Yoga for Moving Beyond Fear

By Kimaya Singh

Fear is an all encompassing emotion and it goes by different names, all of which define the deep state of anxiety about something that has yet to happen. Everyone has fear, uncertainty, panic, and anxiety. Much of society suffers from phobias, panic attacks, life altering events, and extreme anxiety. Therapy, anti-depressants, and anti-anxiety drugs are often given to combat these feelings of fear.

The main concept of therapy is to teach people how to face these fears that seem to overwhelm them. Once the objective is achieved living a happier and more meaningful life is much easier. There are other alternatives to overcoming these fears. Some people are turning to Yoga training sessions to move beyond debilitating fear. Yogic methods allow the individual to focus on the inside. Fear is often a conditioned response; lessons learned in life from past experiences or things individuals were taught to fear.

Pranayama practice is the art of yogic breathing. This is a popular yoga technique that works well for reducing panic and anxiety attacks. One common symptom of a panic attack is shallow breaths that happen in the chest, this is an indication that the body has taken a fight or flight response to fear. A yoga breathing regimen is required, to slow the breathing down to a deeper and relaxed state.

A Medical Adjunct

Some states of fear are so deep that medical and professional counseling should be sought first. Yoga can help, but it can be most effective as an adjunct therapy. Although yogic methods differ in approach, they can easily be integrated into any form of therapy.

Yogic methodology teaches us to embrace the fear with practice and a trained mind. Embracing the fear is an important step in the process. When attention is brought to the fear, and the flight response is not active, the fear loses power. It becomes a learning process and an opportunity for self-growth.

Yoga training teaches us to ground ourselves to the earth and helps us stay focused on the now. Taking walks, diverting the mind, and connecting the feet to the earth can reduce anxiety. As a form of anxiety prevention, flowing asanas can also change our mindset.

Possible Preventative Methods 
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Opening the eyes and looking around at nature can be surprisingly helpful. Simple things like a bird, squirrel or butterfly can bring one's state of mind out of fear and back to the present reality. A simple distraction from the flight impulse is often enough to snap someone back to reality.

Connect with the inner child, who accepts situations. Watch a comedy and have a belly laugh. Through these holistic methods, one can start to recondition one’s self and move beyond fear. 

© Copyright 2016 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Yoga Exercises for Posture

By Kimaya Singh

Many people ask, "how can I improve my posture?" Having good posture has a variety of benefits, some social and others having to do with health. Our posture affects the way we breathe, think and feel. Bad posture can make people ill and even take years off of their lives.

People are sometimes willing to go to great extremes to achieve good posture. Walking around with books or glasses of water on your head is neither necessary nor useful. The human body actually wants good posture; the trick is listening to it.

One way to improve posture is through practicing yoga. Yoga stretches and shapes each region of the body strengthening muscles, bones and joints. Lifelong yoga practitioners display perfect posture even when they are well into old age.

The mountain pose is a yoga position that is particularly good for your posture. The mountain pose helps with balance. While this is considered to be a basic pose, it prepares the body for still more complex yoga positions. The mountain pose is also known as Tadasana (or Samasthiti).

Uttanasana or the forward stretch supports good posture by stretching the spine and hamstrings. The forward stretch has a number of other benefits, including that of improving organ function. Like most yoga positions, the forward stretch prepares the body for the next position.

Most people who practice any form of yoga training know the downward facing dog position. This iconic position is also one of the yoga positions that most supports perfect posture. From head to toes, downward facing dog stretches and molds the entire body.

After downward facing dog, the next yoga position is upward facing dog. Not to be outdone by its predecessor, upward facing dog also provides powerful posture benefits. Upward facing dog is particularly good for the spine. Spinal health and strength are integral to good posture.

Expanding this basic routine to more complicated ones will continue to train the body until good posture becomes second nature. In very real sense yoga itself is good posture. Each pose brings the body to a properly postured position and holds it there. Bodies trained by yoga find it hard to have bad posture.

Yoga teaches people to understand the way their bodies work as well as their spirits and minds. Ultimately, what yoga recognizes is that the body is interconnected and interdependent. Every system in the body relies on every other system. In this way, every yoga pose is good for posture.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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