Which Yoga Pose Helps to Manage Anxiety?

Everyone experiences anxiety at some point in the lives as it is our body’s normal response to danger. For some people, anxiety can become an issue that interferes with daily living if their body reacts as though they are in a dangerous situation, when actually they are not. In Canada, just over one in 10 adults have experienced the symptoms of an anxiety disorder during their life.

Whether you have an anxiety disorder or just want a strategy for dealing with the normal anxiety that everyone experiences, the yoga pose Child’s Pose can help. Even if you don’t participate in a regular yoga practice, just implementing this one pose can be helpful in managing anxiety. Here is how to do child’s pose and five reasons why it’s an effective strategy to deal with anxiety.

How To

Go onto your hands and knees on the floor. Hands should be under the shoulders and knees should be under the hips. Bring your big toes together.
Lay your body down bringing your belly onto or between your thighs and hips onto your heels.
With hands stretched out in front of you, relax your forehead onto the floor.
You can keep your hands palm down in front of you or lay them beside your body with palms facing upward.
Relax into child’s pose by releasing the tension in your muscles. Breathe calmly in the nose and out through your mouth.
Stay here for as long as necessary.

Why It Works

1. Studies have shown that practicing yoga in general can reduce stress and anxietywhile improving quality of life.
2. Child’s pose is a common resting pose between other more challenging poses during yoga, and thus it makes sense that it would be a restorative pose for the mind and body.
3. Having the body folded in with your head on the floor creates a sense of safety to the body.
4. Child’s pose promotes conscious breathing which is calming to the nervous system and combats feelings of anxiety.
5. Physically, child’s pose releases tension in the neck, shoulders, and back which is a common area for people to carry stress and anxiety.

OCCS provides comprehensive counselling services for individuals, couples, families, and groups, as well as a wide variety of specialty programs, subsidies, and workshops to best help our patients. Our counsellors specialize in concerns such as depression, anxiety, and more. Please contact us today to learn more about our services, weekend/evening appointments, and sliding fee scale.  Okanagan Clinical Counselling Services has three locations throughout the Okanagan in Penticton, Kelowna, and West Kelowna for your convenience.

This blog post was written by OCCS’s Clinical Counsellor:

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