Most of the diseases that we know are caused mainly by the high levels of stress which the body is experiencing too often. Stress is the reaction of the body as if we are in danger and it produces hormones that will help us to gather all our power and run. The problem is that there is no such thing and we have to live through some imaginary dangerous situation day after day. If the body is aware that there is nothing scary around us, then we could calm down easily and reduce the level of work stress. With yoga, we unite the mind and the body in order to recover the harmony between them.

Slow down

When we try to multitask, think about many things at once, when we are in a hurry and try to get somewhere on time, we may think that we are more productive but our body experiences all of this as a reason to produce more of “stress hormone” – cortisol. The high levels of cortisol in the body for a long period of time, are harming the main organs and cause diseases. In yoga, we do everything very slowly and this gives the body enough time to adjust to the changes without producing so much “bad” hormones. The slow movements are beneficial for the body helping it to detoxify and stay toned.

Breath and observe

When practicing different breathing techniques, we become more aware of what is going on with the body in this particular moment. The mere observation of the breathing process is something that brings us back to the present moment and helps us to deal with the overthinking. As this is the root cause of all anxiety and depression, it is very important to teach ourselves to just think less thoughts at one and the same time.

Meditation

When observing the breath long enough, we gently enter this specific state of mind called meditation or a mind without thoughts. Maybe it is hard at the beginning to even understand how it is possible to stop all of this chatting that is happening constantly in our heads, but it is getting easier with the practice. It is proved that after several minutes of meditation, the levels of cortisol are lower and we are actually even more concentrated and productive afterwards. The stress from the work is a big trouble when the thinking about the professional problems starts to interfere with our personal life. Meditation will help us to just relax and see the things from a different perspective.

Healthy life- style

Actually, the cause for the stress at work is not only the problems that we need to deal with, but could be also how we take care of ourselves in general. Yoga is an ancient tradition that includes all areas of life. When practicing yoga, it is recommended to eat clean and healthy food, to go to a massage therapy regularly and to move the body enough each day. When we eat whole foods, a lot of fruits and vegetables and other good food, we assist the body in its recovery and well-being.

Less emotional

When we are devoted to a practice that is leading us to harmony and healthy, we start to observe that we are not so emotional anymore and now less and less situations will make us react to them as stressful. Yoga will help us to balance the emotional body, so that when we face difficulties in our daily life, we do not fall apart but deal with them in a calm and confident way. I remember that when I was working for eight hours in an office, I was very unstable and wasn’t capable of relaxation. I was so tense and tired all the time, and that increased the stress in my life a lot. After a month of doing yoga regularly, I began to notice that I was not so overreactive when dealing with different situations. Yoga just slowly was leading me to a more harmonious life and to a better version of myself.

Maybe stress is not so much about what happened but more about how did we react to the issue, how did we handle and solve the problem. If we build a strong base inside us and create a confidence that is always with us, we will live a more peaceful life. Yoga is all about connection, so when we connect the body with the mind and the soul, we could experience a more joy and happiness in our life.

Author Bio:

Melissa is a full-time sports therapist and acupuncturist from Future Focus based in Worthing. She’s also an avid yoga student and loves to write about the history, health benefits and growing popularity of this ancient and spiritual form of rejuvenating exercise.