Happy Monday Yogis!

Practicing Yoga has so many benefits for our bodies, minds and spirits. One of my favorite aspects of Yoga is the huge amount of Stress Relief it provides! Read on to learn more about how Yoga helps relieve stress.

With the ever moving, updating and beeping world of technology we live in today, our bodies are constantly in the mode of fight or flight. This is our sympathetic nervous system at work, raising our blood pressure and hormone levels in case of impending danger. But what our bodies don’t know is, we are not actually in danger every moment of every day! Our bodies response systems have not changed much in thousands of years, but the world we live in sure has.

During Yoga, we go internal and focus on our breath, tuning out the external influences in our lives, the past and future worries. Our bodies start to work in the parasympathetic nervous system, our rest and digest function. This reduces our hormone levels, including cortisol, the primary stress inducing hormone.

It doesn’t hurt that every practice ends with Savasana! The ultimate reward and relaxation after a tough physical practice. I encourage you to step on your mat and give your mind and body a much needed break!