Everybody experiences mild anxiety now and then, but suffering from chronic anxiety takes a great toll on the body, exhausting energy resources and giving constant stress to the body. The impact of anxiety is expanded if the body is not exercised: muscle tension builds up, constricted breathing remains most of the time, and the mind is not getting enough rest from all the spinning feelings and thoughts that nourish the anxiety.

If you have suffered both under mild and chronic anxiety, trust in the healing capacity of meditation and yoga as a means of both overcoming and coping with anxiety. Yoga can provide you with a profound level of awareness and also tools to help you in reducing the effects of anxiety in your life.

Here are three elements of yoga and how they can help anxiety:

Asanas (Yoga Poses)

Yoga aids you in accessing an inner strength that lets you face the sometimes overpowering challenges, frustrations and fears of daily life. You can lessen the stress in the body, mind and breath by constructing coping skills using a small daily routine of breathing, meditation, and exercise. A number of yoga exercises if practiced everyday (particularly if you do it before meditation) can help in regulating the breath and relaxes the body with fresh oxygen, blood and other vital nutrients, and increases the feeling of well-being.

“Whole body” exercises like the Sun Poses are especially helpful since they inspire you to breathe intensely and steadily. A lot of exercises can be changed so you can practice them even in your office chair.

Pranayama (Breathing)

The Complete Breathe technique is essential for anybody who sometimes feels “stressed out”. After learning this technique, it can be used anytime and anywhere to lessen the severity of panic attacks, to calm down the mind, or cope with a tough circumstance. Learning to focus simply on the sound of your breath while inhaling and exhaling calmly and easily can help you gradually but efficiently turn your attention from anxiety to relaxation.

Meditation

Practicing complete relaxation and meditation every day is also important – even by simply doing meditation for a few minutes during work can make a huge difference. This daily exercise in concentrating the mind to being still can teach you on how to consciously silent your mind if you feel being overwhelmed.

Meditation lets you connect with your inner resources, which means a lesser reliance on medications, better self-awareness and a fuller and happy life.