Here at Yogi Bare we are big advocates of utilising the serene power of yoga to help manage stress and anxiety. After all, that is how the idea for Yogi Bare began!
Stress and anxiety is a large part of day to day life for many of us. Your kids asking when dinner is ready, emails constantly pinging on your phone, dentist appointments to arrange, traffic queues on the way to work, work deadlines to keep to. With what feels like your time being demanded from every direction, it can feel like there is little time to take a deep breath and have a moment of calm for yourself.
If this sounds all too familiar, it could be time to get your paws on a yoga mat, take a deep breath and… pose.
Why Use Yoga for Anxiety and Stress Relief?
Yoga is one of the most effective exercises for combating anxiety and stress relief. Not only does yoga combine physical body movement, which in itself relieves muscle tension and releases feel good hormones, but yoga also incorporates controlled breathing, meditation and relaxation. The powerful and unique combination of these benefits works towards lowering your blood pressure, reducing your heart rate and inhibiting the release of stress hormones. Yoga really is a complete mind and body experience. Incorporating a little yoga into your packed schedule can bring you a peaceful mind and a stronger, more relaxed body.
One of the many reasons we love yoga here at Yogi Bare is it is accessible to everyone. Everybody and every body can do it. Yoga is not one method, there is a form of yoga that will suit everyone… Vinyasa yoga, Hatha yoga, Iyengar yoga, Kundalini yoga, Ashtanga yoga, Bikram yoga, Yin yoga, Restorative yoga, Prenatal yoga, Anusara yoga and Jivamukti yoga to name a few!
Yoga for Anxiety
If you are practicing yoga for anxiety, you could try Restorative yoga or Yin yoga. These are some of the best yoga exercises for anxiety if you have experienced a particularly stressful day of work, deadlines and family drama! At its core, Restorative and Yin yoga focuses on body and mind relaxation, helping you to cleanse yourself from the day's events.
When you practice these methods of yoga for better mental health, you will be settling into fewer, ‘easier’ yoga poses, but spending more time on each posture to help slow your mind and body after an adrenaline filled day.
Yoga for Stress Relief
On the other hand, if you are feeling tense and want to get your heart racing you can practice methods such as Vinyasa yoga or Kundalini yoga for stress relief. Vinyasa yoga is a more athletic form of yoga, harnessing your inner power and using controlled breathing and movements to seamlessly move from one pose to another. Kundalini yoga is similarly invigorating with fast-moving postures and breathing exercises. Kundalini yoga can also involve chanting and mantra, the perfect way to channel your stress after a long day!
So if you’re looking for a little ‘me time’ and a healthy way to ground yourself, yoga exercises can be the best way to reduce stress and combat anxiety. For all the Yogi Bare’s out there, we recommend our Paws X- Enhanced Grip Longer and Wider Yoga Mat. With our unique and innovative Grip Technology, our mat will be the perfect base for absorbing your sweat busting moves, and support you both physically… and mentally.
To get your paw on more information you can read our blog post ‘Yoga to manage stress and anxiety for swimmers’ here.
Leave a comment