Yoga Poses To Reduce Stress.

Let’s face it; this past year and a half has been stressful for all of us. Luckily, now is a time that we can all start getting back into a routine and back to “normal”. As we begin to return to this sense of normalcy, it is important to try and leave all of the stressors that weighed us down, behind. Some of the most common symptoms of stress are high blood pressure, headaches, and aches and pains throughout your body. Some great ways to relieve stress and anxiety is by working out and staying active. More specifically, yoga is a great way to not only reduce stressors, but also be active while doing so. Yoga is a mind and body exercise that is said to have originated from India. Using restorative yoga poses to reduce stress can promote not only physical well-being, but mental well-being also. Although it may seem impossible to get rid of all stress completely, these five poses yoga poses to reduce stress are a great way to help melt most of it away.

Bridge Pose

The bridge pose is great for alleviating stress, mild depression and calming the brain. It is also therapeutic for high blood pressure as well as reduces anxiety, fatigue, and headaches.

When getting into this pose, it is important that once your shoulders are rolled under, to pull them away from your ears forcefully. Otherwise, this could cause your neck to overstretch and increase the risk of an injury (aka more stress). From there, you will lift from the tops of your shoulders, towards the ears and then push from the inner shoulder blades away from the spine.

This pose is most beneficial when held from anywhere between 30 seconds to one minute in time. When lowering yourself from the pose, do so slowly, rolling the spine onto the floor.

Reclining Bound Angle Pose

The reclining bound angle pose is great for beginners to advanced yoga connoisseurs. The benefits of this pose include stimulating abdominal organs, and the heart. As well as helping relieve the symptoms of stress, while stretching the inner thighs, groin, and knees.

If you are finding this pose to be too straining to the inner thighs and groins, lift your feet slightly off the floor or use a yoga block to lay on the outside edges of your feet. To deepen the pose, you can involve your arms. While inhaling, raise your arms towards the ceiling, parallel to each other and perpendicular to the floor. To further increase the stretch, you can lift your pelvis off the floor and place a yoga block underneath the lower sacrum. You can use the three different heights of the block to deepen the pose, however the highest height may be intense for some.

The reclining bound angle pose is most beneficial when used for at least one minute. As you continue to use this pose however, you can stay in it anywhere from five to ten minutes. To come out of the pose, use your hands to press your thighs together, then roll over onto your side and push yourself off the floor, torso first.

Child’s Pose

The well-known child’s pose is great for a few things. The most important being that it helps calm the brain and relieve stress and fatigue. Other benefits include relieving back and neck pain, as well as gently stretching the hips, thighs, and ankles.

While in this pose, think about that with every inhale, you are pushing the back torso towards the ceiling. With that in mind, there should be a sensation of lengthening and widening the spine. From there, each exhale should release the torso a little more deeply into the fold of the child’s pose.

To get the most out of this pose, it is recommended to hold it anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. When exiting this position, lengthen the front torso and then in your inhale, lift from the tailbone as it presses down and into the pelvis.

Corpse Pose

While the corpse pose may not seem like a yoga pose at all, it is one of the most beneficial and relaxing poses yoga has to offer. Not only does this pose relax and calm the brain, but it also helps relieve stress, reduce headaches, and lower blood pressure.

While in this pose take long breaths in, followed by long, deep breaths out. Try to calm the mind and think of nothing but the sounds of your breaths.

This pose is great and reduces the most stress when in it for around 5 minutes. To exit, roll gently onto one side of your body with an exhalation. Then take two to three breaths and press your hands against the floor, lifting your torso, head following.

Viparita Karani- Legs Up The Wall Pose

The perfect post to end your destressing yoga session is the legs up the wall pose. Not only does this pose help with headaches, relieving backaches, and lowering blood pressure. It is also a great way to get the lactic acid out of your legs after a long workout or being on your legs all day.

A tip to think about while in this pose is to use your breath to keep your thighs against the wall, which in return helps stabilize and better stretch your groins, belly, and spine.

The pose should be held for five minutes at the least and can be stayed in for as long as fifteen minutes total. It is important to note that when exiting the pose, there should be no twisting off the wall. Rather slide off the wall onto the floor before turning to the side.

Let The Stress Wash Away

Namaste. Hopefully, these poses were able to help alleviate some of the many stressors we all encounter every single day. Yoga is a powerful and easy way to help reduce the stress that we all encounter. These poses can be done as often throughout the day or week as needed. However, these poses are not a permanent fix.

Register For A Class

Ascend Fitness and Spa cares about you! To help continue to destress, come drop by a yoga class and unwind. They are guided by our amazing, certified yoga instructors. You can see our monthly schedule of classes and register here.