Do you feel stressed all the time? 24 hours in a day not enough? Don’t have any personal time to do your personal projects? Co-workers driving you crazy? Don’t worry. Yoga and meditation can provide the answer. For the stress can be reduced by managing and controlling it. Our mind controls whether we adapt to live with stress or reducing it and living a stress free life.
The factors that mainly control the kind of person we have become are genes we inherit, surroundings and standard of living we live. While the genes cannot be changed since we cannot decide who our parents can be, nor can the surroundings we grow up in, which can also be tough to overcome, we can certainly change our way of life. Simply controlling what we eat, how we eat, exercising more frequently and learning to deal with everyday issues with a open mind and positive attitude can help us lead a stress free life and Yoga can provide the answer for you. Once a person chooses to practice yoga he is naturally lead to choose a healthier lifestyle.
Yoga can help us solve issues, which cause stress on a daily basis. Performing yoga not only strengthens and tones the muscles but also helps the internal organs perform better, thus keeping us from getting diseases. The structural alignment and reinforcing the spine can be achieved by performing standing asahanas (postures). The blood pressure gets lowered and central nervous system gets relaxed by doing forward bends. Performing inverted asahanas purifies the lymphatic system, while the internal organs can be massaged with the body twists. Also the nervous, digestive and immune system gains strength and tone by the breathing exercises and asahanas.
While the effects of yoga on physical human body were mentioned above, yoga also affects the human mental state in a positive manner. Yoga will make you approach everyday problems, which cause stress, with a positive attitude. Once you start performing yoga you can feel your mind opening up and become clear and aware, your concentration and focus improves, gain self esteem, depression vanishes, healthier feeling. All these factors in turn reduce stress. Once the physical and mental states of the human body get in sync then you get projected into a new dimension where your perception of everything improves, your love and compassion for every living thing improves, you feel a connection to the Supreme Being.
Listed below are some practical techniques for dealing with everyday stress with a brief explanation.
1) Using your office chair for performing. Yes, that’s right you can take care of your body while you work by performing this simple yoga posture while sitting in your office chair. Grab the side or back of the chair then perform a twisting motion from one side to the other. Start with arching your back then come back to the initial position in a circular fashion. A good neck stretch can be obtained by moving your head up and down then side-to-side several times, Stretch your arms while standing up. Lifting the shoulders in shrug and releasing them suddenly can release tension in the shoulders.
2) Steps to relax. A crucial part of stress management is learning to relax. After completing any yoga asahanas (postures) or any form of exercise try lying down in a relaxing pose for some time. You will find out for yourself that your body and mind gets in sync. A person can awaken his inner self and wake up feeling refreshed and stress gone. This is hard to do in the office but for those lucky ones who have their own office, lie down on a mat for around 20 minutes and perform this posture. Be sure when you wake up you will find the stress gone.
3) Relaxation using focus Once your body is relaxed, focus your mind on every body part starting with the feet and train your eyes to follow upwards towards your head. This will be difficult at first to concentrate without falling asleep. Do not give up as you keep trying it you can feel the tension and stress go away each time you perform this posture. In conclusion try these simple steps while you are at your work or at your home, you will find out that your enjoying your life more and have become a better human being. You will experience success in your career and life.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Yoga
