Everything is so fast paced. We rush from here to there. We eat fast food. The World Wide Web gives us an answer to almost any query within milliseconds. We demand instant credit and instant gratification. Yet stress-related health conditions are rife. In 2013, a study by leading UK psychiatrists found that more than 8 million men, women and children suffer from anxiety disorders at a cost of almost £10 billion a year!
Once we have started to move at this incredible pace, it seems almost impossible to slow down for fear of losing touch. In this scenario, there is so little time to just simply be; to truly see, smell, hear, touch or taste. When we practice yoga, we give ourselves permission to slow down, even if it just for a short fraction of the day.
Yoga is a mindful practice; in each Yoga Northenden class students are encouraged to practise each posture paying attention to breath and alignment and go within to build concentration. Each class also includes a deep relaxation (yoga nidra) and breath work (pranayama).
The benefits of pranayama breath control may not be immediately obvious, but the mind and body are intimately connected to the breath. Our breathing is influenced by our thoughts, and our thoughts and physiology can be influenced by our breath. Learning to breathe consciously can have immense benefits in restoring balance in the mind and body. It can reduce stress and anxiety, lower or stabilise blood pressure, increase energy levels, induce muscle relaxation and decrease feelings of stress.
When you experience stressful thoughts, your sympathetic nervous system triggers the body’s fight or flight response, giving you a burst of energy to respond to the perceived threat. Your breathing becomes shallow and fast, breathing from the upper part of the lungs. This can make you feel short of breath, anxious or frustrated. Simultaneously, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) that can increase blood pressure, heart rate and put you in a state of high alert.
Deep breathing can almost instantly reverse the symptoms of the fight or flight response and create a sense of calm. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system via the vagus nerve, which slows the heart rate, lowers the blood pressure and calms the mind and body. It also engages the abdominal muscles and diaphragm rather than the muscles of the upper chest and neck. This conditioning of the respiratory muscles results in extra oxygen being drawn into the lower parts of the lungs where oxygen exchange is more efficient meaning more oxygen reaches the body’s cells and tissues.
As well as reversing the physical stress response in the body, deep breathing can help calm and slow down the emotional turbulence in the mind. I like to say that it “stills the monkey mind”! Conscious control of the breath can have an immediate effect on diffusing emotional energy so there is less reactivity to our emotions too.
Evidence shows that many people are not even aware that they are experiencing the fight or flight response. This is because stress can gradually build and we become habituated to it, not noticing its insidious effects. So I guess what I am saying here is that you have permission to slow down, to reclaim balance in your life, to put down your mobile phone or put off that shopping trip. Prioritise some quiet time for you and your family, go on put it on your mission statement. After all, “doing nothing is the new doing something”!
Why not join us at Yoga Northenden? We currently run a mixed ability adult class, but next year sees the introduction of toddler yoga (1-5 years), kids' yoga (5-12 years) and a new adult vinyasa class (intermediate level+).
Once we have started to move at this incredible pace, it seems almost impossible to slow down for fear of losing touch. In this scenario, there is so little time to just simply be; to truly see, smell, hear, touch or taste. When we practice yoga, we give ourselves permission to slow down, even if it just for a short fraction of the day.
Yoga is a mindful practice; in each Yoga Northenden class students are encouraged to practise each posture paying attention to breath and alignment and go within to build concentration. Each class also includes a deep relaxation (yoga nidra) and breath work (pranayama).
The benefits of pranayama breath control may not be immediately obvious, but the mind and body are intimately connected to the breath. Our breathing is influenced by our thoughts, and our thoughts and physiology can be influenced by our breath. Learning to breathe consciously can have immense benefits in restoring balance in the mind and body. It can reduce stress and anxiety, lower or stabilise blood pressure, increase energy levels, induce muscle relaxation and decrease feelings of stress.
When you experience stressful thoughts, your sympathetic nervous system triggers the body’s fight or flight response, giving you a burst of energy to respond to the perceived threat. Your breathing becomes shallow and fast, breathing from the upper part of the lungs. This can make you feel short of breath, anxious or frustrated. Simultaneously, your body produces adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) that can increase blood pressure, heart rate and put you in a state of high alert.
Deep breathing can almost instantly reverse the symptoms of the fight or flight response and create a sense of calm. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system via the vagus nerve, which slows the heart rate, lowers the blood pressure and calms the mind and body. It also engages the abdominal muscles and diaphragm rather than the muscles of the upper chest and neck. This conditioning of the respiratory muscles results in extra oxygen being drawn into the lower parts of the lungs where oxygen exchange is more efficient meaning more oxygen reaches the body’s cells and tissues.
As well as reversing the physical stress response in the body, deep breathing can help calm and slow down the emotional turbulence in the mind. I like to say that it “stills the monkey mind”! Conscious control of the breath can have an immediate effect on diffusing emotional energy so there is less reactivity to our emotions too.
Evidence shows that many people are not even aware that they are experiencing the fight or flight response. This is because stress can gradually build and we become habituated to it, not noticing its insidious effects. So I guess what I am saying here is that you have permission to slow down, to reclaim balance in your life, to put down your mobile phone or put off that shopping trip. Prioritise some quiet time for you and your family, go on put it on your mission statement. After all, “doing nothing is the new doing something”!
Why not join us at Yoga Northenden? We currently run a mixed ability adult class, but next year sees the introduction of toddler yoga (1-5 years), kids' yoga (5-12 years) and a new adult vinyasa class (intermediate level+).
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