Despite the presence of technology designed to make our lives easier, stress and anxiety remain our constant companions.  Societal pressures (both real and perceived) keep us plugged in to a constant pulse.  We are overstimulated with text messages, emails, and notifications that bombard us one alert tone to the next. The impact is evident in the overall decline of our health and mental wellness.

A decrease in sleep quality, coupled with the inability to relax, has led to a reduction in our ability to be resilient in difficult times. The impact of shorter fuses, intolerance of others, and a lack of patience is ever-present and can be seen everywhere from the nightly news to the latest research on the health of our global population.

As a long-time yoga practitioner and teacher, I see the impact of stress on people’s lives every day, and not just in the yoga studio.  From all angles, the statistics paint a grim picture. So, how do we recover and rejuvenate to reinvest in ourselves and in our overall health?

From prescription drugs, self-help book, You-tube videos, trainings, and more, most of us are familiar with a variety of ways to reduce stress. Most of those techniques/methods have proven ineffective, so allow me to offer up a very powerful, but overlooked tool—the time-honored tradition of yoga. Simple, practical, and effective.

I may be a little biased on the subject, but consider the following:

1. Yoga means union, specifically union of the mind and body.  It combines movement of the body with breathwork.  This combination of physical and mental disciplines helps you to achieve a level of peacefulness and relaxation, further allowing you to manage feelings of stress and anxiety more successfully.

2. Yoga is assessable to everyone, regardless of overall health and any physical limitations.  Certified Yoga instructors are knowledgeable in modifying the practice as needed to accommodate preexisting conditions, prior injuries, surgeries, or other limitations.

3. Yoga can be done pretty much anywhere.  You can practice at home on your own, in your office, at a studio or gym, with your friends in the back yard, etc.  It is incredibly portable.

4. There are a variety of yoga styles, and while not all of them may resonate with you, there’s bound to be at least one that does.  It is important to try different types of yoga to find the one that works best for you and, and more importantly, your body. 

Yoga has been the subject of an increasing body of research over the past several decades.  These studies are now providing proof of what yogis have been touting for over two thousand years – yoga has many benefits, which includes helping to regulate our body’s stress response system. 

When our body is stressed the sympathetic nervous system kicks into high gear.  This is the system responsible for our “fight or flight” response.  When our body feels stressed, it perceives a threat and thus goes into this protective mode.  However, when the stress is removed, our parasympathetic system takes over allowing us to feel a sense of relaxation. 

Practicing yoga is one proven way to help your body transition from its frequently stressed state to a state of rest and relaxation.  Yoga helps slow heart rate, relax respiration, and can even lower blood pressure.  To put it another way, yoga helps us to slow down, breathe, and let go.

To get you started, here’s a short sequence that you can do in the comfort of your home or office in just a few short minutes every day - please go to https://youtu.be/S3ZSf7gZoyc and enjoy.

Namaste.