Taming Anxiety through Yoga

We all know anxiety. Those racing thoughts, the heart that speeds up, the breath that feels stuck. Sometimes it comes suddenly, sometimes it slowly takes over until it occupies all the space. Yoga doesn’t claim to make anxiety disappear like magic, but it offers a valuable path to tame it.

The first step is to slow down and observe: notice the thoughts and situations that trigger your anxiety, and listen to how your body reacts. This moment of awareness is essential because we can only transform what we truly see.

Breathing: Finding Your Anchor

When anxiety rises, the breath shortens. It’s as if the body forgets it can breathe fully. Yoga offers a simple practice: lengthen the exhale.

Try this right now: inhale slowly through your nose, then release the air gently, slightly longer than your inhale. Repeat three times. You may already feel your mind calming and your body relaxing.

Creating Distance from Your Thoughts

According to Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras, suffering often comes from identifying too closely with our thoughts. A liberating practice is to observe your problem from the outside.

Imagine placing your worry in a bubble and letting it float in front of you. By entrusting it to the universe, you gain perspective. You realize you are not your anxiety—you are the one observing it. This simple shift can change everything.

Gratitude: A Powerful Antidote

Anxiety draws attention to what worries us. Gratitude redirects focus to what nourishes and supports us.

Each evening, take a notebook and write down three things you are grateful for. It could be a shared meal, a deep breath, a quiet moment. This simple ritual gradually changes the way you perceive life: you start noticing what is going well, even amidst the chaos.

Yoga Poses to Calm Anxiety

Anxiety leaves traces in the body. Moving mindfully helps release tension and soothes the mind. Here’s a short sequence to try:

• Spinal Twist – releases the back and calms the nervous system.

• Side Stretch – opens the chest and encourages deeper breathing.

• Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) or Legs-Up-the-Wall (Viparita Karani) – calms agitation and offers a fresh perspective.

• Plow Pose (Halasana) – invites deep letting go.

• Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana) – relaxes the back and eases emotions.

• Savasana with a Cushion on the Abdomen – provides a sense of safety and encourages gentle breathing.

Conclusion

Learning to live with anxiety takes time and patience. Yet every conscious breath, every posture, every act of gratitude gradually builds an inner space of calm.

Yoga doesn’t ask you to be perfect or serene all the time. It simply invites you to return to yourself, one breath at a time. And often, it is in this simplicity that true calm begins to emerge.