A lot has been said about yoga and stress relief. The truth is that everybody can decrease stress through yoga. There are several different things that might happen during a practice that can help relieve stress.
Since everything starts with your breath, let’s focus on this area of stress relief first. The deep breathing in which yoga focuses requires an engaged, focused mind, and once the mind is tuned with the breathing, the crazy “mind chatter “ slows down and allows you to relax.
By the practice of the physical movements, “asanas”, you will be able to switch your focus from your chaotic thoughts toward calm because the yoga poses require concentration and balance. With these deep stretching and strength movements you will allow for the body to release endorphins, as it does in most physical activities, contributing to an overall feel-good feeling.
Another way is during the relaxation phase of the practice (“corpse pose” or “Savasana”). This usually happens at the end of the practice, after you have stretched deeply and brought deeper awareness to your breath. This state of release is an important part of the stress relief effects of yoga.
With that being said, I believe that the best way to understand how yoga will help you to reduce your stress levels is to hit the mat and see it for yourself.
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