GYST Sunday.png

December 26, 2021: Yoga for Stress Relief

My weekly Get Your Stuff Together Sunday email series gives you one actionable focus for the week that will make your life a little easier.

{Did you miss last week’s GYSTS email? No prob! Go here and scroll to the bottom for a complete archive of all GYSTS emails}

Yoga is much more than om-ing. It includes breath control, simple meditation, and postures. There are many types of yoga that can be done for health and relaxation. This week, we’re going to talk about how yoga can be used for stress relief.

The benefits of yoga are wide-ranging. They include:

  • Helping you move better and feel less stiff or tired

  • Can help you to build strength and endurance especially core strength

  • Helps your body awareness and can therefore also improve your posture

  • Feel less stressed and more relaxed

  • Can help to lower blood pressure and slow your heart rate

  • Has been linked to lower cholesterol, lower triglyceride levels, and better immune system function

Types of Yoga

There are many different types of yoga. It will depend on what you are looking to get out of a yoga practice, as well as your personality as to which type will be most optimal for you. Here are the most common types of yoga:

  • Ashtanga

  • Bikram (Hot)

  • Hatha

  • Iyengar

  • Kundalini

  • Power

  • Restorative

  • Vinyasa

  • Yin

Restorative Yoga

Restorative yoga can have profound effects on your stress levels and ability to bring your body back into balance. The guiding principle of this type of yoga is that support creates release. By using props such as blankets, bolsters, and blocks, the body feels supported enough to release and let go of muscular tension. You can take just about any yoga pose and make it a restorative pose by adding support and lengthening the duration of the pose.

In our fast-paced, never-stop society, restorative yoga gives us the opportunity to be still and get back to our true nature. The postures help the body release built up tension by gently lengthening and opening the whole body including the muscles and connective tissue. Through this, equilibrium is restored in the body and the body regains lost energy and vitality. In a world where we are always going, going, going, restorative yoga is a remedy for the challenges of stress.

Because poses are held for 3-9 minutes or longer, you are able to deeply “let go.” This “letting go” allows the body to naturally restore balance and well being. Our bodies want to return to homeostasis - a state of balance. The problem is that many factors, including stress, pull us away from this balance.

The practice of restorative yoga turns off the fight-or-flight response and engages the process of rest and digest, inducing a physiological state that is the exact opposite of the stress response and allows the body time and means to return to homeostatic balance.

Adding a yoga practice to your current training program can provide you with physical, mental, and emotional benefits. A great place to start is with a class once a week, a workshop, or even a YouTube video.

Next Sunday, we’ll talk about how to know what is true when it comes to nutrition advice.

Want some expert help with reaching your health goals painlessly? Check out my programs! We’ll get everything taken care of in a way that fits into your current lifestyle so you never have to think about your health again.

Do you have a friend who could stand to G(her)ST? Feel free to forward this!

I hope you have a wonderful week,

Kelly

Kelly Morgan, Ph.D.

Tsirona - www.tsirona.com

My weekly GYSTS email give you one actionable thing to do for the week that will make you life a little easier. As "they" say, "Fail to plan; plan to fail." Get these emails (and more!) delivered right to your inbox by clicking HERE.