Stress & anxiety are something that many of us will experience at some point in our lives. Our bodies are in fact designed to cope with stress and anxiety but in small doses. The problem with modern day living is that the ‘go go go’ attitude of life, the constant demands and never-ending to-do lists mean that we find ourselves in that fight-or-flight state way too often; keeping ourselves in that stress loop for longer than our bodies are designed to deal with. Not only does that mean we become accustomed to this level of low-grade chronic stress, but it also means that more and more of us are suffering with anxiety and overwhelm.
The great news is that although our bodies and mental health suffer physically and emotionally from being in that state of low-grade chronic stress, there are a few hacks to ‘trick’ our bodies out of that sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight state) and into the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest & digest state).
Yoga is an amazing tool to reach for in your ‘stress reducing’ and ‘anxiety relieving’ tool-kit. It’s a practice that is designed to connect the mind & body which lends itself perfectly to bringing us into the present moment and out of the pressures that the mind can place on us. Yoga is a practice that offers to benefit the symptoms of anxiety & stress as well as help us explore the root cause.
A regular Yoga practice, incorporating pranayama (breathing techniques) & meditation techniques, could help you cope better with stressful events, stimulate the vagus nerve helping your body tap into that rest & digest state to improve overall health & wellness and it can also lessen the life-debilitating impact that anxiety can place on you.
All of which help to relieve the effects of stress on the body and the mental load that anxiety brings.
Here are 4 Yoga asanas (poses) and one pranayama (breathing) technique to help calm, restore and ground the body during times of stress or overwhelm when anxiety is ripe – although it is important to note that a regular Yoga practice has been shown to reduce anxiety & stress, so incorporating a balanced, non-pressurised and loving Yoga practice into your daily or weekly routine could truly enhance your physical and mental wellness.
***I’ve also filmed a YouTube video of how you can sequence this flow together which you can find at the end of this article or by clicking the link here.
DEEP FORWARD FOLD – RAG DOLL (Uttanasana)
- Begin in Mountain Pose (Tadasana).
- Soften through your knees and begin to hinge forward from the hips, keeping the spine lengthened.
- Fold forwards bringing your hands towards the mat, bending through the knees here as much as you need to depending on flexibility and making sure that if your legs are extended, to keep a micro-bend in the knees to avoid locking out the knee joint.
- Allow your head and shoulders to soften.
- Take hold of opposite elbows, letting your head hang between the space you’ve created with your arms and gently rock from side to side with the torso.
- Take your time, keep the movements slow and controlled and when you’re ready to come out of Rag Doll, make the movements smaller and smaller until you find stillness again in Deep Forward Fold.
- Release the arms back down towards the mat.
PLOW POSE (Halasana)
- Lying supine on the mat, bend your knees bringing the soles of the feet onto the mat.
- Press your arms down into the mat as you push your feet away from the floor, drawing your knees into your chest into a tuck position.
- Bring your hands onto the small of your back for support with your fingers pointing down towards the buttocks.
- Start to work your elbows in towards one another until they are shoulder width apart.
- Begin to lift the pelvis over the shoulders and the legs up towards the ceiling into a Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana).
- Start to hinge from the hips, lowering the legs down towards the floor over your head. Move slowly, engaging the core and controlling the movement as much as possible.
- Keep the legs straight and if the feet rest comfortably on the floor, then begin to extend the arms along the floor, interlacing your fingers behind your back.
- Press the upper arms in towards the floor and align your hips over your shoulders.
BOUND ANGLE POSE (Baddha Konasana)
- Begin in a seated position on the mat with the legs extended out in front of you.
- Bend both knees, drawing your heels in towards the pelvis. The closer your heels are towards your groin the more intense this pose will be. The further away your heels are the less intense it will be (You may also choose to place blocks under your knees here or sit on a block to elevate the sitting bones).
- Press the soles of your feet together and allow the knees to soften to the sides.
- Hold onto your ankles or take hold of your big toes with your peace fingers.
- Draw up tall through the crown of your head, elongating through your spine and begin to hinge over your hips folding forwards over your legs, maintaining the length of your spine.
EASY TWIST (Parivrtta Sukhasana)
- Start in a seated position, bending the knees and crossing the legs, drawing one heel in and allowing the other to rest in front.
- Ground down through both sitting bones evenly and lengthen the spine all the way through to the crown of the head.
- Lift up tall, softening through the shoulders and turn the upper body towards the right, placing the right fingertips on the floor behind the sitting bones (or finding a block here for support). Watch that you remain upright and avoid leaning into the back hand.
- Bring your left hand to the outside of the right knee to twist to the right side.
- Inhale to lengthen through the spine and exhale to deepen the twist.
*Remember to repeat on the other side.
EQUAL BREATHING
Equalizing the breath can help balance the body and bring harmony to the mind to help relieve the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety. The rhythmic counting and deep belly breathing can also help to draw you back to the present moment and let go of the mental chatter that may be occupying your mind.
- To practice, take big deep belly breaths through the nose by filling the upper chest, through to the sides of the ribcage and then down to the deeper parts of your belly. Allow the breath to penetrate every single cell in your body and then exhale through your nose.
- Breathe in for a count of 4 and then exhale for a count of 4.
- Repeat breathing in for a count of 5, exhaling for a count of 5.
- Repeat once more, this time breathing in for a count of 6, exhaling for a count of 6.
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