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Yoga: Improve your stress management and relaxation skills
Chronic stress can lead to a variety of health and emotional problems. Yoga is an effective method to reduce stress and anxiety. See how to get started.
By Mayo Clinic staffYour kids are demanding the latest video game, your boss wants that report done yesterday, and your partner wants to know what's for dinner. Stress and anxiety are everywhere. If they're getting the best of you, you might want to make like a downward-facing dog or a cobra and try yoga.
Yoga's series of postures — sometimes named for mammals, fish or reptiles — and controlled breathing exercises have become a popular means of stress management and relaxation. Today, yoga classes teaching the art of breathing, meditation and posing are offered nearly everywhere — from trendy health clubs in big cities to community education classes in small towns. If you're looking for more do-it-yourself techniques for a calmer, more peaceful attitude, see how to get started with yoga.
Understanding yoga
The ultimate goal of yoga is to reach complete peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Traditional yoga philosophy requires that students adhere to this mission through behavior, diet and meditation. But if you're simply looking for better stress management and not an entire lifestyle change, yoga can still help.
Yoga has many styles, forms and intensities. But hatha yoga, in particular, may be a good choice for stress management. This style of yoga is designed to encourage a calmer mind, along with improved flexibility.
Beginning with hatha yoga
There are several versions of hatha yoga, too. Which version you choose depends on your personal preferences. But all varieties of hatha yoga include two basic components — poses and breathing. Coordination of mind, body and breathing through hatha yoga can improve physical, psychological and spiritual well-being.
Poses
Yoga is suitable for people of all abilities. In a typical hatha yoga class, you may learn anywhere from 10 to 30 poses. Poses range from the easier corpse pose, which involves lying on the floor while completely relaxed, to the most difficult poses that take years of practice to master.
Regardless of which type of yoga you practice, you don't have to do every pose your instructor demonstrates. If a pose is uncomfortable or you can't hold it as long as the instructor requests, don't do it. Good instructors will understand and encourage you not to exceed your personal limits. Spend time sitting quietly, breathing deeply until your instructor moves the class on to another pose that's more comfortable for you.
Breathing
Controlling your breathing is an important part of yoga. In yoga, breath signifies your vital energy. Yoga teaches that controlling your breathing can help you control your body and gain control of your mind — reining in thoughts that may otherwise hamper stress management and relaxation.
Through yoga, you learn to control your breathing by paying attention to it. Your instructor might ask you to take deep, loud breaths as you concentrate on your breathing. Other breathing techniques involve paying attention to your breath as it moves into your body and fills your lungs, or alternately breathing through one nostril.
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