5 Yoga Postures Against Stress And Anxiety

Thanks to yoga postures, in addition to relieving your stress and anxiety, you will be able to reconnect with yourself, gain flexibility and fight your joint and muscle pain.

Among the techniques to relieve our mind, some anxiety and stress yoga postures stand out for their ability to allow us to channel our negative energies to cope with these two very modern disorders.

Nowadays, many professional and alternative medicine centers recommend practicing these physical exercises to calm tensions and to decrease negative emotions. 

Their main benefits are due to the concentration and physical effort they require, two elements that promote the decrease in cortisol, the correction of breathing and body posture.

The movements they impose on the body also improve joint health and prevent heart disease, as well as diabetes.

Their greatest advantage is that they can be performed at home by anyone, or even in the office. Try them out today!

1. Energizing breathing

Energizing Breathing or Kapalabhati Pranayama  is one of the most effective exercises for purifying the airways and stimulating metabolic activity.

It is a yoga technique against stress by deep breathing. It requires having a relaxed abdomen when inhaling, and tight abdominal muscles when exhaling.

Through this breath, you can easily reduce your stress and also open your mind.

How to achieve it?

• Sit on a small mat, with your legs crossed and your back straight.
• Put your hands on your knees and relax your face.
• Lift your abdomen to breathe in air, naturally and passively.
• Inhale deeply through your nasal openings then allow your belly to expand naturally.
• Breathe out while strongly contracting your abdominal muscles.
• After each contracted expiration, repeat a relaxed inspiration.
• Repeat this process ten times in a row.

2. The balasana or the posture of the child

The balasana or child’s pose is a stress- relieving yoga exercise that helps control back and neck tension.

It should be accompanied by slow breathing, which helps to decrease anxiety and stress-related problems.

In view of the effort involved, it is important to perform it on a small mattress or on any comfortable surface.

How to achieve it?

• Get down on your knees and then lean forward so that your forehead touches the small mattress you are sitting on.
• Put your arms at your sides, turning your palms towards the ceiling and placing your hands next to your feet. You can also stretch your arms over your head if you want.
• Breathe deeply and focus on the posture for 30 seconds.

3. The uttanasana

Chances are, you’ve done a spine stretching exercise in your exercise routine before.

Uttanasana is a modified version of this activity which aims to calm muscle tension and also to channel bad energies.

How to achieve it?

• Inhale and extend your arms above your head.
• Exhale and lean forward, contracting your stomach and keeping your back and legs straight.
• Place your hands next to your feet, keeping all of your fingers aligned.
• Point your head towards your feet and make an effort with your quads to stretch your legs further.
• If you feel too much pressure, you can also flex your knees slightly.
• Hold this position for 30 seconds then gradually increase to hold for a total of one minute.
• Slowly return to the initial position.

4. The dog upside down

The real name of this stress yoga pose is Adho Mukha Svanasana. It is a position that seeks to warm almost all parts of the body.

It is used in yoga to tone the nerves in the spine and also to improve blood circulation from the lower area of ​​the body to the head.

By practicing it on a regular basis, you will be able to reduce your stress and also control the symptoms of your anxiety, while strengthening your muscles and your joints.

How to achieve it?

• Get on all fours, with your feet hip-width apart and your hands resting on the floor.
• Get up gradually by pushing off on your tiptoes.
• Do not arch your back too far backwards, as this can cause muscle damage.
• Raise the ribs to give more firmness to your shoulders and spine.
• Push your tailbone towards your heels and then put pressure on the inner and outer parts of your feet.
• Hold your position for 20 seconds and rest.

5. Shoulder flexes

These shoulder curls are more comfortable if performed with an exercise ball.

Indeed, thanks to it, the correction of the body posture is simpler. This exercise helps control blood circulation problems, anxiety and stress.

How to achieve them?

• Sit on the ball, with your spine flexible and stretched.
• Use your feet for support to maintain your balance.
• Lay your back on the ball and let your spine take a natural curvature.
• Then put your arms on the sides of the ball or put them over your head, towards the ground.
• Press down firmly on your feet and place the palms of your hands on the floor.
• Hold this position for a few seconds, then take a deep breath and allow your spine to stretch.

By practicing these yoga postures against stress on a regular basis, you will be able to reduce your stress and your anxiety, but also increase your flexibility and your joint health.