Yoga Options for Managing Anxiety
By Paul Jerard
Yoga has many options for ridding your body of toxins, negative energy, stress, and daily anxiety. Yoga postures (Asanas) are most commonly known, but Yoga breathing techniques (Pranayama) are very beneficial; most can be practiced any time of the day.
The worst action you can take is to ignore anxiety. Anxiety requires a plan of action to instill positive energy within your being. If your plan of action is to take a Yoga lesson, you are “on the right path” to eliminating negative feelings.
Anxiety can lead to a multitude of health problems. Therefore, you should take action to rid your body, mind, and spirit of negative feelings, which build up from within or are a result of your environment. Within a typical Hatha Yoga class, you will learn Asana, Pranayama, and some form of meditation.
The combination of these three methods, within the span of 45 to 90 minutes, occurs in one Yoga lesson. Yoga students often practice at home, but the “home Yoga sessions” are usually much shorter.
This is fine because a little Yoga is better than no Yoga at all; especially, in the case of a person who experiences anxiety. One short Yoga session can help the mind and body lose feelings of negativity. Yet, it may require a longer session to give you relief, if negative energy is “getting out of hand.”
The study of Yoga requires your commitment to make a personal appointment with yourself. Do you have the time to take care of your health? This requires pro-active thinking on your part, because most of the world reacts to health problems.
Setting a time of the day for a Yoga lesson, at a studio, or a Yoga home practice session, is not difficult. Yet, there are other ways to practice Yoga off your mat and say “goodbye” to anxiety at the same time.
Here’s another option: Go for a 20 to 40 minute walk. You can practice the natural breath technique (belly breath), Dhirga Pranayama (Three part breath), or a walking meditation.
If the weather is rough, you can always go to an indoor facility, or a shopping mall. It does wonders for your body, and mind, to get out and stop thinking about regrets. We must all learn to put the past behind, do our best now, and plan for the future.
Yoga has a number of options for a public, which seeks relief from daily anxiety and stress. Yoga can be considered part of a coping strategy, but in the case of severe anxiety and depression, professional medical or psychological help should be sought.
© Copyright 2007 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard, e-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com/ He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995.
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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 10:01 AM
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