Originally Published by Dana Santas on Happify
Anxiety is one of the biggest mental stressors. When we feel anxious, our heart rate and blood pressure increase and we start taking rapid, shallow breaths. In response to the stress on our body and mind, our sympathetic “fight-or-flight” nervous system kicks in to boost cortisol (the primary stress hormone) production and adrenaline as physiological support—perpetuating the racing heart, high blood pressure, and rapid breathing—to feed feelings of anxiety in an unabating cycle of stress. And, when you live in a constant state of stress, it’s been shown to manifest physically as inflammation.
Yoga is widely recognized as a stress-relieving practice. Various studies have shown that practicing yoga reduces feelings of anxiety as well as stifles the body’s physiological responses to stress—including, reducing inflammation.
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