Yoga for anxiety: how it works, and 4 examples

Yoga is an ancient practice that combines breathing exercises, meditation and various body postures. It has multiple applications, and can be very useful to enhance relaxation of the body and mind.

Yoga for anxiety is one of the many facets of this habit, and it is useful to get away from stress. In this article we will see its key elements and we propose 4 yoga poses for beginners.

• Related article: "How to do yoga at home, in 8 keys"

What is yoga?

Yoga is a discipline, a practice and a philosophy of life, which helps us connect body and mind. It is also a lifestyle for many and many. We find its origins in India, a country where it is widely practiced.

On the other hand, yoga includes a wide variety of exercises that combine different postures with meditation and conscious, slow breathing. Through yoga, many people manage to reduce their stress levels, become aware of their breathing, their body and their thoughts, and relax.

In the next section we will focus on yoga practices for anxiety, useful exercises to reduce stress.

Yoga for anxiety

Yoga, as we have seen, yoga is used for various purposes: to relax, to connect body and mind, to acquire awareness of the body and breath, learning to connect with thoughts, but also to escape, etc.

On the other hand, anxiety consists of an altered psychophysiological state that causes various symptoms. These symptoms can be dizziness, tension, bodily discomfort, gastric discomfort, migraines and headaches, nausea, vomiting, overexcitement, nervousness, etc. In addition, anxiety also includes cognitive symptoms (negative thoughts, loss of concentration, memory difficulties, irritability, feeling of going crazy, etc.) and behavioral symptoms (impulsivity, agitation, hyperactivity, avoidance, etc.). That is, it is a state that groups together elements of the body (physical) and the mind (cognitive).

That is why yoga can help alleviate this type of discomfort, since this practice works with the body and the mind to achieve balance and a sense of peace. And, precisely, the feeling of peace is what one seeks when feeling anxiety.

In short, yoga for anxiety can be very beneficial, as we will see below.

How does yoga work on mild anxiety?

We have seen how yoga for anxiety can be a good technique to use when we are going through a stressful time or with certain levels of overload and stress. Here we will focus on talking about yoga for cases of mild anxiety, since in cases of moderate or severe anxiety it is advisable to attend psychological therapy, sometimes combined with psychopharmacological treatment. However, these last two options can also be used in cases of mild anxiety.

But... How does yoga act on anxiety when it begins to be a factor that damages our well-being? Basically through body movements, physical exercise, breathing and meditation:

1. Body

Yoga for anxiety can be helpful because it connects with the body, just like anxiety. The body is the main tool of yoga (along with meditation and breathing exercises). In this way, through it we perform the different postures. As we acquire some practice and learn a little more about how our body works, we can improve the exercises and practice more difficult exercises.

The body connects directly with our physiological state, and an altered or hyperaroused physiological state is the basis of anxiety. That is why through the body (and yoga) we can improve our anxiety levels.

• You may be interested: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

2. Physical exercise

For many people, the youga is practically a sport; Furthermore, although the physical exercise performed with yoga is not particularly intense (at least if we compare it with sports such as basketball, soccer, fitness, etc.), if you exercise physical. Physical exercise is good for health, and health and anxiety are antagonistic. That is, when we have anxiety we are not "healthy", in the sense that our body and mind are suffering, they are not "resting".

In this way, with the physical exercise that is done with yoga, our mild anxiety levels can also decrease slightly (and more with practice).

3. Breathing

Finally, breathing is another key element in yoga, which is essential to reduce stress. When we suffer from anxiety, our breathing is usually more agitated (especially in the "high" moments of anxiety). Many times it is difficult to realize that our breathing is accelerated, simply because we do not look at it.

But try this exercise when you are especially agitated: listen to your breathing. As simple as that. Once you detect that it is accelerated, try to breathe more slowly, inhaling deeply until your stomach is full and exhaling little by little all the air.

Practice these steps a few times and you will see your breathing slow down and you feel more relaxed. It is incredible how by controlling our breath we can feel much more relaxed!

Thus, since in yoga exercises breath control is a central element, with a lot of practice this can help us reduce mild anxiety.

4. Meditation

In this case, we speak of mind control. Meditation allows us to relax, let our thoughts flow without stopping on them and, ultimately, learn to evade for the benefit of the body and mind.

As we have seen, when we suffer from anxiety, our mind becomes overactive: we feel overwhelmed, overexcited and in a state of alert. In addition, we tend to have negative thoughts or constant worries in our heads. Therefore, yoga meditation can be beneficial for our anxiety.

4 yoga poses for beginners

We have seen how yoga for anxiety can work, reducing our stress levels through breathing, the body, physical exercise, and meditation.

Now we are going to see 4 simple yoga postures that can help us reduce mild anxiety. Logically, will be helpful with practice and in combination with other yoga exercises.

1. Downward facing dog pose

This is one of the typical yoga postures, ideal for beginners. It consists of bending the trunk downwards by stretching the arms and supporting them on the ground, with the legs slightly apart. Our body has to be in the shape of an inverted "V".

2. Downward Facing Dog Pose with Leg Raised

This second position is an evolution of the previous one; thus, we lift one of the legs up. We do this by first separating the foot from the ground and raising it progressively.

We will have to stay like this for a few seconds, with the leg fixed and strong.

3. Warrior stance

In the warrior position, we will stand with our legs slightly open, one in front of the other. The trunk and the back must remain straight. We breathe in deeply and breathe out; we bend the right knee forming an angle of 90º, and we raise the two arms with the interlaced hands and upwards.

4. Cow pose

In this position, we will place ourselves on all fours on the floor (mat) (with the knees and hands touching the ground). The hands should be just below the shoulders, and the knees below the hips. Head straight forward, feet straight.

We will have to raise and round the column; we will put the tailbone in and push the butt out. We look at the fact, we breathe in and we breathe out.

Bibliographic references:

• Baptista, M.R. and Dantas, E.H. (2002). Yoga for stress control. Fit Perf J, Rio de Janeiro, 13-20.
• Gongora, M.M. (2014). Hatha Yoga for anxiety and addictions. Editorial Oriente, Santiago de Cuba.
• Korman, G.P. and Garay, C.J. (2007). Therapeutic complementarity: cognitive therapy and yoga, 85-96.
• Krisanaprakornkit, T., Krisanaprakornkit, W. et al. (2008). Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. The Cochrane Library, 2: 1-22.