Yoga and meditation for a stressless life

Introduction

According to the Patanjali Rishi, “Yoga is Chitta Vurdhi Nirodha”. As well as it is mind and body practice. It built strength and flexibility. Apart from that, it helps people reduce stress. Stress is part of mental illness.  this can be called any time of changes. There are physical, emotional, or psychological strains. Meditation is one of the styles of yoga. In this, we consider our breath and we focus our mind. There are five types of meditation posture. There are,

1. Sukhasana
2. Vajrasana
3. Siddhasana
4. Swastika
5. Padmasana

Nowadays, most people have stress in society. There are various yoga postures and how to reduce the stress of people I mentioned in this article according to yoga and meditation

Yoga postures

Sukhasana

Sukhasana is simple yoga asana. This performs as a warm-up starting pose and finishing pose during yoga practice or class.

Steps

1. Sit on a yoga mat and stretch your legs out.
2. Keep your arms by your sides and keep your shoulders straight.
3. Place one leg over the other and slowly cross the legs.
4. Keep the legs under the opposite knee of both feet.
5. Then take the hands and place them on the knees and put the hands down.
6. Straighten the spine.
7. Soften the neck, look forward, inhale and hold for three seconds, and exhale.
8. Repeat the above steps.
9. Practice this pose every day or any time people can manage their stress. 

Savasana

The word ‘ savasana ‘ began in old Sanskrit words. It means ‘ death body pose.’  here our body is not a moment and our mind takes a rest. In this pose, we close our eyes and we surrender under the silence. This pose is called as ‘ corpse pose ‘ practice this Asana we can release any tension that might have been in the practitioner’s body.

 Steps

1. Lay on the yoga mat.
2. Then close your eyes.
3. Keep the feet easily apart, relax the feet and knees completely, and point the toes to the sides.
4. Then keep the hands open and face upwards and keep them on the sides of the body.
5. Slowly relax the whole body, paying attention to all the different parts of the body.
6. Relax your body further by taking slow, gentle, and deep breaths. But no one is allowed to fall asleep.
7. After ten minutes, when you feel completely relaxed, take a few deep breaths, open your eyes, and sit comfortably.

This asana provides deep, meditative relaxation through the practice of the practice. It helps repair tissues and cells and release stress, leaving you refreshed. It helps manage stress by activating the (parasympathetic nervous system) and deactivating the stress response (sympathetic nervous system).

Cobbler Pose

A meditative posture originating from Hatha Yoga, a traditional yoga system. This asana is performed while sitting on a yoga mat, enabling it to stretch the hips, abdominal muscles, and thighs. here, sacral chakra (Swadisthana chakra ) and root chakra (Muladhara chakra) are used for this pose.

Steps

1. Sit on the yoga mat and bend your legs.
2. Grasp both feet or ankles with your hands.
3. Breathe in and slowly lower the knees towards the floor. This should not be difficult.
4. Relax your hands, keep your spine straight, and keep your head straight.
5. Bring the legs up and down like a butterfly. Here, blood circulation and warmth are created to stretch the internal muscles.
6. Then slowly stop the movement and stay in the pose. Try to lower the knees a little more while exhaling.
7. After achieving the pose, inhale slowly and straighten the legs slowly (one leg at a time). Certain movements such as twisting the ankles and bending the toes can be done while sitting to release the numbness in the legs.
8. Return to Dandasana as the final step.

In this asana, the heart rate decreases, which saves the energy of the person and helps to give energy to the body. It increases the efficiency of the bowels and helps to reduce stress by relaxing the ‘sphincter muscle’ and creating relaxation in the mind and body.

High Lunge Pose

This pose is taken as a standing pose. This is suitable for all levels and styles of Asana practice. As well as it takes for the warm-up pose.  here stretches, and strengthens our back, shoulder, and leg muscles.

Steps

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and arms by your sides. Keep the left foot 3.5 feet or four feet behind.
2. Bend the knee of the right leg until the thigh of the right leg is parallel to the floor. Keep the back (left leg) straight and strong. But don’t overextend.
3. Extend the arms by raising them above the head.
4. Then draw the lower ribs, extending the chest and spine.
5. Look ahead of the eyes or slightly above your hands.
6. Breathe and hold. (several seconds) At the release, lower the arms and place the back foot forward. After leaving the seat, perform this procedure on the opposite leg.

Down Word Dog

This is called ‘ Adho Mukha Svanasana ‘ it is used in modern yoga as an exercise in commonly. But it is not an easy pose. Down word dog pose is most used in Vinyasa and Ashtanga styles.

Steps

1. Begin this asana with hips above knees and shoulders above wrists.
2. Then place your hands down on the yoga mat or floor with your legs extended and knees straight.
3. Then turn the body upside down. It should resemble a ‘V’ shape.
4. Extend the spine and keep the head towards the floor between the hands.
5. Breathe in and out properly. Then release yourself by slowly bringing your knees to the floor as you release from the seat.

Uttanasana

This pose is special for sun salutation, hatha yoga, and Ashtanga yoga. This is a Sanskrit word. It means a strong and intentional stretch. We can find information regarding this pose in Krishnamacharya, B.K.S.Iyenger, and Pattabhi Jois’s texts.

Steps

1. Sit on the yoga mat and stand up again by breathing. Feet together or leg width apart.
2. Bend forward from the hip joints after the exhale.
3. Reach your palms or fingertips toward the floor in front or to the side of the feet. Knees can be straight or bent.
4. As you inhale, lift and stretch the front torso slightly. Stay consistent as long as it’s comfortable. Breathe evenly.

Apart from these asanas, we can take standing forward bend, cat-cow pose, easy pose, head-to-knee forward bend and bridge pose for stress management. Though yoga calms the body and stress manage.

Meditation

According to Herbert Benson’s studies “ found that meditation counteracts the stress response in turn improving any health conditions related to chronic stress “ Sitting in a yoga position with an open waist and hips is a meditation position.

The benefits of meditation

• Calm the mind and body
• Intensify personal and spiritual growth
• Control stress.

Meditation refers religion to religion. According to yoga, there are five types of meditation poses. Those meditation poses are mentioned below.

• Padmasana 
• Virasana

Here, those meditation poses are explained.

Padmasana

This medication is taken as the lotus flower. Therefore it is called ‘ Padmasana ‘ there are three steps in this medication.

1. Quarter lotus
2. Ardha Padmasana
3. Padmasana

This Padmasana creates a foundation for meditation practice. This form of meditation is also very helpful in managing stress.

Virasana

This is a simple sitting yoga pose. This word comes from the Sanskrit word “ vajra “ which means thunderbolt or diamond. In this pose breathing and meditative exercises are done. As a result of that our bodies become as strong as a diamond.

1. Kneel on the floor on the yoga mat.
2. Then bring your knees together with your ankles. Keep the soles of the feet up so that the toes touch.
3. Then sit on the leg and breathe. Buttocks should rest on the heels.
4. Keep your hands on your thighs straighten your spine and head and inhale and exhale slowly.
5. Remain in the seat for a while and keep the hands relaxed on the thighs.

 Nowadays most people live a busy life. They have to do a lot of work throughout the day to live. Apart from that they haven’t time to spend free time. All ways they doing something. At least they don’t talk with family members. As a result of that they have stress and mental diseases. If they have to do yoga at least one pose for one day or week, or do meditation take five minutes before sleep most people will be able to manage stress.