Finding Strength Through Stillness: Managing Stress and Anxiety Through Yoga
As a chronic over thinker driven by a need for achievement, I am no stranger to anxiety. In fact, it has been something I have dealt with as long as I can remember. I took my first yoga class in high school and was immediately drawn to the practice. I was able to use my body as a mechanism to heal my mind, to let go of my racing thoughts and fully connect to my breath and how I was feeling. I was hooked. My life with yoga somehow seemed a lot more significant than my life without yoga. As I moved through my yoga journey and began my teacher training, I realized this was not an experience unique to me. Yoga has been proven to reduce anger, anxiety and PTSD all while improving your sleep and mood.
In the midst of a global pandemic where stress and anxiety are high, yoga has been my grounding force. At this time in history we are on the verge of a mental health crisis brought on by one bad news story after another. During these unprecedented times, we are under a great deal of stress. In addition to every day stressors such as work, finances and family, we are faced with ongoing and ever-changing government restrictions and worsening news stories being sent to our cell phones on a daily basis. When we are triggered by a stressful event, our bodies go into a fight or flight response. The same response we used back in prehistoric times when a predator was near and we needed to quickly get out of a dangerous situation. Moving into modern day times, our stresses are (for the most part) far less life threatening and much too common which can lead to chronic stress in the body. Thankfully, there is some good news here. Yoga can help.
Regular yoga practice and other self soothing techniques such meditation and breath work can reduce perceived stress and anxiety, in turn reducing your heart rate, lowering blood pressure and easing respiration, bringing your body back into regulation. Several scientific studies have suggested that a regular yoga practice can reduce stress and relieve anxiety, depression and insomnia.
I challenge you to use your body as a mechanism to heal the mind and when the world seems heavy and your mind is racing, come back to your mat. Whether it be for a 5 minute Shavasana finding strength through stillness or a 2 hour guided asana practice on your mat. Let’s all heal together.
Sources
Hutchinson, Tracy S. "5 Ways Yoga Can Benefit Your Mental Health." Psychology Today, Jan. 2019, 5 Ways Yoga Can Benefit Your Mental Health.
"Yoga for anxiety and depression." Harvard Health Publishing, 13 Oct. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression .
Novotney, Amy. "Yoga as a practice tool." American Psychological Association , Nov. 2009, www.apa.org/monitor/2009/11/yoga.