Yoga for anxiety: how it works, and 4 examples

How can yoga help us to reduce anxiety and stress levels?

Yoga is an ancient practice that combines breathing exercises, meditation and various body postures. It has multiple applications, and can be very useful to enhance relaxation of the body and mind.

Yoga for anxiety is one of the many facets of this habit, and is useful to get away from anxiety.It is useful to get away from stress. In this article we will see its key elements and we propose 4 yoga postures for beginners.

What is yoga?

Yoga is a discipline, a practice and a philosophy of life, which helps us to connect body and mind. It is also a lifestyle for many. We find its origins in India, a country where it is widely practiced.

On the other hand, yoga includes a variety of exercises that combine different postures with meditation and conscious, slow breathing.. Through yoga many people are able to reduce their stress levels, gain awareness of their breathing, body and thoughts, and relax.

In the following section we will focus on yoga practices for anxiety, useful exercises to reduce stress.useful exercises to reduce stress.

Yoga for anxiety

Yoga, as we have seen, yoga is used for various purposes: relaxing, connecting body and mind, gaining awareness about the body and breath, learning to connect with thoughts, but also to escape, etc.

On the other hand, anxiety consists of an altered psychophysiological state that causes various symptoms.. These symptoms can be dizziness, tension, bodily discomfort, gastric discomfort, Migraines and headaches, nausea, vomiting, overexcitement, nervousness, etc. In addition, anxiety also includes cognitive symptoms (negative thoughts, loss of concentration, memory difficulties, irritability, feeling of going crazy, etc.) and behavioral symptoms (impulsivity, agitation, hyperactivity, avoidance behaviors, etc.). In other words, it is a state that brings together elements of the body (physical) and mind (cognitive).

That is why yoga can help alleviate this type of discomfort, since this practice works with the body and mind to reach a balance and a sense of peace. And, precisely, the feeling of peace is what you are looking for when you feel anxiety.

In short, yoga for anxiety can be very beneficial, as we will see below.

How does yoga work on mild anxiety?

We have seen how yoga for anxiety can be a good technique to use when we are going through a stressful time or with certain levels of overload and stress. Here we will focus on talking about yoga for mild anxiety cases.In cases of moderate or severe anxiety it is advisable to attend psychological therapy, sometimes combined with psychopharmacological treatment. In any case, it is also possible to resort to these last two options in cases of mild anxiety.

But... how does yoga act on anxiety when it begins to be a factor that harms our well-being? Basically through body movements, physical exercise, breathing and meditation:

1. Body

Yoga for anxiety can be helpful because it connects with the body, just like anxiety. The body is the main tool of yoga (along with meditation and breathing exercises). In this way, through it we perform the different postures. As we acquire some practice and know a little more about how our body works, we can improve the exercises and practice more difficult exercises.

The body connects directly with our physiological state, and an altered or hyperexcited physiological state is the basis of anxiety. That is why through the body (and yoga) we can improve our anxiety levels.

2. Physical exercise

For many people, youga is practically a sport; moreover, although the physical exercise that is done with yoga is not particularly intense (at least if we compare it with sports such as basketball, soccer, fitness, etc.), it is physical exercise. Physical exercise is good for health, and health and anxiety are antagonistic. That is, when we have anxiety we are not "healthy", in the sense that our body and mind are suffering, they are not "resting".

In this way, with the physical exercise that is done with yoga our levels of mild anxiety can also decrease slightly (and more with practice).

3. Breathing

Finally, breathing is another key element in yoga, which is essential for reducing stress. When we suffer from anxiety, our breathing tends to be more agitated (especially at "peak" times). (especially in the "peak" moments of anxiety). Many times it is hard to realize that our breathing is accelerated, simply because we don't notice it.

But try this exercise when you are especially agitated: listen to your breathing. It's as simple as that. Once you detect that your breathing is accelerated, try to breathe more slowly, breathing in deeply until your stomach is full and exhaling little by little all the air.

Practice these steps a few times and you will see how your breathing slows down and you feel more relaxed. It is amazing how much more relaxed we can feel by controlling our breathing!

So, since breath control is a central element in yoga exercises, with a lot of practice it can help us to reduce mild anxiety.

4. Meditation

In this case, we are talking about mind control. Meditation allows us to relax, to let our thoughts flow without dwelling on them and, ultimately, to learn to avoid the anxiety. and, in short, learn to escape for the benefit of body and mind.

As we have seen, when we suffer from anxiety our mind becomes overactive: we feel overwhelmed, overexcited and in a state of alert. In addition, we tend to have negative thoughts or constant worries in our heads. Therefore, yoga meditation can be beneficial for our anxiety.

4 yoga postures for beginners

We have seen how yoga for anxiety can work, reducing our stress levels through breathing, body, physical exercise and meditation.

Now let's look at 4 simple yoga postures that can help us reduce mild anxiety. Logically, they will be useful with practice and in combination with other yoga exercises..

Downward facing dog pose

This is one of the typical yoga postures, ideal for beginners. It consists of leaning the trunk downwards stretching the arms and resting them on the floor, with the legs slightly apart. Our body has to be in the shape of an inverted "V"..

2. Downward facing dog pose with leg lifted.

This second posture is an evolution of the previous one; in this way, we lift one of the legs upwards. We do this by first separating the foot from the floor and then raising it progressively.

We must remain like this for a few seconds, with the leg fixed and strong.

3. Warrior's pose

In the warrior's posture, we will stand with our legs slightly open, one in front of the other. The trunk and back should remain straight. Inhale deeply and exhale; We bend our right knee forming a 90º angle, and raise both arms with our hands intertwined and upwards..

4. Cow Pose

In this posture, we place ourselves on all fours on the floor (mat) (with our knees and hands touching the floor). The hands should be placed just below the shoulders, and the knees under the hips. Head straight forward and feet straight.

We should lift and round the spine; we will bring the coccyx inwards and push the buttocks outwards. We look at the fact, inhale and exhale.

Bibliographical references:

• Baptista, M.R. and Dantas, E.H. (2002). Yoga for stress control. Fit Perf J, Rio de Janeiro, 13-20.
• Góngora, M.M.. (2014). Hatha Yoga for anxiety and addictions. Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba.
• Korman, G.P. and Garay, C.J. (2007). Therapeutic complementarity: cognitive therapy and yoga, 85-96.
• Krisanaprakornkit, T., Krisanaprakornkit, W. et al. (2008). Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. The Cochrane Library, 2: 1-22.