Summary – The ancient science of yoga is a wonderful healer of the body and mind through various practices. Read on to understand how it reduces worry and stress levels.
Practicing yoga helps you avail so many benefits. A yoga enthusiast who has entered the world of yoga may know of these plenty benefits, that this practice has brought about in their daily lives. Talking of empowerment that yoga brings is just a small fraction of the well being one can tell you about, to actually reap these benefits; you have to enter the yogi’s world.
Yoga is an age old practice that was founded by ancient yogis who devised a way to dig deep into the human psyche, to find something that was beyond the personality, behaviours, physicality and understandings.
They came up with a way to align all the realms of a human’s existence to reach and enrich the spiritual realm of their existence. These other realms were the physical and the mental realms. Aligning the mental and the physical realm through controlled breath work and physical movements was instrumental in enriching the spiritual existence of a person.
Even today the same basic principle is followed in many yogic institutions. The yogic processes has developed and come up with complex ways to work on a person’s physicality and overall well being.
People, who have started their journey in yoga, may have come across the thought of becoming a yoga teacher at least once. Yoga teacher training in Nepal is a growing avenue for yoga teacher training destinations across the world. These destination yoga retreats give you an opportunity to train as a yoga teacher whilst surrounded by the most pristine surroundings. Like Yoga retreats in Nepal offer a wholesome way to train for yoga.
Yoga has farfetched benefits for the body and in the process also works on one’s mental wellness and reduces stress levels.
But how does yoga work on stress levels?
The asana or poses and postures in yoga work intrinsically on developing flexibility, strength, hormonal flow and secretion as well as detoxification.
Stress is mainly caused due to hormonal imbalance. The excess secretion or the insufficient secretion of a certain hormone could cause stress and tension in many areas of the body, including the brain. Since stress is experienced through the mind, all the tension that may occur in many areas of the body and even injuries; are experienced in full, in the mind.
Yoga works on this hormonal imbalance causing stress. There are a plenty of asanas that concentrate on organs in the body that secrete these hormones. The hormones that are responsible for your mental wellness are the catabolic hormones. These hormones consist of
• Adrenaline
• Norepinephrine
• Cortisol
• Epinephrine
These are secreted by the adrenaline gland. If you are stressed, chances are that the adrenaline gland is working an excess shift within you.
Excess secretion of these hormones may compromise your immune system, raises your blood sugar levels and take away your energy.
The restorative yoga poses are poses that are, as the name suggests, restorative in nature. These poses are instrumental to restore your energy levels, hormones, chakras etc. Some of the best restorative poses that work a great deal to reduce stress levels are:-
1. Viprita karani asana:
Vipritakarani asana or the “legs up the wall” asanas is relieving to the backbone, the nervous system, legs and feet. The asana helps calm the nerves and increases blood circulation.
To perform this pose:
Lie on the floor. Now slowly raise your legs from up your waist and rest your legs on the wall. The portion from your waist and below should be rested against the wall. You can support your waist with the help of your arms to stay in the position for as long as it feels comfortable.
2. Sasangasana:
Sasangasana is also called the “Rabbit pose”. This pose is best for stimulating the thyroid and the parathyroid glands. The thyroid gland is located in the neck and it is responsible for secreting hormones for metabolic functions. The body’s metabolism is the key to hormonal regulation throughout the body.
To perform this asana:
Start by kneeling on the floor. Now reach for your heels with your hands. Hold your heels with your hands. At this point you will be bending from your hips and your head will be touching the floor. Stay in this position for as long as you can breathe freely and comfortably.
Performing these two extremely effective asanas everyday will do a great deal to regulate the hormones in your body. The hormonal regulation will reach a healthy level, which will lead to decrease in stress levels. Next time you are worried or stressed, unroll the yoga mat to a stress free pose.