Relieve anxiety attacks with yoga.
Many of us experience bouts of anxiety during different times of the day-just before getting up from bed early morning, or when we wake up during the middle of the night. This short, simple practice will calm you down so that you can be in a better emotional state within a few minutes.
1.Prolong your exhales: Sit or lie down. Try to close your eyes if you can. Gently close your mouth. Inhale through the nose and exhale slowly through the nose, making it as prolonged as possible. Breathe without straining, just simple and easy breathing. Repeat it for 2-5 minutes.
Because your heart rate is naturally slower when you exhale than when you inhale, making the exhalation longer than the inhalation begins to slow down your overall heart rate, sending a message to your brain that everything is more calm than it was five minutes ago. This message will reduce your stress hormones, quiet your mind chatter and hopefully quell your anxiety.
2.Bhramari (Buzzing Bee) Breath. This breath practice, in which you make a buzzing sound as you exhale, naturally lengthens your exhalation. To practice a simple version of Bhramari, start by inhaling normally through your nose. Then, keeping your mouth closed, make a low- to medium-pitched humming sound in your throat as you exhale. As you make the buzzing sound—which should last the entire length of the exhalation—tune into the literal vibration of the sound waves in your throat and even in your skull and brain. After you complete your exhalation, inhale through your nose, and if you're comfortable, repeat the cycle. Try to make your transitions into and out of each humming exhalation as smooth as possible.
3. 1:2 Breath: In this breath practice, you actually control the length of your inhalations and exhalations, and aim for a ratio of 1:2, for example, a one-second inhalation and a two-second exhalation or a two-second inhalation and a four-second exhalation.
4. Viprita Asana (Legs up against the wall pose): See previous Blog, dated March 21, 2014 "Easy ways to de-stress".
5. Supta Asana: Lie down with soles of your feet touching and knees apart. Rest your hands on your hips or take the arms behind your head and bend the elbows and relax the arms.
6. Close your eyes and imagine that you are gently pulling the top of your scalp down towards the eyebrows. Keep our pupils focused at any point on the bridge of your nose and jeep breathing gently while imagining that. You can do this exercise while sitting or lying down. Within a few seconds, you feel start to feel calm!