Modern Stress Relief: Try Ancient Yoga

Many of us today are under stress all the time, but we still need to stay in control. If this continues, we often respond to stress with bad eating habits, production of more stress hormones, and by manifesting cardiac risk factors. Nevertheless, there is a way to limit these risk factors and even turn them around without resorting to medication. All it takes is the development of some new habits that will work in partnership with your usual diet and exercise program.

Yoga is one of these; it can help you relearn the state of peace and harmony that you want your mind and body to be in. It will help you relax.

Yoga is one of the most prominent forms of meditative exercise within the growing mind-body health movement. Other forms include qigong, tai chi, and other exercise techniques that include meditation. Mind-body fitness comes from Eastern philosophies and religions. These practices improve both your emotional and physical well being.

Mind-body exercise has many benefits, which are showing themselves to be authentic even under scientific study. Indeed, mind-body exercise can accomplish a number of things, such as lowering your risk of heart disease and boosting your mood.

Yoga's soothing movements are easy on your joints while increasing strength, flexibility and muscle tone. In effect, it can make you feel better than aerobics, weight lifting, or running, which are much harder on your body.

Practicing yoga can affect the entirety of your lifestyle. Today, many Westerners concentrate on the physical asanas, or positions, of yoga. But some employ yoga as a pathway to delight and enjoy their lives in its inclusive hold.

Considering yoga's lofty goals, it's delightfully simple and can be done anywhere, anytime. Taken to its extreme, yoga encompasses everything from a moral code and dietary practices to deep meditation. Most commonly, though, it's a combination of asanas, meditation and pranayama (breathing exercises).

There is a considerable amount of information available on how to breathe during yoga. When you breathe deeply, you become relaxed and energized at the same time, although the energy is different from what you may be used to experiencing. Not jumpy or agitated, this kind of energy is cool and composed.

When you're feeling stressed, try this five-minute "breath break" to invigorate yourself and release tension. Read through the directions a few times before you try it out.

1. Sit with your spine as straight as possible. Use a chair if necessary but don't slump into it. Feet flat on the floor with knees directly over the center of your feet. Use a book or cushion under your feet if they do not rest comfortably on the floor. Hands are on the tops of your legs.

2. Close your eyes gently and let them rest behind closed lids.

3. Become aware of your ribs at the back, front and sides of your body, and think about your lungs behind your ribs.

4. Now, slowly breathe in, filling your lungs up from the bottom. Picture your ribs expanding out and up. Now, breathe out, slowly, with your lungs emptying from top to bottom and your ribs gently contracting back down and in. Don't push the breath out.

5. At first, repeat this exercise for two or three minutes. As you become more experienced, do it for 5 or 10 minutes. When you start out, set aside some time each day for this exercise. As you become more familiar with it and appreciate how much better you feel, you'll want to practice it several times throughout your day.