Yoga can be a meaningful part of caring for anxiety, but it should not be presented as a replacement for appropriate psychological or medical treatment when that treatment is needed. Research suggests yoga can reduce anxiety symptoms for some people, while established therapies remain important for anxiety disorders. What yoga offers is distinctive. Asana can…
Yoga can be a powerful support for stress because it does not work with the mind alone. Stress is often experienced through the whole system: breathing becomes shallow, muscles remain braced, sleep changes and attention becomes scattered. Yoga brings body, breath and awareness back into one practice. Asana gives accumulated tension somewhere intelligent to move….
Yoga cannot remove every pressure, but it can change the way we meet pressure in the body, breath and mind.
When you feel overwhelmed, do less — but do it consciously. Sit or stand somewhere stable and first feel the contact of your body with the floor or chair. Let the exhalation become easy and unforced. Then move through a few familiar postures slowly enough that you can remain aware of the breath. You do…