Here’s how yoga can help you be more mindful and banish negative thoughts

Yoga is not just about gaining benefits for your physical health; it also brings immense peace to the mind. Here’s what you can do to relieve stress when you experience mind chatter all the time.
mindful yoga
Yoga can help with everything. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Abhishek Otwal Updated: 17 Jun 2021, 15:30 pm IST
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All thoughts are not created equal, nor are they completely positive and negative; they vary in both their number and psychological effect. Recent studies have shown that excessive negative thinking can easily damage the neural structures that regulate emotions, memory, and feeling. This is one of the major factors for many lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, depression, etc. In order to deal with negativity and stress, we need an effective solution which can help us overcome mental disturbances, allowing us to live peacefully.

There are certain solutions available in yoga like meditation and physical practices that can help overcome stress and allow us to live a joyous and wonderful life. Here are some  points that talk about how yoga revives mindfulness and eliminates negative/bad thoughts:

1. Very often the mind imitates what the body feels like. And if your body is feeling low and experiencing signs like stiffness and exhaustion, it is by default that your mind will feel sluggish and lethargic. To combat this, yoga has moon and sun salutations, which are called chandra and surya namaskar, these are physical practices that allow the body to open up. These movements are like medicine to your body and mind. When you start to move your body, the mind naturally and automatically begins to relax. The sun and moon salutation doesn’t just improve physical strength, flexibility and stamina, but it also energizes the mind and keeps you super active and positive throughout the day.

yoga for heart
These simple hand gestures can improve your heart health. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

2. There are too many powerful techniques that yoga offers, which can be therapeutic and help to relieve stress. Stithi dhyan is one such type of meditation, which builds our observation powers and makes us watchful and alert of our immediate surroundings. This is a kind of meditation that slows down your reactions and enables you to exercise a pause in your thought process. This, in turn, allows you to react better to situations rather than impetuously respond from a state of negative emotions. Yoga basically improves the clarity of mind and helps you become more focused on your goals and objectives.

3. Pranayama plays an important role in yoga practice and one that translates well to life off the mat. Always try to take deep breaths and realize that this is a quick way to combat stressful situations. Always remember when you do any kind of yoga, it’s all about uniting your body, mind, and breathing. Even an easy pose like a mountain pose is a stress reliever, when you are focusing on keeping your breathing slow and even.

When we’re under stress, we are always thinking about what we need to do in the future or what we could have done better in the past. Instead of letting your thoughts wander, think about what your mind, body and breath are doing in that moment. Observe how a particular muscle or area of the body feels like. Focus on how you breathe in slowly, as your body stretches and breathes out as you curl up.This helps you build your ability to focus and concentrate, which helps in all aspects of life.

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The last word

The best part about yoga is that it helps you find out more about your mind, body, and emotions. It can help you become more balanced, calm, focused, and relaxed as you go through life’s usual ups and downs. Obviously, you won’t instantaneously feel more positive, calm, or energetic after doing a few yoga poses. As with all superior things, the effects of yoga need to build up over time. But if you give yourself half an hour every day to do a few yoga asanas, after a couple of weeks you start noticing a subtle change in your lifestyle. Keep going longer and yoga will become a natural part of your everyday routine, ready to help you manage life’s stresses well into the future.

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About the Author

Abhishek Otwal is a celebrity Yoga expert. ...Read More

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