# Struggles and Support > Nutrition, Supplements and Exercise >  >  Yoga for Anxiety

## QuietCalamity

I don't know if anyone else here does yoga, but I find it helps clear my head and stretch out my super tense muscles. I came across this today and some of them look difficult but I think I will try them this weekend. 

http://m.huffpost.com/us/slideshow/2...352548&slide=1

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## L

I have done in the past - it is really relaxing

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## Herbs

I do yoga daily. it helps with stress.

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## nothing

I've been doing yoga every morning for a week now, but aside from sore legs I haven't noticed anything. I'll keep at it though, maybe it will help eventually.

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## Total Eclipse

> I've been doing yoga every morning for a week now, but aside from sore legs I haven't noticed anything. I'll keep at it though, maybe it will help eventually.



What type of yoga are you doing right now?

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## nothing

> What type of yoga are you doing right now?



I've no idea what type it is, I just follow along with a Yoga Zone DVD.

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## QuietCalamity

> I've no idea what type it is, I just follow along with a Yoga Zone DVD.



Do they instruct on how to breathe? I had to do more research on breathing than what my app gives but that was also free.

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## nothing

> Do they instruct on how to breathe? I had to do more research on breathing than what my app gives but that was also free.



In a way I guess, I don't know how to describe it, but for one part of each pose you're supposed to breathe in and as you move into another you breathe out in a certain way. I can never match my breath to the poses the way they instruct though; it's actually starting to really bother me.

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## QuietCalamity

> In a way I guess, I don't know how to describe it, but for one part of each pose you're supposed to breathe in and as you move into another you breathe out in a certain way. I can never match my breath to the poses the way they instruct though; it's actually starting to really bother me.



Sounds like my yoga app. They go too fast for me when they do the complicated sun salutation routine, but I think it makes a big difference if I take my time and wait to do the move when I'm ready to inhale or exhale or whatever and just pause it while I catch up. According to one yoga expert from Beijing (who used to have a free app I really liked) the proper breathing technique is called  Bhastrika.

From Wikipedia:
Bhastrika (pronounced bah-STREE-kah) is one of the most important pranayamas... It is a breathing technique where breathing is forcible and through the nose, with equal time for inhalation and exhalation.[2] Bhastrika Pranayama is aimed at keeping the inhalation cycle equal to exhalation, yet making breath deeper and longer. Deep breath inwards and long exhalation outwords with equal time intervals constitutes this pranayam technique.

And he said using your stomach to breathe deeply with your diaphragm is important too. It sounds really complicated but once you practice it comes more naturally. I have an app that is just a breathing metronome that really helps with the rhythm, especially if I start with that before I do my yoga.

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## nothing

> Sounds like my yoga app. They go too fast for me when they do the complicated sun salutation routine, but I think it makes a big difference if I take my time and wait to do the move when I'm ready to inhale or exhale or whatever and just pause it while I catch up. According to one yoga expert from Beijing (who used to have a free app I really liked) the proper breathing technique is called  Bhastrika.
> 
> From Wikipedia:
> Bhastrika (pronounced bah-STREE-kah) is one of the most important pranayamas... It is a breathing technique where breathing is forcible and through the nose, with equal time for inhalation and exhalation.[2] Bhastrika Pranayama is aimed at keeping the inhalation cycle equal to exhalation, yet making breath deeper and longer. Deep breath inwards and long exhalation outwords with equal time intervals constitutes this pranayam technique.
> 
> And he said using your stomach to breathe deeply with your diaphragm is important too. It sounds really complicated but once you practice it comes more naturally. I have an app that is just a breathing metronome that really helps with the rhythm, especially if I start with that before I do my yoga.



That sounds exactly like what they're trying to do in the video, but if I waited for the guy instructing to tell me when to breathe I'd pass out because sometimes he really misses the cue. I just have it going in the background for general guidance now and I breathe at my own pace as I move into each pose. I'm not sure if it's helping my anxiety because I've actually been panicking more than usual lately, but I definitely feel the change in my body; I feel stronger. I'm also thinking about my situation more lately so I think that's what's causing the additional anxiety, that and the fact that I'm not medicating myself with alcohol and benzos. Things are pretty crappy but I'm going to stick with the yoga.

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## QuietCalamity

> That sounds exactly like what they're trying to do in the video, but if I waited for the guy instructing to tell me when to breathe I'd pass out because sometimes he really misses the cue. I just have it going in the background for general guidance now and I breathe at my own pace as I move into each pose. I'm not sure if it's helping my anxiety because I've actually been panicking more than usual lately, but I definitely feel the change in my body; I feel stronger. I'm also thinking about my situation more lately so I think that's what's causing the additional anxiety, that and the fact that I'm not medicating myself with alcohol and benzos. Things are pretty crappy but I'm going to stick with the yoga.



Good for you! That takes a lot of strength to quit those things. You'll build strength in your lungs and diaphragm if you keep at it, too. I hope everything gets easier for you.  :Hug:

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## Otherside

Keep wondering about trying yoga to help with my anxieties. I've heard it can do wonders.

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## Koalafan

> Keep wondering about trying yoga to help with my anxieties. I've heard it can do wonders.



Agreed! Yoga and meditation are both things I wish I could make stick more. They definitely have pretty strong anti-anxiety effects when I actually commit to doing them  ::):

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