Today's society guides us to a constant state of activity, productivity, challenges, achievements and goals. There will be moments when in front of this constant action, you may feel overwhelmed. Today, from Yoga Synchrony, we tell you the power of restorative yoga to reduce stress and anxiety.
What is stress?
Stress is a natural reaction of the body. Faced with a dangerous stimulus, the body activates the alert response to have a quick reaction that can save our lives, whether by fleeing, immobilizing or attacking.
The image of a group of gazelles calmly drinking water from a stream is well known. When one detects the presence of a predator, the entire group immediately reacts by fleeing. This response is given by a stress spike that activates all their senses and gives them physical tools to escape at full speed. Shortly after the attack, or whatever happened, the group calms down, lowers their stress level, and goes back to drinking quietly at the stream.
Thus, a stress response lasts a few seconds or minutes, while the most frequent state of a gazelle is calm. The problem we have in our society is that stress becomes something present at all hours. It does not appear and go, it is always there. We have so much stress during our daily activities that even at night we continue to grit our teeth from the stress accumulated in the day.
We believe that having stress, be it from work, making ends meet, family responsibilities, housing, and endless other reasons, is something common that we have normalized in our daily lives.
Just because it's habitual doesn't mean it's normal.
This is where the power of restorative yoga with its leisurely practices, its slow and internal approach can you help us to reduce stress and anxiety.
What is restorative yoga practice?
The yoga practice restorative is a gift to you. A moment of pause for a change of pace and release of the tensions accumulated in your body.
It is based on three principles: restore, revitalize, recover. It is a yoga suitable for everyone, and especially for those people who have a very active life, either physically or mentally, and require a break time and space.
Stopping is your ally.
Restore your natural state of calm and calm observation. Revitalize your body through conscious and affordable practices. Recover your body free of tensions.
For this, yoga, especially the restorative, invites you to observe. To leave the active mind and start to feel the simple things. Feeling the smooth movement of your breath, the contact of your body and the ground, the weight and strength of your bones, the mobility of your joints, even feeling how your organs are present in the movements and postures.
Time will be vital in restorative yoga sessions. you have all the time to observe you, there is nothing to do but be here. So you can stop to listen to those parts of you that want rest and attention and that your daily life simply ignores. The breaths lengthen, the relaxation is deep, it seems that time stops for you to meet yourself again.
Many times we cannot change the source of stress. Just as the gazelle will always have predators, there will be some occasional or permanent situation that is a source of stress for each one of us. But if you can change your focus and not stay stuck in the stressful situation. It is not about running away from situations, but sometimes it is good to take a detour to observe.
When the mind is 100% occupied by stress, it is not able to see beyond its nose. Change your perception of reality.
So our learning is to look at the world again. Get out of the mind and its cycles to see. Restorative yoga gives us the time and focus.
Enjoy your practice.
Silvia Gallego
Yoga teacher, author and editor of breathing books
