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How can yoga help with stress and anxiety


I was asked how Yoga can help with stress and anxiety.... Yoga plays into the autonomic nervous systems, when we are stressed or anxious we live in the “fight or flight” system, this causes higher heart rates, shorter quicker breaths, the digestive system to slow down and so much more. Because this system is autonomic it means that it can’t be controlled, it’s a natural reaction. But what scientists have found is that there is one “key” into this system and that is the breath. You cannot be in your “fight or flight” system and breathing deeply and slowly, the two don’t calculate so when the brain senses a slow breath it starts to release the “rest and digest” hormones, this brings you slowly out of a state of stress and anxiety and into a state of relaxation and clarity.

Yoga and meditation focuses on the breath, each movement is linked to the breath and mediation is about following the breath, we do different breathing exercises and learn to move whilst maintaining a long and slow breath, all of this means that it’s leads the body to a state of relaxation and helps us to deal with the stress and anxiety. The biggest thing with Yoga is what we learn in class on the mat can be transferable off the mat into the external world, so the breathing techniques can be used anywhere when we are feeling stressed or anxious, and what we learn about ourselves on the mat can be used in other situations. As you get further on in your practice we actively push your limits and cause you to come up against the f&f nervous system by taking on more challenging postures etc, at the same time we teach you the breathing techniques to bring yourself back to calmness and clarity. All of this can be used at work or when life gets challenging and gives you a tool kit that you can use on a daily basis. #yoga #yogalife #yogapose #headstand #yogaandhorses #horseyoga #outdooryoga #stress #anxiety #breath #yogateacher #yogaforstress #yogaforanxiety #meditation #yogi #yogini #suffolkyoga #yogasuffolk #stress #anxiety

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