Why Stress Relief is One of the Top Yoga Benefits
As Americans, we accept stress as a daily byproduct of living. However, though stressful situations are common for many, that doesn’t mean you should hang onto the stress byproducts that trauma and frustration can leave behind. Yoga is a powerful restorative. It's ability to ease stress can help to reverse a myriad of health conditions.
Every year scientists learn more about stress and the havoc it can wreak on both our short and long-term health. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by researchers at NYU and Peking University, discovered that trauma and the experience of going through a stressful situation reduces a person’s ability to detect new dangers.
In addition to the emotional toll stress can take on your body, it produces measurable physical damage as well including:
- Slow wound healing
- Brain damage
- Stroke
- Inflammation throughout your body
- Poor memory functioning
- Thickening of artery walls
- Negative changes in your body systems (like bone and cardiovascular)
- Negative changes in your body processes (like metabolizing and detoxification)
- Changes in your gene expression, (meaning you’re more prone to develop diseases your family members suffered from like cancer or heart disease, etc.)
Therefore, when the bills pile up, you miss a work deadline, the car is in the shop, or you’ve just finished dealing with a stressful family situation; it’s important to flush the stress out of your body like you would any toxin. Stress is dangerous to both your physical and emotional health.
Why Yoga?
One of the best ways to eliminate stress from your body is to do yoga. Though doctors recommend exercising at least three times a week, many people do yoga every day and even perform stretching routines throughout the day like when they wake up, get home from work and go to bed at night. This is because yoga genuinely feels good.
Though some practitioners can bend their bodies into pretzel-like positions, the idea of yoga isn’t to stress your body out. You should only do exercises you’re comfortable with. You should go at your own pace. Many expert practitioners focus only on low-impact hatha yoga for their entire career without ever teaching or studying any challenging postures. Low-impact yoga offers just as many benefits as more challenging postures.
You can also use an enhancement tool like the Shakti Yoga Wheel to enhance your current Yoga practice and increase your flexibility without creating pain.
Find the full article at "Better Life" Magazine with Shakti Yoga & The Shakti Yoga Wheel®
In addition:
- Yoga relaxes you completely and balances your electromagnetic body to flush stress toxins away.
- Yoga connects your body and mind to the present moment and the world around you, making you more self-aware, helping you solve problems easier and motivating you break unhealthy habits in every area of your life.
- Yoga makes you stronger by improving your joint health, supporting strong respiration, reducing high blood pressure, enhancing flexibility, improving your balance and stability and enhancing your sense of well-being. When your body is stronger, it’s more resistant to stress.
These are just some of the powerful reasons you should make Yoga an integral part of your healthful lifestyle. In addition, practicing yoga will give you the opportunity to take control of your own healing. It's deep breathing and relaxing postures are effective tools for stress reduction.
Learn more how to practice yoga in a healthy and innovative way and learn about the Shakti Yoga Wheel® Method