“Yoga is eternal. It is evergreen and timeless. It is the answer to the infinite stresses modern life brings us. Yoga brings balance to our lives, calms the restless mind and brings us to a point of complete quiet. It is then that we discover our true selves”
― B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga The Path for Holistic Health
As yoga practitioners we can be guilty of banging a drum which says that yoga is the answer to all of our problems. It can help us sleep, improve our strength, make us flexible, cure our bad backs and oft-repeated, it can help us manage stress. Whilst these are all true, it is the management of stress that I want to turn my attention to.
We all live with stress in our lives at some level. In manageable amounts, it can be good for us. However, it is when that stress becomes overwhelming that we might start to struggle. The internet is packed with stress- management techniques and yoga is often mentioned. But why ?
STEPPING AWAY
At the most simple level, a yoga session offers an opportunity to step away – it gives you permission to focus on you and your practice for an hour. We start the class with eyes closed, focusing on the breath, being encouraged to leave other thoughts outside the studio and bring all of our attention on to the breath. B.K.S Iyengar talks of quietening the “monkey mind”. The mind and thoughts which jump from thing to thing, becoming increasingly frenetic as the stress levels increase. So, stop and take a breath
GIVING THE BODY SOME TIME
Stress doesn’t just manifest in the mind but very clearly in the body too. Stress and tension can be stored in the muscles, in the nervous system and the diaphragm. So using your yoga practice to give your body some attention, focusing with the help of your teacher, on poses where the muscles are stretched and attended to in the proper alignment. Releasing the facial muscles and tension around the eyes and jaw and instead working on, for example, the leg muscles in Dandasana. This starts to draw us back into balance, tipping the scales back to level.
As we move through the asanas (poses) carefully, holding the poses correctly, then the body starts to strengthen, the breathing becomes easier and energy starts to return. This sense of physical well-being in turn brings a mental well-being, calmness and a soothing of the nerves.
This won’t all be achieved over-night but by carving out the time to create balance with a regular yoga practice.
TYPES OF POSES
It would be easy to imagine that when one is anxious we should do only quietening poses. However we are seeking to restore balance to the mind and body. So a mixed sequence of active poses to throw off sluggishness, chest opening poses to promote the breath and quietening poses with the head supported to support the nervous system is advisable. However, without a doubt, any yoga is better than no yoga.
If you are interested in a sequence to help manage stress, please get in touch and we will send you a suggested sequence of poses.