Simple yoga stretches, breathing techniques and relaxation practices are some of the more popular ways of relaxing.
Like most people, you spend a lot of your day busy at work, you invest time and energy to do your best and give your best to work colleagues, family and friends.
Most of the time you probably enjoy life, you have a wide social network, whether it's an on-line community, like Facebook or friends you meet outside of work.
You enjoy good health and are aware of the pros and cons of eating well.
Generally speaking you feel happy and content with life.
If this sounds like you, how do you cope when something goes wrong? For instance, suppose your partner suddenly falls ill and you have to take on the lions' share of domestic chores and care for your young children; maybe you have been offered promotion at work which means you have to spend more time on the road travelling between clients and less time at home with your family.
Change, whether positive or negative is stressful.
No matter how healthy or positive you are about life, when faced with unexpected changes to your daily routine, your body reacts and tension and stress build up inside.
When life gets to you and you are not sure what to do, the best thing you can do is relax.
Just a few minutes of relaxation exercises will give you the space to re-evaluate and rethink the choices open to you.
Here are my five favourite yoga techniques which you can use to support you and release stress when you have difficult decisions to make.
Top Four Yoga Techniques to Help You Release Stress 1.
Yoga exercises help you to stretch and release tension and nervous energy stored in your body.
Lack of exercise is a contributory factor in many stress related health problems, especially as you get older.
Simple stretches, done a few times during your day helps you to find relief and to strengthen your body and make it more supple.
2.
Yoga breathing exercises offer you a simple and efficient way to relieve stress, especially from what I call short-term stress situations, such as having to hand a report in to your boss the following day but your child is unwell so you feel too tired to do the research and write the report.
When you feel stressed and tired, spend 2 - 5 minutes being still and observe the movement of breath, first through your nose, back of your throat and all the way down to your abdomen, just be still and observe your breath.
At the end of the practice you will be amazed at how much clearer, energised and refocused you feel.
3.
Meditation techniques.
Through meditation, inner peace is experienced.
As you meditate you experience a deeper sense of body awareness, you realise where the imbalances are in your body, where you hold stiffness and tension.
A regular meditation practice builds up your internal reservoirs so you do not succumb so readily to stressful situations.
4.
Yoga diet.
A healthy diet, one that is rich in wholesome and live food provides your body with the enzymes and nutrients needed to build up and maintain a strong immune system.
When you are going through a stressful period try to eat a wide range of vegetables and snack on fruits and nuts as opposed to highly processed and fatty foods such as cakes, cookies and pizzas.
Although these tips and changes are simple they have a profound effect on how your body responds to stress.
Whether you try the yoga exercises to release stress or eat an extra handful of nuts together you are helping your body to cope more effectively with stress.
Which technique to do find most useful in dealing with unexpected stress?