Five Yoga Exercises to Release Anxiety Fast

Yoga is one of the best ways to relieve anxiety. Many people believe yoga exercises are only asanas; however, the best yoga exercises to release anxiety combine Pranayama, Dhyana, and Asanas. These practices extend beyond the first kosha, the physical body, to heal the emotional, mental, and life force energy body.

Pranayama: Increased airflow in our lungs improves breathing capacity, helps us slow down our heart rate, and brings us into a state of calmness.

Dhyana: Dynamic meditations are instrumental in releasing blocked or suppressed emotions, as before we can deal with our feelings, we must first become aware of them.

Asana: Any physical position or movement used in yoga to achieve relaxation or health benefits. The following five yoga exercises relieve anxiety by helping you relax and calm down:

1) Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing): This exercise helps balance our nervous system and helps release anxiety. Using your thumb and fourth finger of your right hand, alternate closing the right nostril, breathing in through the left nostril, closing the left nostril, then breathing out through the right nostril and back again. By practicing this exercise regularly, you will feel more relaxed throughout the day!

2) Child's Pose (Balasana): Child's Pose is another easy way to relieve anxiety by calming down your nervous system. It also helps reduce stress levels and improves concentration. Kneel on your mat, touching your big toes together while sitting on your heels. Separate your knees about as wide as your hips. While exhaling, lay your abdomen between your inner thighs and your forehead on the mat, pressing your third eye. Lower your arms to rest them by your feet with your palms facing up. Stay in the pose for as long as feels good, following your breath in and out.

3) Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani): Connecting your body to the ground and raising your feet above your head has many health benefits to rebalancing the body's circulation and regulation systems. Viparita Karani instantly, physically and mentally, redistributes energy in the body while bringing more blood flow to the brain. Do this practice on your yoga mat or up against an empty wall in your home.

4) Meditation (Dhyana): Dynamic meditation for anxiety relief involves maintaining awareness of emotions in the body with curiosity and allowing the soul to recognize and process these emotions without judgment. Find a comfortable place to be seated, and turn your gaze inwards on whatever emotion you feel. We can understand and release these emotions by maintaining steady, active breathing while opening the space for our feelings to be recognized and acknowledged. Usually, these emotions do not return, or at least with less intensity, in future similar experiences.

5) Savasana (Corpse Pose): A classic final relaxation pose that calms the mind, lowers stress levels and relieves tension in the body. After an active yoga session or walk, lay flat on your back with your palms facing the ceiling. Close your eyes and try to clear your mind of all thoughts, one at a time. As thoughts come in, breathe and release the attachment to the idea as you return your focus to the earth's grounding energy beneath you. This practice helps relieve anxiety by clearing the clutter from your mind and grounding your energies to the earth below you.

My Guru Grand Master Akshar would say, "You take the trash out every day or every other day in your home; how often do you take out the trash in your mind?

The constant practice of yoga brings you into a state of mindfulness, where you become more aware of your body, mind, and spirit. Use the methods as frequently as you need to maintain your balance and learn to release your anxiety.