6 Calming Yoga Poses To Relieve Stress
Yoga, an ancient health and well-being philosophy and practice, addresses all aspects of the human system: body, breath, mind, personality, and emotions. However, yoga poses to relieve stress are beneficial to promote mindfulness and self-compassion through controlled breathing, meditation, mental imagery, and a series of asanas. Yoga has been shown in studies to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Yoga’s fundamental principle is that your body and mind are one and the same. Yoga to release stress will help you balance and tone the connection between your body and mind, as well as improve your ability to stay calm and relaxed.
Not all yoga asanas to relieve stress are created equal, from beginner-friendly poses to the intricate eagle. Each has its own set of benefits, ranging from bettering your posture to relieving headaches and insomnia, as well as restoring your nervous and lymphatic systems.
Key Yoga Poses to Relieve Stress
Below are some yoga poses to relieve stress and anxiety.
- Sukhasana or Easy Pose
Easy Pose or Sukhasana is a simple therapeutic pose of yoga to relieve stress that calms the mind and reduces stress and anxiety for both beginner and intermediate yogis. The forward bend helps to increase the exhale, which leads to the relaxation response.
Sukhasana stretches the lower body, including the knees, ankles, hips, groin, and outer thighs. Such yoga poses to relieve stress and anxiety aids in the gradual strengthening of back muscles and the improvement of body posture.
- Uttanasana or Standing Forward Fold Pose
Uttanasana yoga to release stress has numerous benefits, including quieting a racing mind, promoting calm, and balancing the nervous system. It’s also frequently used to transition between poses. Uttanasana is a stretching pose for the hamstrings, calves, hips, and back. This pose of yoga reduces stress and fatigue, stimulates the liver and kidneys, and alleviates headaches and insomnia.
Envision your worries flowing from your head all the way down to your feet and being completely absorbed by the ground as you perform this yoga poses to relieve stress. If you have low blood pressure, take your time getting out of this pose.
- Balasana or Child Pose
The child’s pose is ideal for calming the adrenals and an active mind. Stressing out too much puts stress on our adrenal glands (located above the kidneys). The result could be burnout. The Child’s Pose of yoga reduce anxiety and gets its name from the fact that it encourages you to embrace your inner child.
Your back, hips, thighs, and ankles are stretched during Balasana. Child’s Pose in Balasana can help to calm the nervous and lymphatic systems, as well as reduce stress. Put a cushion between your heels and back if they are not touching. Try to let out as much air as you can with each exhalation while performing such yoga asanas to relieve stress.
- Garudasana or Eagle Pose
Eagle Pose, also known as Garudasana, is one of the challenging yoga poses to relieve stress that helps you “squeeze” out body tension and concentrate on your balance, which reduces stress and sharpens your focus. The entire body can be stretched in Garudasana, including the thighs, hips, calves, ankles, shoulders, and upper back.
Garudasana enhances balance and aids in immune system stimulation. The pose of yoga reduce stress and may appear difficult at first, but with consistent practice, you will soon be able to perform the Eagle Pose more easily. The key is consistency! Touch one big toe to the floor if maintaining balance is extremely difficult.
- Setu Bandh Sarvangasana or Bridge Pose
When in Bridge Pose, also known as Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, the heart is higher than the head, creating a mild inversion. It promotes ease and relaxation, such poses of yoga reduce anxiety, and mild depression while calming the brain and central nervous system. Your chest, neck, spine, hips, and back are stretched during Setu Bandha Sarvangasana.
These yoga poses to relieve depression, strengthens the hamstrings, buttocks, and back while enhancing blood flow and digestion. In addition to relieving headaches, backaches, fatigue, and high blood pressure, it can also help with these issues. Additionally, it stimulates the thyroid, stomach, and lungs.
- Cat Pose or Marjaryasana
Another yoga asanas to relieve stress, improve spinal flexibility and mobility, and foster emotional balance is Cat Pose, also known as Marjaryasana.
The lower back is primarily stretched during the Cat Pose, but the hip, upper back, and lungs are also stretched. When performed fully, the cat stretch relieves tension in the upper back and neck. Menstrual cramps, lower back pain, and sciatica can all be relieved through asana flow, which is the seamless transition from one posture to the next while using the breath. Additionally, such yoga poses to relieve stress stimulates and massages internal organs like the adrenal glands and kidneys in the abdomen.
CONCLUSION
Allowing yourself time during your busy day is essential for stress reduction. Each of these yoga poses to relieve stress can be done on its own for a few breaths or longer, or you can create a short flow by repeating each pose as many times as you want. As you practice these yoga poses to relieve stress and anxiety, you will learn to recognize stress symptoms as they arise and will be able to stop the stress response in its tracks. Continue to breathe, practice, and make time for yourself!
Also read: Yoga fight stress
