According to the definition, stress is the worry or pressure that you face when you find yourself too much to deal with. But what I have observed is – stress is just your inability to manage your system; stress is not associated with the type of job you do, the boss is stressful, the peon is also complaining about stress, jobless are even more stressed!

Every other person is facing the same pressure, whether he is doing a job or being jobless. So what is the underlying cause? How can we become calm, stable, and eliminate stress from our lives? What is the way to manage our system? If all these questions are poking in your head then read on!

Manage yourself not your stress!

There is a fallacy in everyone’s mind that they can manage their stress with some yogic practices, or pranayama or meditation techniques. Why do we manage stress? I want to eliminate it, don’t you?

The yogic science is said to have a solution to every problem of today’s world, whether we want to know about yoga for weight loss, or yoga for back pain. We have solutions for everything in the primeval designed yogic practices. Practicing yoga can not only help you to deal with your physical inabilities but also works upon your mental conditions.

But before jumping into the solution I want you to see that yoga is not only about postures, the limbs of yoga involve Pranayama ( breathing exercises ), and Dhayana ( meditative absorption), along with Asanas ( yoga postures ).

So, here I’m discussing the most effective yogic practices from each of the above-mentioned limbs of yoga which include stress bursting yogic postures, Pranayama, and five-minutes neck practices which you can incorporate in your life and kick your stress out.

Yoga Practices for stress relief

1. Neck practices to release stress

The life energy and neurological systems sprig out in a big way in the regions of the shoulder blades and above. Neck practices not only improve the mobility of the cervical spine but also bring alertness, intellectual sharpness, and revitalize the muscles connecting the brain to the spine.

There are few simple yet effective neck movements you can try even at your office chair to blow-out out the circadian stress you have been through. The practices I’m sharing will only take four to five minutes a day, and you can distinctly see the difference in your ability before and after the practices.

• Forward and backward movement

How to do: stand straight, with your feet comfortably apart, keep your eyes closed and your arms and shoulders loose and relaxed and as you exhale bring your head down and lower your chin to your chest. Mark this as your starting position. Now as you inhale, gently bring your head up and take it back, again exhale and bring your chin to your chest. This completes your one cycle. You have to do three cycles of this forward and backward bending keeping your eyes closed.

Helpful tip: make sure the movements are as slow as possible. Concentrate on your breath with the movement. Treat your neck like a rope i.e. no stiffness of any kind but avoid sharp and quick movements.

• Side movement

How to do: Stand straight as you were in the previous practice, keep your eyes closed, and as you inhale turn your head to the extreme point of your right side. Now as you exhale bring the head in the front again. Again inhale deeply and as you inhale take your head to the extreme of your left side. The movement of the neck and the breath should be as slow as possible. Now as you reached the left side completely start exhaling and bring the head in front again. This completes one cycle. You can do three cycles of this sideways movement.

Helpful tip: make sure that the shoulders are completely relaxed as you move your head to the sides. Also, see if the movement of breath and the neck are coordinated, try to match the speed of your breath with the neck movements.

• Ears to shoulder

How to do: Continue standing straight and as you exhale take your right ear to the extreme of your right side shoulder, and as you inhale bring your head up again. Now, as you exhale take your left side ear to the extreme point of your left side shoulder, and as you inhale bring it up. You can do three cycles of this.

Helpful tip: make sure you bring your ear down and not your shoulder upwards. Your shoulders must be loose and relaxed. You can hold the stretch as long as you feel comfortable. Make sure you are really slow and gentle with your neck.

• Neck roll

How to do: Bring your head down with your chin touching your chest. Now as you inhale rotate your head towards your right shoulder, now as the head goes back, the inhalation should be complete, and as you exhale it will come down again. Now switch and rotate in the opposite direction. This completes one cycle. You can do the rotation three times

Helpful tip: make sure you coordinate the movement with your neck with your breath. The movement should be gentle and slow.

Benefits of neck practices

• Great way to reduce tension and accumulated stiffness in the shoulders, neck, and back regions.
• Promotes strong and upright postures
• Warm up the connecting muscles and improves joint strength and mobility.
• It helps to build neck strength and flexibility.

Child pose ( Balasana )

How to do: Child pose is one of the classic yoga poses that can be practiced by anyone from a child to the senior. Simply sit with your knees folded and big toes touching, arms should be completely stretched in front of you, with your shoulders relaxed and not touching your ears. Try to stretch your back and arms at the same time such that the hips touch your toes and you place your chin on the ground leaning forward at the same time. Take 5 to 7 deep breaths and relax completely in the posture

Significance: child pose acts as a rest pose in between powerful yoga postures.  It also works as a post-yoga posture as it helps to calm the mind and release the stiffness in the back, arms, and neck region. Some renowned benefits are

• Stretches the arms, neck, and back
• Improves blood circulation in the head
• Relaxes the mind and create a sense of awareness in the system

Helpful tip: if you are facing difficulty in bending, or you are unable to touch your chin on the ground, you can try to hold the posture up to 15 breaths, and gently trying to touch your chin or forehead on the ground. Make sure your breaths are as deep as possible and try to lean forward slightly more with every exhale.

Standing forward bend (Uttanasana)

How to do: Standing forward bend is one of the best poses for provoking nerve stimulation in the body. Stand with your feet together and bend forward such that you put your body weight on your toes and not on the heels. The buttocks and ankles should be in a straight line perpendicular to the ground, now touch your head below your knees with hands places on either side of the feet. Try to balance your body and hold the posture for fifteen seconds to two minutes with slightly deep breaths

Significance: the posture is best suitable to relieve mild depression, and stress as forwarding encourages the blood flow in the brain. Deep breathing allows the body to maintain the oxygen level required for cellular activity and promotes healthy blood circulation all over the body. The posture has the following benefits:

• Straightens the legs, and provide flexibility in the body
• Soothe the muscles connecting the brain to the spine, resulting in calmness and stability in emotions.
• Improves digestion by toning the core muscles of the body

Helpful tip: every yoga posture requires patience and practice to perform it as precisely as it should. If you are unable to touch your knees then all you need is practice. Your body will become more flexible and balanced with time, the only key is – consistency.

Yoga Pranayama for stress relief

The overexertion of our mind causes stress. Thankfully we have some most effective breath-focused techniques in yoga to overcome the constant strain of our senses.

Prana means life and Pranayam means the extension of life. By doing pranayama we extend the vital force of life. Performing basic breath awareness practices calms the entire nervous system and releases the blocked energies in the system. Pranayam helps to achieve high levels of self-awareness, reduce stress and anxiety, and quiet mental chatter. Here are some effective breathing techniques which you can practice at your home or workplace to give yourself an energy shot.

1. Alternate nostril breathing ( Anulom vilom )

How to do:  make Vishnu mudra by folding your first two fingers inwards and place your right-hand thumb on your right nostril and ring finger on your left nostril. Close your eyes and exhale from your left nostril completely. Now inhale from your left nostril and close it with your pinky finger. Now exhale from your right and then inhale from your right again, closing your right nostril from your thumb and simultaneously open the left nostril and exhale. This completes one cycle of breathing. You can start doing conscious breathing from five to seven minutes and extend it up to twenty minutes in one go.

Watch your breath: the main purpose of any breathing exercise is to consciously watch the way you are breathing, and how the body is responding to it. Consciously watch the switching time of your breath from one nostril to the other and make yourself aware at the time of breathing.

Benefits

• Calms the mind and eliminate stress
• It generates self-awareness and creates a sense of freedom in the body.
• Supplies oxygen to the brain and promotes growth of healthy brain cells
• Quiet the mind chatter and promotes life energy

Kapalbhati Pranayam 

How to do: maintaining empty stomach conditions are important to perform any breathing techniques as it generates more awareness in the body. Sit straight and keep your palms on your knees facing upward. Keep your spine erect and start breathing out consciously and quickly. Make sure the inhalation is not deep or conscious. Exhale every time by pulling your stomach in. you can start with thirty times a day and then increase slowly.

Watch your breath: make sure the outward movement of breath is complete and more conscious than inhalation. You can also perform Kapalbhati in sets of thirty, doing three sets at a time.

Benefits

• Practicing Kapalbhati regularly can help to handle anxiety issues, and calms the mind to the fullest.
• Kapalbhati is also proved to cure PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome )
• As the focus is mainly on exhalation it removes the toxins from the body in the form of air and creates a quiet environment inside.

• Conscious breathing

Sit in a comfortable cross-legged posture and make yoga mudra. Place your hands on your knees facing upwards and close your eyes. Now simply watch your breath. Yes, that’s all! Conscious breathing helps to actually observe the movement of breath in the body. Since you only have to breathe make sure it is slow and deep at the same time. You can do this technique for as long as you feel like doing. You can join your emotions with each breath telling yourself that all the negativity is getting out from your body with each exhalation

Benefits

• Helps to let negative feelings out of your body
• The technique stimulates the nerves and relaxes the whole system

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is a conscious state between sleep and wakefulness. It is considered as the most powerful meditation process to maintain a balanced lifestyle. It can be performed by anyone and if you have some medical conditions that won’t allow you to lie down on the floor, still you can do it

How to do: lie on the mat (or sit on a comfortable chair), and close your eyes. Observe your body parts and feel that all the stiffness is released. Turn inward and look at your feet getting relaxed and slowly move upwards, making conscious observations of your thighs, core, chest, hand, back, face, back of the head, and feel that everything is getting light inside.

Benefits

• Offers to learn about yourself
• Release stress from the body
• Release the long-held emotions from the body and provides you a sense of freedom.

Benefits of yoga for heart

• Lower heart disease risk

It is seen that practicing yoga improves the factors that affect heart disease. The people who took yoga sessions regularly are seen with low blood pressure and level of cholesterol, and healthy heartbeat rates.

• High supply of oxygen in the blood

Performing yoga helps to increase the oxygen count in the body. While yoga, heart beats faster and demand more oxygen for supply which eventually helps to revitalize the blood cells in the body.

• Opens up the chest

Gentle stretch in the postures allows your muscle range to expand effectively. Postures including the stretch in the front open up your chest area and allow your respiratory system to function better. The sufficient amount of oxygen in the lungs allows the body to fulfill the requirements of oxygen in the cells.

• Cardiac rehabilitation

Yoga has proved to be more than a physical exercise. It works as a therapy in cardiac rehabilitation as yoga also involves deep breathing and meditation. Meditation allows the person to let their locked emotions go off and generates a body-mind-emotional balance.

7 yoga postures for heart health

Before diving into yoga, make sure you do some warm-up with beginners yoga poses. You can do sun salutation three times before starting with these poses as they need a certain amount of flexibility to start with. So let’s begin!

1. Warrior 1 Pose

How to do: Standing straight with your legs open and wide facing the same direction ( probably front ) and raise your arms and take them back, placing them down on your back leg. Open to look up with your back bent backward and eyes looking at the sky straight.

Benefits of the pose

• Strengthen your back and widely opens up your chest area
• Works on your heart chakra and improves blood circulation in the body
• Develop balance in the body and open up the pelvic region and stimulates muscles associated with the region.

2. Upward facing dog pose

How to do: an upward facing dog is just opposite to the downward-facing dog in terms of opening of the chest region. Lie on the floor and uplift your body from the front with your arms straight and perpendicular to the ground. Make sure your arms are wide open and aligned with your shoulders. Keep your head straight and look forward. You can also try to focus at some point in front of you.

Benefits of the pose

• Promote flexibility in the spine
• Open up chest region and provide space to the lungs to expand completely with each inhalation.
• Strengthen the arms

3. Bow pose

How to do: lie down on the mat with your chest facing downwards. Bend your knees and stretch your feet to bring them towards your hips. Hold your feet with your hands and lift your head and neck upwards. Push yourself upwards such that the whole body rests on your belly. Take a deep inhalation and feel your heart pumping; and then release and come back to the starting position.

Benefits of the pose

• Strengthens your back and tones your thighs
• Stretches your neck, chest, arms, legs, and back muscles.
• Opens up the heart and chest region
• Tone your abs

4. Wheel pose

How to do: lie down with your chest facing upwards and start to back your feet and uplifts your knees. Similarly, bring your hands near to the ears and lift your elbows making a structure of wheel in the body. Make sure to rest your legs on your toes and pull your body towards the sky. Inhale and expand when move into the pose, then exhale, and slowly lower down your body starting from the feet.

Benefits of the pose

• Promotes mobility of the body
• Tone the core, thighs, arms neck and back muscles
• Promotes blood flow in the head and opens the heart

5. Half camel pose

How to do: half camel pose is a variation in the camel pose, specially designed to open up the heart chakra. Start the pose by kneeling on your knees and take your hands back such that the hands hold your ankles. The hips and knees should be aligned and the calf muscles and thighs should be perpendicular to each other. Now bring your left hand to your chest such that you place the thumb in between your chest with your palm open, finger touching, and facing the right side.

Benefits of the pose

• This deep backbend literally opens up the heart and provide a deep stretch in the upper region of the body.
• Tone your thigh and neck muscles
• Removes stiffness in the shoulders

6. Bridge pose

How to do: lie on the ground with your chest facing upwards and bend the knees. Move your knees near to your hips and lift the hips upwards. Place your arms on the mat locked with each other and uplift your hip, and the upper body portion. Keep your neck on the mat and see towards the sky. Hold the posture starting from thirty seconds to one minute.

Benefits of the pose

• Promotes strength in the spine and improve flexibility
• Tone the upper thigh region
• Opens up the chest region
• Promote blood circulation in the head

7. Yoga Nidra

How to do: lie on the ground with chest facing upwards and body relaxed. Open your feet hip-distance apart and hands gently on the sides. Close your eyes and slowly inhale and exhale. Feel your body, start from your feet, and observe your body getting relaxed in each microsecond. Focus inwardly on your thighs, hip, waist, and lungs getting relaxed. Focus on your heartbeat for a while and listen to your heartbeat. Tell yourself to relax and with every inhalation take the positive life into you. With every exhalation removes the negative energy from the body. Focus on your face and head and feel them relaxing. Slowly open your eyes and turn towards your left and taking the help of your left arm get up.

Benefits of Yoga Nidra

• Relax the body and calms the mind
• Lowers the blood pressure and balance the blood flow in the body
• Let your emotional blocks released and set you free.

So, here we conclude our discussion of some beautiful yoga poses for a healthy heart. Make sure you keep your visits to your cardiologist to check your heart health. Also, it is recommended to start the poses under the guidance of a verified yoga teacher. Show some love by generating yoga awareness if you are benefited by any of the poses listed above. Also, share your experiences in the comments if you have been through any heart problem and how yoga helped you in your treatment.

Resolving the spine issue from yoga

Practicing yoga allows enhancing the range of movement in the spine and helps the practitioner to shed off the extra weight from the body.

Here I’m discussing the general issue or reasons associated with the back pain and figure out what yoga carries for them as a solution!

Yoga to heal Muscle strain

Muscle strain is caused by the tearing of the muscle or tissue connecting to the bone. The strain can root swelling, stiffness, and limited movement of the affected area. The main reasons for muscle strain in the body are poor flexibility, fatigue, poor conditioning of the muscles, etc. The top 3 yoga poses to help you heal muscle strain are listed below:-

1. Mountain pose ( Tadasana )

Tadasana or Mountain pose creates an intense stretch ranging from the toe of the feet to the neck. In mountain pose, the head is aligned with the widespread shoulders lifted ribs and feet are parallel to each other.

Benefits of mountain pose

• It corrects the posture of the body and strengthens the thigh, knee, and ankle area.
• Reduces the excess fat in the upper region of the body and prepares the spine to hold the weight of the upper region effectively.
• It creates a balance in the body and allows the practitioner to feel more relaxed and stable.
• The pose reduces the stiffness in the back region and opens up the front region of the body.

Boat pose ( Navasana )

Navasana or boat pose is the finest pose designed to develop strength in the core and lower spine regions of the body. It allows the spine to extend tall and holding the upper region of the body such that the legs are raised to an angle of 45 degrees with knees and eyebrows maintaining a straight line.

Benefits of the pose

• Boat pose releases the stiffness in the back and hip region. It allows the practitioner to gain the same range of motion by improving the flexibility and strength of the body.
• Holding the pose for 20 seconds initially and then increasing the time will help to develop the muscularity in the core regions of the body
• It tones the buttocks, calf muscles, and, ankles.

Downward facing dog ( Adho Mukha savasana )

Adho Mukha savasana is the most dynamic pose of all the therapeutic yoga sessions as it does everything. Literally everything! In this posture, the body forms a shape of a downward dog with the head trying to touch the ground. You can start withholding the stretch from 30 seconds to 1 minute and then slowly increase the holding time accordingly.

Benefits of downward dog pose

• Adho Mukha savasana stretches the complete body in one go, and provides strength in legs, build bones, and helps with lower back and hamstring injuries.
• As the blood flow will be more towards the head, it releases the stress and lowers the blood pressure.
• Lowering the neck and trying to touch it to the ground develops an extended stretch directing the back and neck region and improves its elasticity.

Herniated disc

The spine is made up of bones shield by discs. The disc secures the bones by absorbing the shocks caused through daily activities like walking, turning, and lifting. Reasons for slip disc include overweight, lifting heavy objects, aging ( as the disc begins to lose its insulating water content), weak muscles, etc. There are some yoga asanas that can save you from the excruciating back pain, want to know more? Read on!

Camel pose (ustrasana)

Camel pose is a kneel bending asana, considered as a difficult pose for neck and tight shoulders. If you are a beginner it is recommended to perform the pose under a verified yoga teacher or you can ask someone to watch you performing and corrects you. You can use blocks in the beginning if you are uncomfortable with the pose or you can do some modifications in the pose based on your health conditions.

Benefits of the pose

• The pose stretches the thighs, abdomen, and chest region. it opens up the heart and shoulder area
• This pose helps you to improve your overall posture of the body and promotes strength in the lower back region.
• Holding the pose for long releases the fatigue, menstruation disorders, and mild backache.

Locust pose ( salabhasana )

Locust pose is a deep backbend pose that incorporates the benefits of other poses like dhanurasana (bow pose), and cobra pose (bhujrang asana). It is one of the most challenging poses in yoga which seems to be simple and interesting at one glance.

Benefits of locust pose

• Locust or grasshopper pose allows you to strengthen your back muscles and prepares a strong core for your body.
• The pose helps to improve the structure by stretching the shoulders, chest thighs, and belly region.
• As the body rests on the belly, it energizes the abdominal organs and tones the area.

Cobra pose (bhujang asana)

If you are a beginner with a herniated disc, you can start your journey with a pose like this. Cobra pose is a perfect blend of balance, bend, and flexibility. You can support yourself with your arms, with your back bent backward, and neck continuing the flow. Initially, you can start with the height you are comfortable with and then increase it slowly.

Benefits of cobra pose

• This backward bending poses assist in straightening your ligaments along with muscles that continue to keep the damaged disc in its position.
• Posture makes the spine stable and strong while maintaining its flexibility.

Scoliosis

The sideways curving of the spine is termed as Scoliosis. It arises often during puberty or just before puberty. It is observed in most of the cases that performing yogic postures strengthens the spinal muscles and reduce the curve. The national scoliosis foundation recommended that practicing the below mentioned 3 yoga poses helps to reduce the spine curvature, providing them the required flexibility.

Cat-Cow pose

Cat cow poses in yoga is specially designed to promote flexibility in the back and stretch the body to prepare it for other activities. It is a gentle flow between the pose that allows the practitioner to focus on its breath in coordination with the spine movement, and encourage the breath to become slow and as deep as possible. 

Benefits of the pose

• Spinal movement coordinated with deep and slow breaths tranquilizes the movement of breath in the body.
• The curving of the spine allows stimulation of the kidneys and adrenal glands.
• Practicing cat-cow pose opens up the chest and the front portion of the body, and provides a sense of openness all around.
• The gentle movement in the spine warms the body and provides a stretch in the back, neck, abdomen, and chest area.

Balasana (child pose)

The child pose is a classic yoga pose, practiced in every yoga class to have an in-between rest between the postures. The forward bending pose allows creating an extra stretch in the lower region of the hips and spine. The pose is widely used in the treatment of scoliosis and has the following benefits:-

Benefits of Balasanas

• It rejuvenates the energy in the nervous system and allows to relax the muscles adjoining the vertebrae of the spine.
• It creates the stretch in the entire back along with shoulders, neck, and arms. As the headrests below, it promotes the blood flow in the brain region

Trikonasana ( Triangle pose)

The emphasis in this stretch is more on one of the sides as the feet are separated and the practitioner maintains a balance in the body. The posture gives an intense stretch in the lower back of the spine and legs. The posture shapes the body in the form of a triangle, with the body pointing in particular directions. The benefits of trikonasana are as follows:-

Benefits of the pose

• This posture tones the legs and waist. It helps to reduce fat from the sides of the back, legs, and arms.
• The disciplined practice of the posture reduces the curvature in the spine and enhance flexibility
• Promotes strength and balance in the body.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the condition of diminished bone density causing them to be fragile and splintery over time. Osteoporosis occurred due to low calcium intake in the early stages of development. Our body continuously absorbs and replaces the old bone tissues, a person with osteoporosis doesn’t keep up with this bone creation on the removal of the old bone. A study in 2009 noticed that practicing yoga consistently improves the balance and maintains the bone density in the body. Here I’m discussing the top three yoga poses that can help you with your treatment of osteoporosis.

Big toe pose ( Padangusthasana )

Padangusthasana is one of the basic poses practiced in yoga in various sequences. This forward bend encourages you to hold your toe with your knees straight and buttocks aligned with your ankle. If you are a beginner, you can check some beginner yoga poses to start your daily yoga at home. It is recommended that if you are unable to touch your toe in initial stages, you can start with a simple forward bend of the body and then stretching it to hold the toes slowly.

 Benefits of the pose

• Ensure the blood flow in the head area and relieves headache and insomnia.
• Strengthen the thigh and calf muscles, and  provide flexibility in the hamstrings and calves
• Revitalize the digestive system

Bridge pose ( Setu bandha sarvangasana )

It is a shoulder assisted pose and is known as invert back bending asana in hatha yoga. This pose provides a collective benefit of stretching, vitalizing, and strengthening of the body.

Benefits of bridge pose

• Bridge pose helps to restore the flexibility of the spine and removing the stiffness in the lower back regions of the body.
• It improves digestion by toning the abdominal organs.
• Practicing the pose relieves the menstrual discomfort and also helps to alleviate the prodrome of menopause

Extended side angle pose (utthita parsvakonasana )

The extended side angle pose allows you to shift your body weight onto the forward foot. You can also ask your partner to help you achieve precision in the pose or you can do some modification in the pose depending upon your health conditions.

Benefits of extended side angle pose

• Regular practicing of the poses builds up the stamina in the body
• Holding the pose for extended periods allows you to achieve balance in the system and promotes bone density.

Obesity

Obesity disorder involves excessive body weight in the stomach that pulls the pelvis forward and stresses the lower back, resulting in pain in the lower back region of the body.  To compensate with this you can also go through my article yoga for weight loss, or you can practice the following yoga poses to start

Boat pose ( Paripurna Navasana )

Boat pose is practiced by balancing the body sitting on the tail bone, keeping the hands and legs parallel to each other. It challenges the practitioner to raise the legs to the point that the big toe and eyebrow makes an imaginary straight line.

Benefits of boat pose

• nourish the abdomen muscles
• Improves digestion
• Stabilize the lower region of the spine and promotes toning of legs and core muscles

Seated foreward bend ( paschimottasana )

The pose falls in the category of the seated yoga poses and considered as a suitable pose for beginners. You can also check some beginner’s yoga posses if you are a beginner and want to explore more. Also, this pose is well suitable for the seniors and helps them to promote the blood flow in the body. You can also check yoga for seniors’ articles to dig deep into the poses designed for them.

Benefits of paschimottasana

• The pose stretches the spine, hamstrings, and legs and develops flexibility
• The posture calms the mind and helps to relieve mild depression
• Effective to reduce obesity and increases appetite.

Warrior pose II (virbhadrasana )

The pose is named on the incarnation of shiva and targets to increase the length and strength of the arms.

Benefits of virbhadrasana

• Creates a wide stretch in the back, shoulders, and chest
• Relieves back pain faced by the women in their trimester of pregnancy.
• beneficial in osteoporosis.

So try doing all these yoga poses for relieving from back pain.