3 ways to use Yoga for Anxiety

Yoga works on many levels. Obviously the physical body is affected by the repeated practice of asanas. It is strengthened and toned. Part of every yoga class has at least 3 ways of toning the mind. One of the notable effects of this is lowered levels of anxiety. Here are some of the ways yoga helps:

1. Awareness of the present moment:
In every yoga class you will be learning to connect with your body. The poses allow you to fill your mind with what your body is doing and in that way you are more in control of your thoughts. This inward focus is a necessary part of life if we want to free ourselves from the constant fluctuations of the mind. By maintaining a focus on our present moment we are able to turn our physical practice into a dynamic form of meditation. The poses are designed to pull our body in different ways so that it becomes necessary to learn to stretch and relax. For that we need focus. This is the starting point of training the mind to go in the directions that benefit us.

2. Learning relaxation:
During the practice of the poses we are reminded to relax our shoulders, our faces, our sense organs so that we eventually become aware of hidden tension and we can remove it easily.
This loosening of the muscles allows blood to flow in a different way. The final relaxation (Shavasana) at the end of each class deepens this activation ensuring that the benefits will remain with us for the rest of the day. Even if you don’t have time for a full yoga session, you can still do a Shavasana a few times a day if necessary to maintain a good mental/emotional balance.

3. Deepening the Breath: During your yoga practice you are encouraged to become aware of your breathing. Even just the awareness of the breath will help it to slow down and deepen. These longer slower breaths activate the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for lowering cortisol production.

4. Humming. At the beginning of a class where you are chanting OM or at the end of a class where you are practicing the Pranayama known as Brahmri Breath you are closing your mouth and humming. This practice immediately lowers cortisol production and humming is a practice that is used by surgeons to help them keep cool under pressure. The vibrations that the brain receives during humming will leave you feeling uplifted and mentally clear and clean. 30 seconds of humming will have an immediate effect. you can try it now.

There are other ways in which yoga helps our mental health but I will leave them for another day.