Let’s start this blog post by defining ANXIETY.
Most of you must have heard the term. Some of you might have felt it as well.
Anxiety is a sense of feeling restless, overwhelmed, uneasy, worried, nervous for any or no reason at all. Anxiety is usually our body’s mechanism to react to an uncomfortable or a stressful situation/thought or even substances for that matter. For eg: before your interview you may feel anxious. The fear of rejection/ fear of not living upto someone’s expectation/ the fear of unknown can lead to anxiety in this situation.
When we enter in an anxious state our mind starts operation under stress. The cortisol (stress hormone) level starts rising in the body, making the brain operate in sympathetic nervous system. This Sympathetic nervous system is our body’s fight/flight mode. Basically how body operates to just survive in a do or die situation. Of-course when our brain is operating like this it leads to quick burnouts. So, if we are constantly feeling anxious then we are constantly operating in Fight-Flight mode.
Over a period of time if we continue to operate like this due to work stress, personal relationships, financial stress, consumption of excessive caffeine/nicotine/alcohol etc. our anxiety becomes chronic. It means that now we know only to operate like this- i.e. with anxiety. We don’t know any other way of existence now. This kind of lifestyle then leads to other diseases like hypertension, thyroid, diabetes, PCOD, gut related issues, insomnia and much more.
Yoga works by shifting our brain from Sympathetic to para-sympathetic nervous system. This para-sympathetic nervous system is our body’s rest & reset mode. The more we operate under this, the better our body & mind operates and feels. The deep breathings, the slow movements & deep stretches along with chantings help the yoga practitioner to relax & connect with the para-sympethatic nervous system, bringing the cortisol levels down, balancing other hormones & releasing happy hormones. Practicing yoga regularly and including other forms of movements/ exercise keep our energy levels up and stress levels down.
So, if you have been thinking about if or not to start yoga then we hope you have your answer now.