a moment of mindfulness. For instance, focusing your body with yoga indirectly makes you notice many things about yourself, allowing you to be perfectly present in that particular moment. Being in the moment helps you build your ability to focus and concentrate, which helps in all aspects of life.
Helps you know yourself a little better: Yoga unites mind, body and soul. One of the best reasons for adding yoga to your daily life is that it helps you find out more about your mind, body and emotions.
Reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression: A number of studies have shown that yoga may help to reduce stress and anxiety. Yoga can enhance your mood and overall sense of well-being. Yoga might also help you manage your symptoms of depression and anxiety caused by difficult situations. If you perform yoga outdoors, experiencing the vibrant colours, sounds and feel of the outdoors can provide a positive energy boost.
Improves mental strength: Yoga improves the strength and flexibility of your body as well as your mind. Yoga exercises improve mental toughness as they create confidence via body movements and force the mind to focus. When one is doing yoga, the mind takes care of co-ordinating the muscles or keeping the body in a particular posture or form. This staying power is called mental stamina. Yoga is one of the most effective natural ways to improve brain power. After all, a strong mind is definitely linked to a healthy brain.
Boosts confidence: Yoga helps move the body in directions and ways one would never have tried before. These new experiences and mastering the new manoeuvres boost the practitioner’s confidence. This confidence is necessary to persist on any path chosen by an individual.
Rebuilding focus: Yoga helps to gather the scattered mind and focus its energy on one thought, action or task. The concentrated energy provides additional power to do what is desired. A scattered mind is a weak mind. Regularly practising yoga meditation helps to habituate the mind to remaining focused.
This article was first published in Sunday Insider, Oct 24, 2021