Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that helps in releasing
tension and aiding deep breathing which provides more oxygen and eliminates the
toxic carbon dioxide.
Three components of Yoga are used for stress relief.
They are the asanas, pranayamas and meditation. Meditation is often done
separately for stress relief.
Yogic postures (Asana): The corpses pose
(Savasana), the crocodile pose (Makarasana) and the child's pose (Bal asana) are
relaxation postures which help in dealing with stress.
Yogic Breathing (Pranayama): One form of Pranayama is Nadi
shodhanam in which alternate nostril breathing is done. Pranayama should be done
in a suitable posture or asana in which the lung capacity is the highest and the
muscle tension is lowest. It should always be done with the help of a teacher.
It should be always done with empty stomach and never done until exhaustion.
Meditation
There are two main methods:
Meditation that needs focusing :
You focus on
any object,r image, sound, or any thoughts. It takes the mind away from the
source of stress and provides stress relief.
Meditation that does not need focusing : Transcendental
meditation is one form of meditation that does not need focusing. It is done by
sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. During the process the fluctuating
mind gradually becomes still and attains a state of "Restful alertness". It is
done for about 20 minutes everyday in the morning and evening.
Each of these types of yoga offers some stress reduction. They are fairly easy
to begin and will cause relaxation in the mine and body.
However, none of these gets to the root cause of stress. The cause of stress has
to be looked at and understood. There are specific emotional stress techniques
that will root out your stress and help eliminated it from your life. There is a
piece of work that will do this. It is called The Ultimate Natural Stress Management Manual.
In this manual, you will find an invaluable resource for stress reduction.
Going for more stress relief than yoga...
