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Yoga students with Severe Stress and Anxiety
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Parell

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February 8, 2008 - 12:46 pm
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Namaskar Everyone,

I swear this is related to the economy.

Suddenly this year I am overwhelmed with new students who are stressed out of their minds. It seems like a massive epidemic of panic and anxiety. More than half of my new student enrollment is stress out of their gourds.

They are getting alot of relief from my yoga classes and I can't complain about the numbers, but these people need some serious relief. Does anyone have suggestions?

Peace,

Parell

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laparadis


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December 4, 2013 - 9:30 pm
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Yoga Students with Severe Stress and Anxiety

There will be students who enroll in yoga classes for the health benefits that it can provide, particularly for specific health issues or disease, but there will also be a great number of students who join yoga classes for the calming and relaxing benefits that they can provide. While yoga provides numerous health benefits, the mental and emotional aspects of yoga can be more prominent, and for some students, these benefits can be significantly more important than the health benefits.

For people with severe stress and anxiety problems, practicing yoga can make life manageable and enjoyable again. Anxiety and stress can be absolutely debilitating, and people who suffer these conditions find that they interfere with regular daily functioning. Stress and anxiety cause problems with concentration, focus, and patience. They also cause migraines, muscle pains, and decreased immune functioning. The effects of stress and anxiety are long-lasting, and prolonged situations can result in high blood pressure and cardiac disease.

Yoga can be an effective method of reducing stress and feelings of anxiety in many people. It induces a lower heart rate and blood pressure, which is important in students with high anxiety, as they are prone to circulation and heart problems. The improved oxygen transport to tissues helps decrease muscle tension, and the deep, diaphragmatic breathing associated with yoga helps decrease the amount of stress hormones that are released by the body.

Meditation is an important aspect of practicing yoga for students with high anxiety and stress levels, as it promotes relaxation and calming throughout the entire body. Not only should students be practicing meditation during their yoga classes, but they should be practicing in their own free time. Solo practice of meditation allows the students to become more in tune with their bodies and minds. It will also give them the tools to handle their stress and anxiety on their own when it becomes difficult.

Working with students who are suffering from severe stress and anxiety requires patience and a gentle nature in a teacher. These students may be more difficult to work with, as tension and stress can cause a student to have difficulty focusing on a lesson or listening to a teacher. It is important to never raise voices with students who suffer from severe anxiety and stress, as it can cause rebellion and a dislike of assistance. The benefits of yoga and meditation cause a visible and rewarding difference in these students.

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laparadis


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November 1, 2010 - 10:40 pm
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Yoga Postures - 12 Stress Relief Techniques to Help You Calm Your Mind
By Annemarie Nel

According to Yoga philosophy, by cleansing one's mind and controlling one's thought processes, one can return to that ancient state, when the individual self was nothing but a part of the divine self. The aim is to be able to observe the world in its true light and to accept that truth in its entirety.

Yoga is one of the renowned stress relief techniques. The foremost philosophy of yoga is simple: body, mind and spirit are all one and cannot be clearly separated. The essential idea is to unite the atma, or individual soul, with the paramatma, or the universal soul, but a large number of philosophical ideas developed by looking into the deeper scope of body, mind and spirit.

In all yoga schools of thought there is an emphasis on the mind remaining calm because as the saying goes: "only when the water is still, you can see through it". That is why yoga also uses meditation as a basis for clearing the mind.

The techniques and theory of meditation are straightforward and easy to learn, but the capability to keep the mind focused takes practice, persistence and time. Meditation is a focusing of the mind on a solitary object, ideally ceasing all other thoughts. As thoughts fade away, the mind becomes silent and we are able to be fully in the present moment. If you need support ask for professional help or contact me so I can refer you to my personal contacts.

Yoga posture sequences are a series of postures set to flow together one after the other and works well as a stress relief. Usually you will start with a warm-up series before moving on to the basic-, beginning-, intermediate- or special series depending on your level and capabilities.

Some of the more renowned postures in yoga, are as follow:

1. Sit / Easy position: Sukhasana
2. Mountain: Tadasana
3. Forward bend or extension: Uttanasana II
4. Warrior II: Virabhadrasana II
5. Dog and cat
6. Cobra: Bhujangasana
7. Half Shoulderstand: Ardha Sarvangasana
8. Triangle: Trikonasana
9. Downward Facing Dog: Adho Mukha Svanasana
10. Head to Knee: Janu Shirshasana
11. The Corpse: Savasana
12. The Bridge: Sethu Bandhasa

Meditation for stress is often enquired about and Yoga is one of the great stress relief techniques where the highlight is on the mind staying calm.

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laparadis


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November 22, 2010 - 8:12 pm
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Using Yoga for Stress Relief
By E. Brooks

Done for thousands of years, yoga has proven to be one of the oldest practices for self-development. It combines meditation, ethical disciplines, breathing control, and physical postures.

Even though it originated from the East, yoga is now gaining popularity in the West as well. In fact, many companies are beginning to recognize the benefits yoga has. Many will now sponsor yoga programs for their workers because they see that it improves their workers' health and output.

People have begun to use yoga for stress relief as well. The power of yoga comes from the combination of meditation, stretching, physical movement, controlled breathing, and mental imagery. The definition of yoga is "to bring together". It is known to combine and unite a person's mind, body, and spirit.

Whether you do yoga for spiritual transformation or for physical improvement, the benefits of doing it are numerous. These benefits would include increased strength and flexibility, sounder sleep, reduced anxiety and tension, slower aging process, lower blood pressure, improvement in medical conditions, and much more.

Because of the numerous benefits of yoga, it has a great payoff considering the amount of work you put into it. Yoga is done by performing different poses and stretching the body while accompanying it with slow and controlled breathing.

Doing yoga helps your body be relaxed and energized at the same time. Yoga has variations of style as well. Some of them would require doing the movements quickly, similar to an aerobic workout while others focus on the relaxation poses.

What is good about yoga is that the benefits it has could be enjoyed by almost everybody. People of all ages, and walks of life can use yoga for relaxation, and practicing it will have many physical, mental, and spiritual benefits.

Another good thing about yoga is that most of the poses can be done anywhere, and the time period of yoga sessions could range from minutes to hours. All of this gives the person more freedom to choose his individualized yoga session. With all the benefits of yoga, there are also some downsides as well.

To reap all the rewards and benefits, you need to have commitment in what you are doing. You need to set aside time to make things happen. Your physical limitations could also deter you from doing some of the more difficult poses.

Just remember, yoga has a lot of benefits for your body, but it requires a lot of commitment and effort, but if you persevere, the benefits you get will get will amaze you.

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TolyoHeju

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December 1, 2010 - 5:15 pm
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Stressed? Take Up Yoga Classes!

By Denise B Simmons

As we go about our fast-paced lives, it's unavoidable that we encounter pitfalls such as stress and anxiety. Anxiety is defined as feeling ill at ease and apprehensive about the uncertain future. As a result, we always want to find ways of preventing it by burdening ourselves with more tasks and material things to make us feel safe and connected to the world. What we fail to realize is that we are slowly disconnecting ourselves from what really matters most in our lives. Yoga deals with living in the moment, and the beauty of it is that it provides us with the peace of mind that we all strive to attain in our daily lives simply by breathing, stretching and meditating.

Let's get started on describing a typical yoga class.

If you're in Kamloops and you're interested in doing yoga, there are lots of places and groups that you can join. Gyms, studios, ashrams, community centers and schools are all good places to find yoga classes. A typical yoga class is a group composed of anywhere between four to forty people, and they can attend whenever they like. Students usually pay a fee per lesson or for a series of lessons. Make sure you find out the description of each yoga class to find out which one is best for you, depending on your experience. Here, you will learn the basic poses and be introduced to breathing methods and meditation to help you empty your mind of stressors and other problems from the daily grind. The teacher instructs you on how to perform a certain pose as well as modify your breathing. He or she will help you if you find a pose too difficult to perform. If you're concerned about the schedule, many places that offer yoga have a range of schedules that you can choose from.

There are also places that offer yoga group therapy sessions.

These classes differ from regular yoga sessions by centering on your emotional well-being. It combines elements of yoga with psychotherapy, and the groups are usually smaller and more intimate. In this class, issues that stem from your emotions are discussed. Under the supervision of a trained psychotherapist/yoga teacher, whatever the students talk about remains strictly confidential. Yogic breathing, poses and practice accompany the sessions as students talk about and process the daily goings-on in their lives. These classes are a good way to establish connections with new people and to reconnect with yourself. Students are able to quell the feelings of depression and anxiety that they have previously suffered in a safe, intimate environment while regaining a sense of lost calm and peace of mind. Coupled with the life-giving movements of yoga, these group therapy sessions allow the student to feel that he or she is not alone and most of all, establish a connection with people who can relate to what they are going through.

When we lose touch with what is truly important in our lives, we tend to become anxious and lost. Stress and depression set in because of the buildup of negative emotions. Finding a way to channel these feelings via yoga class will help you reclaim your happiness and feel whole again.

Denise began her journey through health and spirituality by taking up yoga. She is a big fan of Katrina Ariel's teachings, and regularly attends her yoga classes in Kamloops.

She highly recommends taking a look at Katrina's Kamloops yoga class video on YouTube.

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Julie007

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August 4, 2014 - 6:26 am
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Are you asking for stress relief other than the yoga you are teaching?

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Ishrattasleem

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August 8, 2015 - 1:55 pm
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Not sure if we are going to get an answer from Parell. To continue on about relief of stress and anxiety. Here is some information related to pranayama for reducing anxiety: Anxiety is a commonly found mental ailment nowadays; it is referred as feelings of worry, tension, fear or reaction of stress. The problem is caused due to various reasons like hectic livelihood, some social, biological or psychological factors; continual state of this mental condition may lead to extreme level of disorder.

Usually immediate treatment to cure patients suffering from this problem is through medication or psychotherapy but latest scientific researches and clinical studies have revealed that regular practice of yoga techniques are highly capable in reducing effect of factors causing anxiety especially the paranayama breathing approach. Paranayama breathing is very much beneficial in alleviating levels of stress, negative thoughts from insight and calming mind.

According to Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali pranayama is a process in which we can break our unconscious respiration pattern by taking deep, smooth and easeful breath. The meaning of pranayama is to extend prana or vital life forces throughout body and the major purpose of this controlled breathing is to increase supply of prana in all body parts especially in brain cells. When the flow of prana is calm and smooth our mind remains focused, optimistic and grounded but when an individual experienced the feeling of anxiety his/her breath becomes rapid, shallow and constricted. The condition reinforces nervous system to function abnormally by reducing vital life forces to body and brain. As reported in the sacred yogic text the controlled breathing pattern purify pranic channels of body and brings harmonization between mind and body.

Pranayama techniques work as powerful tool in reducing anxiety issues, offer positive effect and help to eliminate feelings of worry, fear and stress from mind. When these exercises are practiced correctly they are able to stimulate relaxation response and support parasympathetic nervous system. There are different exercises through which breathing process is practiced and all of them are ensure of providing calm and peaceful mind with healthy body. Some of the commonly performed techniques are as follows,

Bhastrika: This breathing pattern is similar as blowing of bellows, it is all about deep inhalation and exhalation procedure in order to supply sufficient amount of oxygen to brain and body. It also helps to purify blood and keeps negative thoughts away from mind.

Bhramari: This method of breathing is highly effective for calming mind instantly and said to be the best exercise for eliminating anger, agitation, frustration and anxiety. Bhramari is performed by making sound like humming bee during inhalation and exhalation.

Anulom Vilom or Nadi Shodhana: The breathing method is also known as alternate nostril breathing; by practicing it entire nervous system is toned and cleansed. It helps to keep mind calm, cheerful and peaceful also supports in overcoming mental worries, fears and tensions.

Sitali/Sitkari or Cooling Breath: Sitali breathing process is also called cooling breath due to act of drawing air across tongue into mouth offering cooling and calming effect on nervous system. The exercise also helps to reduce anger, anxiety and agitation, pacifies excess heat in body and improves mental focus. Whereas sitkari breathing helps to relax nervous system also by long exhaling twice more than inhale, it is beneficial in reducing sleeping disorders and mental stress.

Ujjayi or Ocean Breath: It is also known as Victorious Breath, this method offers positive improvement in mental calmness and alertness also helpful in alleviating anxiety disorder.

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