Yoga - An Ancient Practice to Relieve Contemporary Stress

Yoga - An Ancient Practice to Relieve Stress

Stress Many of us in modern life today are under stress all the time. However, we still have to stay in control. If this goes on for a long time, we can react to stress with unhealthy eating habits, release of more stress hormones, and even by manifesting cardiac risk factors. However, there is a way to reduce these risk factors and even reverse them without

Yoga is one of these; it can help you relearn the state of peace and harmony that you want your mind and body to be in. It will help you relax.

Yoga is one of the most well-known forms of meditative exercise within the rising movement of mind-body health. Other forms include qigong, tai chi, and various practices of meditation. Mind-body fitness comes from Eastern philosophies and religions and can enhance both your emotional and physical health.

Mind-body exercise has many benefits, which are showing themselves to be authentic even under scientific study. Indeed, mind-body exercise can accomplish a number of things, such as lowering your risk of heart disease and boosting your mood.

Yoga's soothing movements are easy on your joints while increasing strength, flexibility and muscle tone. In effect, it can make you feel better than aerobics, weight lifting, or running, which are much harder on your body.

The practice of yoga should integrate every aspect of human existence. While many modern Western practitioners focus on the physical asanas, for others, yoga is an all-encompassing way of life and a path to bliss.

Yoga has lofty goals indeed, but in fact practicing it is wonderfully simple and you can do it anywhere, anytime. If you take yoga to its extremes, you can utilize yoga's dietary practices and moral codes as well as its meditative practices. More commonly, though, it's utilized as a combination of asanas (or postures), meditation and breathing exercises, also called pranayama.

There is a considerable amount of information available on how to breathe during yoga. When you breathe deeply, you become relaxed and energized at the same time, although the energy is different from what you may be used to experiencing. Not jumpy or agitated, this kind of energy is cool and composed.

Try this 5-minute Breath Break to release your stress and pump up your energy. (Read through the instructions several times before you try the practice.)

1. With your spine as straight as possible, sit in a chair or on the floor. If you sit in a chair, your feet should be flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. If your feet don't rest comfortably on the floor, put a book or cushion under your feet so that your knees are perpendicular to your hips. Your hands should be on the tops of your legs, palms down, open and relaxed.

2. Close your eyes and simply rest them.

3. Think about your ribs, at the front, back, and at the sides of your body. Your lungs are behind those ribs.

4. Slowly breathe in, filling up your lungs from the bottom. Visualize your ribs expanding out and up. Now, slowly breathe out, with your lungs emptying from top to bottom and your ribs gently contracting back down and in. Don't push the breath out.

5. At first, repeat this exercise for two or three minutes. As you become more experienced, do it for 5 or 10 minutes. When you start out, set aside some time each day for this exercise. As you become more familiar with it and appreciate how much better you feel, you'll want to practice it several times throughout your day.