There are a few researches that support that yoga helps to reduce stress.
- The effects of yoga on stress and psychological health among employees, which was an 8 and 16 week intervention study done by Rachel. E. Maddux, Daiva Daukantaite & Una Tellhed, states that significant reductions in stress and all psychological health measures were found within the Yoga group over 16 weeks. When compared to the control group, yoga practitioners showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, and general psychological health, and significant increases in well-being. The group who did not practice yoga showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia after they crossed over and practiced yoga for 8 weeks.
- The Effect of Yoga on Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Women by Masoumeh Shohani, et.al, states that yoga has an effective role in reducing stress, anxiety and depression.
- Effects of Yoga on Stress Management in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review, by Tsunaka, et.al. The review that they conducted revealed positive effects of yoga on stress reduction in healthy adult population.
Yoga
The main philosophy of yoga is simple: mind, body and spirit are all one and cannot be clearly separated. Yet there is a multitude of philosophical ideas developed by looking into the deeper dimensions of the body, mind and spirit. It incorporates breathing exercises, meditation and poses designed to encourage relaxation and reduce stress. Practicing yoga is said to come with many benefits for both mental and physical health.
Yoga is not a new practice—it has been known to mankind though the ages. Yoga is a group of mental, physical, and spiritual practices that help elevate your mood, cleanse your spirit, invigorate your body, and sharpen your mind. Just a few minutes of practice each day can help you ease out of worries and stresses. If you wish to further reap its rewards, incorporate yoga into your daily routine as it is a powerful way to relieve anxiety and cope with everyday stresses.
Effects of Yoga on the Mind
- Yoga helps with anxiety and depression.
Anxiety and depression are two serious health concerns that damage silently; however, a daily yoga practice can be effective in improving mental health, as we saw in the researches earlier. In fact, yoga has proven to be helpful in reducing anxiety and depression. According to a Harvard University article, yoga helps in regulating a person’s stress response.
2. Yoga strengthens memory and improves concentration.
At some point in life, we all struggle with concentrating on our day-to-day tasks. Yoga has proven to be useful in improving your memory and concentration.
There is a limb of yoga known as Dharana—the practice of concentration—that is widely famous because it helps us understand the what it means to clear the mind and calm our senses.
3. Yoga improves mental as well as psychological well-being.
Life can be stressful. Many people feel as if they are carrying the entire world on their shoulders; but with the help of yoga, you can set aside overthinking and negative, unwanted feelings.
According to the British Psychological Society, yoga involves concentration and is all about breathing techniques—a great way to relieve stress and sooth the mind.
4. Yoga reduces the effects of traumatic experiences.
There are many people in the world who have developed a condition known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—often as a result of powerful and unpleasant incidents in their lives. People with this mental illness often experience flashbacks and nightmares. A form of yoga known as Hatha has been shown to be effective in reducing PTSD symptoms.
5. Yoga improves relationships.
One of the most important aspects of yoga is mindfulness—and mindfulness is all about paying heed to the emotions, thoughts, sensations, and surroundings of you in your present moment. Yoga can play a great part in helping you enjoy your present life, irrespective of any condition. It can therefore also play a great role in improving the quality if your relationships in life.
6. Yoga has a positive impact on mood.
Just as there are many physical benefits of yoga, there are also emotional benefits associated with this practice. We all know that stress can cause a lot of health-related issues, but what we may not know is that it can deeply affect our moods.
Yoga has the power to release endorphins in our brains; these are “feel good” chemicals that are released when a person is happy. Various studies have also hinted that yoga may improve your mood in the long term as well. We can all sometimes fall prey to mood swings; but with the help of yoga and meditation, you can not only experience improved health and reduced levels of stress, but your mood swings will also naturally improve.
7. Yoga helps us attain inner peace.
Life is full of stresses—most of which are unwanted and can be avoided—but how to keep oneself calm and strong at difficult times is what yoga is all about.
8. Yoga helps us cope with hardships.
Life isn’t devoid of hardship, not for anyone, but a life with no ups and downs is really no life at all. Yoga helps us deal with hardships in a positive way. It also allows us to deal with anything that life throws at you in a more calm and confident manner.
9. Could Promote Sleep Quality
Poor sleep quality has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure and depression, among other disorders. Studies show that incorporating yoga into your routine could help promote better sleep. In a 2005 study, 69 elderly patients were assigned to either practice yoga, take an herbal preparation or be part of the control group. The yoga group fell asleep faster, slept longer and felt more well-rested in the morning than the other groups. Another study looked at the effects of yoga on sleep in patients with lymphoma. They found that it decreased sleep disturbances, improved sleep quality and duration and reduced the need for sleep medications.
10. Mental Breaks Not Mental Breakdowns Help Productivity
The brain naturally gives itself “time outs” by day dreaming. When you find yourself zoning out, your brain is taking time to reconfigure its complex maze of neurons. This usually happens when not involved in a detailed task, and the brain is tapping into its muscle memory. Basically, you’re on autopilot, and that’s a healthy part of our physiology. On the other hand, a scheduled time out for example, yoga meditation, allows our brains to take a break and be more productive.
11. Brain Health
When we add time for yoga meditation and mindfulness, we tap into the brain’s state of “waking rest” or our default mode network. If done actively, we can take control of our thoughts and instead of our mind running us, we can run our mind. Yoga meditation is about observing our own thoughts and sensations in the body with real openness. We are more than our emotions, let’s give ourselves the tools to be as healthy as possible.
