Yoga for anxiety

Yoga for Anxiety – A Holistic Way to Kick Anxiety Out of Your Life

If you practice yoga for anxiety, you are amongst the few blessed ones. Further, mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and depression are at an all-time high. Hence, it has become normal to rush to the doctor and get medications for health issues like headaches or back pain. Yoga does a lot when it comes to fighting anxiety in the long run.

Presently, the COVID-19 rampage has led to job loss and issues with relationships at home and work that have led many individuals down the dark alleys of anxiety disorder. Moreover, the stress of daily life takes a toll on your mental and physical health.

With that said, it is time you know the three major benefits of including yoga for getting over anxiety disorder and reclaiming your happy life.

Yoga for Anxiety – The Benefits

If you suffer from anxiety, it is essential to take back control of your mental health before things spiral out of control. Although you might have heard that ignoring the negativity in your life helps but the practical aspects of this thinking are not that easy to follow.

Why don’t we start with yoga for anxiety by focusing on simple things like breathing? It is why including yoga in your daily routine can do a lot of good when it comes to handling anxiety. Let us check out what makes yoga the best option to counter anxiety.

  1. The Calming Breathing Exercises

Do you know that breathing has a direct effect on your heart rate? Also, as you slow down the breathing, the body starts calming down and so does the heart rate. Moreover, you gain better control of the mind and thoughts.

Breathing exercises in yoga are very similar to those practiced in meditation. Hence, these help you clear the mind and relax the body. Further, yoga breathing helps you with dizziness, stops the rush of adrenaline throughout the body, and improves rational thinking.

  1. Visualization for a Happy You

Positive thoughts are the driving factor behind having a higher drive to achieve life goals, increase motivation, and happiness.

Visualization exercises in yoga for anxiety help your mind relax and focus on things that matter. Moreover, it expands your mind’s ability to focus on peaceful and calming imagery. Therefore, such exercises help rid the mind of negative things and focus on the positive.

  1. Yoga Sequences Boost Your Confidence

The yoga poses regularly help you reconnect with your body. It makes you realize that you are not weak and that gives a major boost to your confidence. It prepares your mind to overcome fears that you associate with anxiety.
In other words, your mind becomes calm and less nervous.

However, simply knowing the benefits of yoga for anxiety would not get the job done. You also need to practice the right yoga poses to reap the benefits.

Yoga for Anxiety – The Poses

During times of stress, we recommend you practice yoga that helps you focus on breathing and remain present at the moment. We will now provide you two major yoga poses to fight anxiety.

  1. Hero Pose

The Hero Pose helps you focus on breathing. It works on the ankle muscles, quadriceps, knee muscles, and erector spinae. Given below is how you perform this asana with ease.

Hero pose

Guidelines to Perform the Hero Pose

1) Get into the kneeling position. Keep both your knees together and feet a bit wider than your hips.

2) Keep the top of your feet completely flat on the floor.

3) If you feel uncomfortable, keep a cushion or yoga block under your thighs or calves.

4) Keep your hands on your thighs.

5) Sit straight, open your chest, and straighten the spine.

6) Hold this position for five minutes.

  1. Triangle Pose

Triangle Pose is the best yoga for anxiety asana to release the tension in your neck and back. It works on the hamstrings, quadriceps, internal oblique, latissimus dorsi, and gluteus maximus, and medius muscles.

Triangle pose

Read on to know how to practice the Triangle Pose.

Guidelines to Practice the Triangle Pose

1) Start in the standing position with both feet wider than your hips.

2) Keep your left toe forward and the right toe at a slight angle.

3) Lift both your arms to extend out from the shoulders with both palms facing down.

4) Extend your torso forward while reaching forward with your left hand.

5) Hinge your hip joint to bring your right hip back. Take your left hand to your leg or the block.

6) Bring your right arm facing towards the ceiling and look in any direction.

7) Hold the position for at least 1 minute. Practice this on the opposite side.

Conclusion

Anxiety can wreak havoc on your personal and social life. It makes it harder to focus on the present moment and live a life free of tension and stress. You should include yoga for anxiety to find relief from the never-ending pain and discomfort.

Read More:- Simple Tips To Manage And Relieve Anxiety And Stress

FAQs

Ques 1) Can anxiety be cured by yoga?

Ans) Yes! There are numerous yoga exercises and techniques that can help you get rid of anxiety or stress. Not just that, these exercises can ensure your deep hidden trigger points are flushed out of your body. Thus, over time, you become a calm and composed soul.  

Ques 2) How can I avoid anxiety?

Ans) You need to understand which are the various trigger points that make you anxious. Based on those, you need to ensure that whenever you come across any cause that makes you anxious, you need to get rid of it. Further, spend time with your loved ones and share with them. This helps you calm your heart and mind. 

Ques 3) Can anxiety cause attention problems?

Ans) Yes! If you feel anxious, you won’t be able to gather your focus on a single entity. Moreover, your mind will keep you distracted by thinking about different scenarios that will not happen ever. Hence, you cannot concentrate on your work and remain restless & anxious throughout the day.