Yoga and meditation are two inter-twined ways to achieve lower stress in your life. Both of these things have been shown to help reduce blood pressure, provide emotional relief, and relieve mental fatigue. They have also been shown to contribute to an increase in physical energy levels. Rather than sap your strength and energy as stress build-up does, yoga and meditation can help to increase your strength and energy.

Yoga and meditation are both ways to help you release your stress, channeling it into more positive and constructive channels. Allowing the tension that stress causes to build-up without release can lead to anger management problems, physical ailments, and mental fatigue. By getting rid of the stress, you allow yourself to focus more mentally, and you are able to think more clearly, letting fewer things bother you and cause an angry explosion of negative emotion. Such outbursts as emotional release have been shown to have negative impacts on the body’s health.

Any exercise is beneficial when it comes to stress relief, but yoga is helpful because it incorporates a variety of techniques that are medically shown to reduce stress. Breathing (slow and deliberate), fluid body movements, and strength building exercise are all things that can relieve stress and result in lowered blood pressure. Additionally, yoga in meant to help the mind and spirit as well, contributing to clearer thinking and better feelings. When one has feelings of general well-being, this is a healthy attitude that contributes to a healthier heart, lower blood pressure, and a sense of confidence and emotional stability.

Meditation is also helpful. It is linked in many ways to yoga. In meditation, you focus on something soothing, whether it is an inspirational verse, a calming image, a single syllable, or the way you are breathing. This pushes out other thoughts, and releases stress, allowing you to relax and your body to let go of the accrued tension. It is possible to do meditative yoga, and combine the benefits of the two practices.

It is important to reduce the feelings of stress you have in your life. If you can reduce the amount of emotional, mental, and physical stress that you feel, your body will be healthier and you will have more energy. You will feel better and think more clearly. And as a result, you will feel less stress in your life overall.

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Find out more tips on how to control the stress in your life by visiting the Stress Directory

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Reduce Stress With Yoga and Meditation

When you experience stress, there is a dramatic change in your mind and body. Stress affects us physically, mentally and emotionally, and 90% of all health problems arise out of stresses.

Stresses can bring about changes in your body which may make you feel ill. Most common problems associated with stresses are

• Difficulty to conceive (infertility amongst women)
• Sleeping difficulties
• Headaches
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Nervous breakdown
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Stroke
• Weakness or lack of energy
• Irritation
• Inability to concentrate
• Erratic eating habits; eating too much or eating nothing at all
• Feeling sad and deprived
• Losing temper very easily
• Asthma
• Tension
• Stomach cramps
• Anxiety
• Weight gain (Obesity)
• Weight loss
• Heart problems
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Pain at joints
• Less sex drive
• Hair loss
• Hyperthyroidism
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Tooth aches
• Gum diseases
• Ulcers
• PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
• Migraine
• Auto-Immune diseases
  • Eczema
  • Psoriasis
  • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Oral and genital herpes
  • Crohn’s disease (also known as granulomatous colitis and regional enteritis)
• Possibility of cancer

Some facts about stress and concerns about health

Death due to emotional stress is more likely from cancer or cardiovascular diseases rather than smoking and drinking. A study has revealed that people who managed stress ineffectively had 40% higher death rate than people who were not stressed out

People who experienced heart attacks and got angry during emotional arguments doubled the risk of subsequent attacks.

When stresses are handled positively, they are beneficial to us and help us keep alert and be active, energetic. Too much stress turns into distress, and when we handle them negatively, it affects every part of life. Negative handling of stress affects you physically, mentally and emotionally. To make matters worse, we may break relations and deteriorate our status in the society. Negative handling of stress leads us to depression, and to get over this depression people get attracted to seek help of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Initially these things make us feel that we are not stressed, and give a sense of relieving stresses. The body remains stressed, and the substance abuse make us addicted to them which help in making matters worse. A stressed out person is be given care and attention as soon as possible with emotional support as well. Stress kills silently and can become fatal over a period of time, hamper one’s happy and healthy life.

2. Write about the issues that are most impacting your life today, particularly any health concerns.

3. Make a list of everything causing you stress—which can lead to ill-health, then note what you can (or cannot) do about each item.

4. If you can’t get an event out of your mind—like an unpleasant conversation with a co-worker—write what you wish the conversation had unfolded, in dialogue form.

5. Create a mantra or positive affirmation, then journal ways to fulfill the affirmation. An example of a mantra might be: “I am safe, my life is filled with peace.”

Finally, re-read your journals on a consistent basis, looking for self-defeating or negative patterns.

Patti Testerman