Yoga for Stress

Stress affects us all. Whether it’s pressure at work, money worries or emotional issues, the stresses and strains of life accumulate, taking a toll on our bodies and minds. Headaches, insomnia, depression, burnout, heart disease – all are linked to chronic stress. Yet, too often, the remedies we’re offered simply mask the symptoms. So what’s the solution? Yoga. Not only does this amazing system of mind and body exercise help release physical tension, it’s also proven to trigger chemical changes in the brain that protect you from stress and bring you into balance. Yoga can also improve sleep, lift mood, ease headaches and relieve neck and shoulder pain. Meanwhile, yogic breathing and meditation techniques slow your heart rate, regulate blood pressure and create inner calm. Yoga is the perfect self-care…

Yoga is the perfect way to ease stress. Simple, affordable and enjoyable, it’s something you can do anytime, anywhere to release tension, calm your mind and fortify your body. Add some simple breathing and meditation techniques, and you’ve got the ultimate stress-busting toolkit at your disposal. You don’t need to be an expert or spend hours on your mat. Even a few minutes a day of easy stretches and yoga poses will keep your mind and body in balance. Together with top yoga instructor Clara Prats, we’ve created a step-by-step guide to using yoga to relax, unwind and soothe the symptoms of stress. To get maximum benefits, aim to work your way through the book, from start to finish. Once you’ve learnt the basics, you can dip in and out…

Nearly two-thirds of us have felt so stressed that we’ve been overwhelmed or unable to cope in the past year alone, according to a Mental Health Foundation study. And while health concerns, family issues and money worries are all unsurprisingly high on the list of major triggers, there are plenty of everyday niggles – those unanswered emails, that cancelled train or the ridiculously long queue in the post office, for example – that can conspire to leave us feeling hard-pushed and under pressure. Stress response The body’s natural response to any stress is fight-or-flight, which puts the nervous system on red alert, releasing stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream to help you jump into action and deal with whatever threat is occurring. This can have its…

Worried that you’re too busy to add yoga to your jam-packed agenda? Just 10 minutes each day can be enough to lift your mood, alter your outlook and even change your brain chemistry – leaving you much better equipped to face the world and everything life throws at you.…

01 Yoga resets your genes Let’s start by taking a closer look at the relaxation response and what it does to your body’s chemistry on a cellular level. In a 2013 US study, 26 adults who practised yogic deep breathing and repeated mantras daily for eight weeks saw some very exciting changes in their gene expression. Genes associated with energy metabolism, insulin secretion and anti-ageing telomeres (protective caps at the end of our DNA) increased, while those involved in inflammation and stress-related pathways were switched off. Why the big deal about insulin secretion? As well as regulating blood sugar, this key hormone also triggers the production of the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin. So the breathing techniques and meditation associated with yoga enables you to experience ‘a specific genomic response that counteracts…

1 Exercise The physical aspect of yoga comprises a series of poses or ‘asanas’ that keep your body and mind in optimum health. The poses stretch and strengthen your muscles, lubricate your joints and spine, and massage your internal organs. Each posture has specific benefits for body and mind – they can energise, relax, detox, invigorate, heal and much more. Ranging from simple to more challenging in nature, all postures incorporate both challenge and recovery to leave you feeling restored. Postures can be linked by the breath to create therapeutic sequences, for instance to calm or energise, build strength or balance, improve flexibility or stamina. Find out more on page 30 onwards. 2 Breathing In yoga, the breath is key to uniting body and mind. Learning yogic breathing techniques helps…