Yoga Can Heal Your Anxiety Now: 2 Powerful Poses to Start With

|Parinaz Shams

Most people think they need to just take over the counter meds or get another test done at the doctor’s office to feel better.

Actually, there are other options to explore…

And, many people think yoga is just a bunch of stretches done in expensive leggings by people who are born flexible…

Yoga - long before it was trendy - was practiced for thousands of years as a form of healing, strength-building, and vitality boosting for people of different ages.

It heals pain + tension in the body.

It resolves emotional pain + trauma.

It connects you to yourself so you feel confident + happy with yourself.

And it is meant for EVERYONE.

The non-flexible.

The non-skinnies.

The non-trendy.

Yoga can transform your life.

Yoga has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress in people of different ages, genders, backgrounds, and life circumstances.

That is exactly why it’s a key element of my wellness retreats.

If you're looking for an effective way to manage your anxiety, feel less frazzled and anxious, ditch that nagging uncertainty of how to cope with the stressors in our lives...then keep reading.

Yoga may be the answer.

If you feel like you're constantly under pressure...

Like you can't catch a break...as if even when you’re pushing harder and harder there are still a million things to do, ways you could have done better, and it has you completely on-edge?

You're not alone.

These stressors can lead to anxious behavior, an unsettled mind, and a body that holds onto pain.

A recent study found that anxiety is now the “most common mental health issue” in America.

Affecting over 40 million adults, anxiety has people hospitalized, medicated, and in physical pain far more than non-anxious people (1).

Anxiety comes in many different forms, looking different for each person, and with less than half of people experiencing anxiety seeking a form of treatment for it, we are more frazzled, stressed, and overwhelmed than ever...

I’m here to tell you, there is hope.

You can do more than TREAT or manage your anxiety...you can actually drastically reduce its symptoms and side-effects naturally.

I’ve done it for myself and I help ambitious professionals around the world just like you do it every day. A number one tool that I use in my comprehensive approach to healing anxiety + transforming people’s lives for the better so that they feel healthy, happy, and at ease is:

Yoga.

Multiple studies have found that yoga, mediation, and breathing exercises can reduce multiple forms of anxiety disorders, including prenatal anxiety, sleep disruptions, and depression.

What do yoga, meditation and breath-work have in common that are able to relieve these disruptive experiences?

They all move Prana.

To understand Prana and how it's essential to your inner calm and health, we need to get some context...

Prana is a Sanskrit word that translates to “Vital life force”.

Your Prana is an inner resource that is living in your right now that is the literal engine for your life...

Your Prana is responsible for your vitality, and when it is strong, health, and flowing clearly, it brings a natural state of rhythm, balance, and clam to your body, mind and energy.

That sounds pretty damn nice, right?

Have you ever heard of Qi pronounced (chee)? Chinese medicine has taught for thousands of years about the power of harnessing + moving your Qi to experience greater physical strength, mental clarity + focus, and emotional grounded-ness.

Practices that stimulate Qi are the same practices used in ancient Indian + Persian traditions to move Prana.

These ancient sciences have all long understood that our vital life force must be nurtured daily so that we don’t need to rely on artificial stimulants, medications to put us to sleep, and the host of pills + potions we take to keep our body feeling youthful + alive...

So, how do you move Prana?

Simply put, you start moving your Prana through your body...

That's right...using meditation and breath-work and yoga (there are other ways, too).

These are the powerful tools that I use with my private clients and have used as my personal fuel for years to boost and move Prana...

But yoga is one of my favorite places to start because it's familiar, it’s tangible than meditation (which most people focuses on the mind) and you can start at any level...

Now you might be thinking, “yeah I already do 60 minutes of yoga at my local CorePower studio and I still feel anxious”

Or you might be saying “I can’t do yoga, I’m not flexible or good at it”

I HEAR YOU.

Let me be clear- do not buy into the trending image of a svelte glistening body doing a handstand that makes you think you CAN do yoga.

Yoga is possible for you today even if you are stiff, sore, and inflexible...

In fact, by just starting yoga without trying to be perfect or like the Instagram yogis, you are changing the health trajectory of your life because you are healing old trauma, bottled-up emotions, and so much more.

When I started yoga, I couldn't touch my toes!!! I started slow and simple...I'm saying,

You don’t need to do 60-minutes of a power flow

where you sweat all your tears out to soothe anxiety...actually, it might only ramp it up because you are perpetuating that same 'push harder even when it hurts' mindset that is contributing to your anxiety + pain (your status quo).

Instead, you can try ONE yoga sequence and start realizing a host of benefits, including reduced anxiety and stress...

What is a yoga sequence?

A sequence is a set of movements...could be one or two or twenty...but it doesn’t have to be complicated...it's’ just one movement stacked on-top of another...

Here is the yoga sequence that will change your life...

Sun Salutation

Sun Salutation also known as Sura Namaskara and referred to as "Sun Sals" by me,

has been practiced for thousands of years in India and now across the world.

If you’ve ever been to a yoga class, chances are you did at least one sun salutation in that class...look at you! yogi and you didn’t even know it!

Dr. John Douillard, Ayurvedic expert who proves ancient wisdom with modern science, showed in a recent study that Sun Salutations have little known benefits to anxiety + stress that should not go overlooked.

In his article, Dr. Douillard says Sun Sals remedy a particular imbalance that affects just about every modern-day human.

Well, hot damn, I wanna know what that is, don’t you!!??

Before we dive into how the Sun Sal can benefit you, check out the photos below to see what a Sun Sal actually is...it will help you visualize the described process + benefits to follow.

As you can see from the images above, Sun Sal is a sequence that links lifting and folding postures that are coordinated by the inhale and exhale...

When you inhale, you lift high or extend back. When you exhale, you fold or come together...

This breath-to-movement experience is what produces a host of benefits and healing effects in your body...

1. It promotes blood-flow throughout your muscles as you stretch them through the breath-to-movement sequence and as you increase that blood-flow you are promoting space in your body...that means less tension, tightness, and compressed space for stress to accumulate and develop into anxiety.

2. It requires deep, full breaths. you’ve probably noticed that your breath gets shallow when you are stressed, nervous, or anxious...this sequence promotes full lung breathing that actually expands your diaphragm (that space below your ribs). When you take full breaths, you are fully exchanging oxygen and releasing the doubt, tension, and emotional debris that is building in your body.

3. Presence of moment: when you are anxious and on-edge you are not focusing on the moment at hand...you tune out the the conversation happening in front of you...you forget your thoughts...that disassociation leads to further stress and mental fog...when coordinating your breath to your movement and when you engage your full body in a sun salutation, all of you is focused on that experience...the practice of being in the moment rather than checking out of it due to intense stress, helps you soothe the anxiety and stay functional....

4. weight loss: Dr Douillard shared in his article an added bonus from sun salutations...because it promotes full deep breathing, he says it allows for “complete CO2 exchange”. Because there is “significant increase in CO2 released during nose breathing compared to mouth breathing” you are expelling waste from stored fats in the body, which can aid in a more naturally balanced body weight.

So whether you've been a yogi for decades or you’ve always resisted because you don’t wanna “be that guy” who looks like they don’t know what they’re doing.

You now know HOW to do a sun salutation and can start today in the comfort of your own home...

You don’t even need a mat...just go for it - give it a try and write in the comments how this works for you + any question you have...

A second posture that I want to share with you is beyond simple. It was introduced to me by my yoga teacher when I began my Yoga teacher-training.

She recommended me this practice because I suffered from chronic lower back pain.

It would keep me up at night, sometimes I would literally not rest the entire night because of the pulsating, hot pain in my back.

This posture is perfect for you if you:

• are experiencing lower back pain or stiffness

• are experiencing neck pain or headaches

• get painful PMS symptoms and cramping during menstruation

• have restless legs syndrome

• have aching feet/legs at the end of the day

• have anxiety that has you feeling stressed, fearful, and overwhelmed.

• 
  

Here is it:

Legs Up the Wall Pose

Legs Up the Wall Pose (also known as Viparita Karani) is accessible and easy for many people.

It has a range of benefits that can be achieved through this simple restorative pose.

This pose is a cornerstone aspect of my daily routine and is what I teach to every single client I have who is dealing with chronic pain, inflammation, emotional distress, and more...

It may look simple, but when it comes to healing the body, less is more.

Now that you've tried Legs Up the Wall and you've learned about the Sun Salutation Sequence, you are more than equipped with enough yoga to start truly healing your anxiety and the symptoms that come along with it.

You don't have to spend hours in the yoga studio or on YouTube trying to keep up with fast-paced moves that only leave you intimidated and stressed out...

Keep it simple, keep your breath as the focus, and remember

You are not alone.

Drop a comment below with any questions you have. I definitely want to hear how these postures work for you!

P.S. My upcoming wellness retreat in April, 2022 is designed to teach you healing yoga that will actually transform your body and mind.

You will learn the most effective, tested + proven yoga sequences that are simple to do and offer the greatest benefits to your health.

Are you ready?

Click the button for full details + get a 15% discount off your retreat package when you sign up to join us before February 8th, 2022!