Yoga is a great way to reduce your stress levels. A few postures followed by a short breath meditation can work wonders to bring yourself back to a calm centre. Try a few rounds of Marjariasana followed by resting in Shashankasana for several breaths.
Begin by establishing a steady box position on all fours. Your shoulders and hips should be supported with padding under the knees for comfort and arms slightly forward to prevent straining the wrists. The yogi here is advanced and is taking their head back a fair way – use your own common sense, if your neck doesn’t go that far – don’t force it! Beginners should really keep their head steady, after all this is a back stretching exercise.
Breathing in
Breathing out
Resting either with the forehead on the mat or onto your hands
Afterwards, sit in the kneeling position and close the eyes gently. Begin to focus on your breath, count the length of the inhale and exhale – after a while start to bring them into an equal count. Once this is settled to a rhythm, try extending the in and out breath for one count.
When you have had enough, let the counting go, open the eyes and see if you feel a little better.
There is an excellent list of ‘Top 10 Stress Busters’ at the NHS website.
