Movement is a great way to decrease stress, manage anxiety, and improve resilience. Research shows yoga specifically, can help with anxiety. Here are a few pointers to help you start incorporating yoga into your movement routine.
Movement can be a wonderful way to alleviate stress and anxiety. It’s one of the core areas of health and wellness from the integrative perspective. In fact, there are seven core areas that work together to influence our sense of wellness:
- Sleep
- Movement
- Nutrition
- Relationships
- Resilience
- Purpose & Meaning
- Environment
You can read more about each of these areas here!
Viewing our health from the integrative perspective is helpful in identifying multiple ways to improve our health and well-being, which is one reason I love this perspective. Our health doesn’t come down to just one thing, but movement is an important part.
On a personal note, when I was first diagnosed with anxiety in college, movement was a non-negotiable. I had to work out intensely in order to manage my anxiety. I knew lack of movement was a trigger for stress and anxiety.
Something I didn’t consider back then was how different forms of movement can be helpful in managing anxiety. Yoga offers a slower, more purposeful, and mindful form of movement. This is something I’ve learned to enjoy, although it’s taken some mindset shifts. Now, I work with clients to do the same.
I know there are yogis who swear by it and look incredibly fit from their yoga routines. However, yoga is so different from a traditional workout, especially for some of us anxious folks, it can take work to figure out how to incorporate it into our movement routine.
Research Shows Yoga Helps With Anxiety Symptoms
The reason I’m bringing yoga up today is because there was a meta-analysis published recently.[1] (A meta-analysis is a study that incorporates the data from multiple studies in order to draw conclusions.) It incorporated data from 23 studies and over 1,400 participants. The results revealed that yoga can decrease anxiety symptoms for those living with an anxiety disorder.
Although there are always limitations within studies, it’s important to note that some of the researchers may have allowed bias to influence the results. However, this research still offers valuable research on the impact of yoga on anxiety.
How To Incorporate Yoga Into Your Movement Routine
Some of my wellness coaching clients have said they struggle to incorporate yoga into their routines, even when they know they should be doing it. If this sounds familiar to you, I get it! As someone who has relied on intense workouts, yoga can be drastically different.
For both myself and my clients, I’ve found it really helpful to think about the “why” first. In other words, why do you want to incorporate yoga into your routine? What makes it valuable to you? What are you getting from it?
Here are a few examples of “why” a client may want to incorporate yoga into their movement routine:
- It protects against anxiety.
- It’s a way to practice getting out of the head and down into the body.
- It feels purposeful.
- I feel calmer and more invigorated after I’ve done yoga.
- It helps me feel less stiffness and soreness.
- It teaches me to pay attention to my breath.
When we define our “why” we move from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation. Instead of thinking about what we should do, we start paying attention to how it makes us feel.
A Few Pointers
Here’s a pro tip. When you start a new movement routine, particularly yoga, start small. See if you can try yoga for five to fifteen minutes tonight rather than an hour yoga class every day. Baby steps are always best. This helps to ensure the new habit feels manageable.
In addition, try to approach this from a place of curiosity. Like a researcher, think about each experience as an opportunity to test it out. This takes the pressure off and combats perfectionistic tendencies. If it doesn’t work out or you don’t like it, you have information to make an informed decision rather than feeling like something failed.
Small Changes, Big Transformation
Yoga is one small change we can make to prioritize our health and build resilience. Wellness doesn’t have to feel so overwhelming. Give this practice a try this week and let me know how it goes!
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[1] Martínez-Calderon, J., Casuso-Holgado, M. J., Muñoz-Fernandez, M. J., Garcia-Muñoz, C., & Heredia-Rizo, A. M. (2023). Yoga-based interventions may reduce anxiety symptoms in anxiety disorders and depression symptoms in depressive disorders: a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
