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Yoga for Stress Reduction

Yoga for Stress Reduction
By Shelley Sidle

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, originating in India and moving to the West relatively recently. Simply, and most commonly translated, yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, as in the union of body, mind and spirit. Yoga works your body’s muscles in three ways: strengthening, flexibility or lengthening, and balancing. Yoga is a moving meditation- you focus on your breathing and move into the poses.

The focus on breathing and flowing movement of yoga poses makes it ideal for stress reduction. Breathing deeply and evenly lowers your heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol (stress hormone) levels. As you are focused on moving into the poses and breathing, your stress begins to melt away. The worries of the day are pushed out of your mind because you are completely focused on coordinating your breathing with the poses. You are forming a balance between your inner self and outer self as you practice yoga, which helps with reducing and dealing with stress in your day-to-day life.

What yoga practitioners have known for thousands of years is now finally being backed up by science and western medicine. Many studies are being done on the benefits of yoga for stress relief, as well as general and specific health problems. Yoga is ideally performed before chronic pain or health problems develop, but as western medicine has been slow to catch on to the benefits of yoga, they have found that yoga is very healing and beneficial for people with many health problems, including stress and anxiety.

Yoga practice can be used as a means to build a strong body and mind, healing oneself on the inside, and thus allowing them to become a better person and have a more satisfying life. When a person is satisfied with themselves, they are better equipped to deal with the stress and frustration that life brings.

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