Change Your Lifestyle with 5 Best Yoga for Stress Management

• Pramod Choudhary
• October 18, 2024
• Online Yoga, Stress and Anxiety

These days, yoga is gaining tremendous popularity. And why not? After all, it offers unparalleled physical and emotional benefits. 

Developing your routine of yoga for stress management can help you prevent and reduce your overall stress. This is one of the most common goals of many of us today. 

Do not restrict yourself to only physical postures; make sure you include breathing, relaxation, and meditation techniques for a complete holistic experience. In this blog, you will find more about yoga, its benefits, and how to use its postures for long-term health benefits.

Why Do You Need Yoga for Stress Management?

You know how stressful life is! For kids, it is their school bell that rings off early; for teenagers, it is their college lectures; for adults, it is their train timings for reaching offices; and for seniors, it is their routine medicine timings. There’s a lot to balance, sometimes beyond our control. 

Everyday routines and various struggles can add a lot of emotional stress to you. Whether you are counselling your friend through their breakup, regretting missing a vital job opportunity, or stressing over your family dramas, we all go through it. With lots of things going on in your mind, it is natural to feel stressed and depressed. 

There are multiple ways to cope with your stress. You can talk with your friends, exercise, or check in with a counsellor. Yoga offers tremendous stress relief as it promotes relaxation.

Is yoga for stress management more than just stretching?

Yoga is a lot more than mere stretching exercises. It is easier than it sounds. You have simple and complicated postures, so you do not need to worry about it. Moreover, you do not need any special equipment like you need in the gym. 

Yoga poses are good exercises to help you loosen your tensed muscles. Mostly, your neck, back, and shoulders carry a lot of your body stress. However, these simple postures can also benefit significantly from other body parts, such as your fingers, face, jaw, and wrists.

When Should You Try Yoga Postures?

If you are a beginner, try taking a weekly yoga class. If your grasping is good, YouTube videos can help you learn yoga for stress and some good postures . You can indulge in mini-bits of yoga poses in your daily routine to help you manage your stress effectively. Here are some excellent tips to try:

Before your Test 

Easy neck and shoulder rolls can work wonders in relieving your tensed muscles back at ease, and squeezing and relaxing your fingers while at your desk is also something to start your day with. These exercises are quick enough to be wrapped up in only 30 seconds. 

While Studying For Your Exams 

Many easy moves and postures are available to help you relax your areas of concern while studying. Neck and shoulder rolls are one of them. You can even try forward folds and twists. A mini-massage can help you loosen the tension around your jaws. 

Before Saying Goodnight 

A few yoga stretches before bed at night can relax you if you carry weight and stress for your entire day. Poses such as child pose should help you calm down and tune your body to rest peacefully.

5 Yoga Poses You Can Try for Stress Relief

Many yoga asanas are effective against stress. However, some are known to be more efficient than others. Below are 5 yoga poses for stress relief that can help you lead a calm and stress-free life.

Marjaryasana to Bitilasana or Cat-Cow Pose 

The Cat-Cow Pose connects your breath and movements as you calm your body and mind all the way along. Here is how you do it:

• Sit in a tabletop position
• Your wrists should lie beneath your shoulders and your knees beneath your hips 
• The moment you inhale, lift your gaze towards your ceiling, allowing your belly to move toward your mat. Arch yourself back. This is called a cow pose.
• While exhaling, draw your chin to the air, your chest bending, and your spine towards your ceiling like a cat does. 
• Continue switching between these two postures for a minute.

Balasana or Child’s Pose 

The Balasana or Child’s Pose enhances your focus on your internal body and restores energy. It is suitable for supporting your mental as well as physical relaxation. Here’s how you do it: 

• Start with a kneeling position. You can either place both of them together or slightly apart.
• Next, sit down on your heels. 
• While folding forward, hinge yourself on your hips. Rest your forehead on your mat.
• Extend both arms before your body or relax them alongside your legs.
• Your torso should align between your thighs.
• Take a deep breath and focus on your inner relaxation. 
• You should hold this pose for around 5 minutes.

Viparita Karani or Legs-Up-the-Wall-Pose 

This pose provides more profound relaxation alongside boosting the flow of your lymph and circulation. Here’s how you do it: 

• Sit down on your mat and face the wall. Your body should lie as close as possible to the wall. 
• Lie down on your back, placing your legs straight up the wall. Make sure that your knees are straight. 
• Position your hips closer to the wall or just a few inches away. 
• Your arms should reside alongside your body. Otherwise, you can place one hand over your belly and the other over your chest. 
• Hold on to this position for around 15 minutes.

Savasana or Corpse Pose 

This pose focuses on deep breathing. The patterned deep breathing aids in calming your mind and letting go of all your tension. Here’s how you do it: 

• Rest flat on your back, placing your feet wider than your hips. 
• Your arms should be at 45-degree angles from your body.
• Align your neck, head and shoulders with your body. 
• Do deep breathing while allowing your body to relax completely. 
• Hold on to this pose for 15 to 20 minutes

Bridge Pose 

The Bridge Pose helps you release your anxiety and fatigue. It helps gradually decrease your backaches and insomnia. 

• Lie down flat on your back with both knees bent. 
• Slide both arms on either side of your body with your palms facing the ground. 
• While inhaling, lift your hips upward, rolling your spine off the ground.
• Squeeze both your knees slightly together by keeping them apart. 
• Press your arms and shoulders down to the ground while opening your chest upwards.
• You can use your legs and buttocks to lift your hips higher. 
• Breathe deeply while holding your breath for around 4 to 8 minutes. 

Unable to deal with the regular stress of life? Don’t worry, FelxifyMe can help you out. Meet expert yoga instructors and let them guide you through a yogic journey leading to a stress-free life. Book a free demo of online yoga classes and get started!

Benefits of Yoga in Stress Management 

Here are five roles yoga plays in managing your daily stress:

Physical Relaxation 

Yoga postures promote relaxation of your physique by releasing the tension in your muscles.

Deep Breathing 

Breathing techniques such as pranayam encourage you with deep and controlled breathing patterns. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system. 

Mental Focus 

Yoga is the best guide for teaching mindfulness and awareness of the present moment. 

Regulates Your Stress Hormone Levels 

Yoga is known for reducing your cortisol levels. Cortisol is your stress hormone; a decreased level indicates declining chronic stress. 

Improved Stress 

Stress is the primary culprit for disturbed sleeping patterns. Relaxation techniques of yoga help your body boost its natural ability to cope with physical and emotional stress.

Tips for Your Yoga for Stress Management 

Yoga can be performed effectively when you try relaxing your body and mind. To get the majority of benefits, here are a few tips from FlexifyMe: 

Release All Your Negativity 

It is expected to have negative thoughts while performing yoga. Practising awareness, acceptance, and detachment can help you create positive mental and emotional patterns. Focusing on the present moment and redirecting your focus to your thoughts as they arise and pass enables you to recognise that they are fleeting.

Practising Yoga For Stress Management Techniques Off Your Yoga Mat 

Dig into your schedule and lifestyle to understand where to make changes. This includes reserving some more free time for yourself, developing a healthy eating routine, or spending more time in close company with Mother Nature. 

Yoga will bless you with tremendous benefits. However, you are bound to face ups and downs in your life. It is natural to experience emotional turmoil. 

If you find your yoga increasing your life stress, discuss your situation with an instructor to develop a tailored routine for you. Always talk to your doctor before you start any yoga practice, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or are taking medicines.

Conclusion 

Yoga for stress management is known to produce a calming effect on your body. It imparts your required balance and strength by focusing on calmness and clearing your mind of negative thoughts.These yoga poses and say beautiful ways of reducing your daily stress and replenishing your deteriorated energy levels. It enhances your overall well-being. Enjoy your process of discovering which techniques and practices are best for managing your stress.