Yoga Breathing For Anxious Moments

By Sangeetha Saran

There are people who will tell you the best way to get through an anxious situation is to do some deep breathing. This isn't just an "old wives" tale, or some cliché way of thinking, the truth is that there is medical fact that backs up this advice. The more stressed a body gets, the less it takes in oxygen. Someone who is panicking is apt to not take deep breaths, meaning that they are not getting all of the oxygen they need for their body. By deep breathing, a body doesn't just get the oxygen that it needs; it also is a therapeutic act that gives the body, and the brain, something to focus on instead of the stress that they are feeling. With this in mind, one of the best ways to help lower one's anxiety level is to learn basic breathing techniques, and to also learn yoga techniques for breathing.

A lot of people have the wrong idea when it comes to yoga training. They think that it is all about putting themselves into weird poses, and totally clearing their mind so that they can reach "Nirvana." The thing is, while someone will eventually learn how to clear their mind in order to meditate, yoga is as much about learning how to properly live as much anything else. Living a Yogic lifestyle allows one to enjoy all of the small details in life. Most people do not know how to properly breathe, especially when it comes to stressful situations. Yoga will teach a person different breathing techniques, from simply getting the most out of a single breath to learning how to breathe to reduce anxiety levels.

Where Should I Start?

Of course, not everyone is going to be able to walk into any yoga school and just learn how to properly breathe, meditate, and stretch. In fact, most people are not going to be able to learn how to tackle anxiety, either through action or breathing, the first month that they take lessons. What they can do, though, is slowly ease into learning. Yoga is not something that you master overnight; it is about training your mind and body how to properly act. When it comes to breathing in stressful situations, you will be surprised just how much you can learn as time goes on.

The key to finding the right yoga teacher is to trust your intuition. There is a level of comfort that needs to be present in order to get to the place where one can focus on their breathing and use it to help their anxiety. If you meet a teacher who displays compassion, patience, and ethics, you are off to a good start.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see find out more about yoga or see our selection of online yoga teacher training programs, please use the yoga resources on the right side of this page.

If you are a teacher, yoga studio manager, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is. Namaste!