Your yoga breath can help manage stress.
Betty came over to me. She had a big smile on her face. She was so excited to see me. This was unusual, because we are only casual friends.
Betty told me that she has started doing yoga and that it has made a fantastic difference for her. The biggest surprise for her was that it was helping her to better manage stressful situations.
She knew all about the physical benefits of yoga, about the flexibility and the strength, but she did not expect it to be so helpful with her stress.
Yoga and body awareness
Over time as you continue a frequent and regular yoga practice, you start to become more aware of your body. First you become aware of your muscles as they stretch and contract. Later you become aware of the emotional state of your body. This awareness develops slowly over time.
Yoga and the breath
During your yoga practice you learn how to breath. Breathing is something that you do on purpose and in a particular way.
Stress and the body
When your body is in a stressful situation several things happen:
- Tenseness develops in your body
- Your breathing gets shallow
- Your heart rate accelerates and
- Adrenaline pumps into your body.
Your body is preparing for either fight or flight.
How does yoga help with stress
When you enter a stressful situation you will become aware of the tension in your body. The tight muscles, the accelerated heart rate and the shallow breathing.
Once you recognize that you are stressed then you need to realize that you need to do your yoga breathing to help to manage the stress symptoms.
Breathing on purpose with slow and deep breathes will start to reduce the stress symptoms.
Does it work right away
No. It takes a while to become aware of the body and its reactions.
You need to have a regular and frequent practice to develop your awareness of the state of your body.
It also takes a while for you to develop the yoga breath.
Summary
As Betty has discovered, yoga is for more than developing a more flexible and stronger body.
Even though you are only doing a physical practice and learning how to breath, you are also developing the skills you need to help manage stress.
Next Steps
The next time you are in a stressful situation, use your yoga breathing and your hightenedd awareness of feedback from body to remove the effects of stress.
