8 Yoga Videos That Will Melt Your Stubborn Stress Away
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Like chicken soup, yoga is good for the soul. It can boost your energy, help with respiratory and cardiovascular health, keep you strong and flexible, and improve your sleep. It also plays a part in reducing anxiety and stress, which makes sense: similar to meditation, it's about listening to the breath and, in the process, you learn to develop a connection to the body through stretch and self-reflection.
Now, I'm no yogi, but just this past year I've incorporated quick sessions into my daily routine when I feel like I need it as a form of self-care. As a former gymnast, it's also a great way to keep up my flexibility. While I've found that almost every flow I've tried mitigates stress, there are flows that specifically target stress and anxiety. Here are some of the best ones I've tried recently, all from YouTube. I hope you'll join me this week, this month, or sometime this year for a little peace of mind.
20-Minute Yoga to Heal Stress From Yoga With Adriene
I want to start out by saying that Adriene Mishler's Yoga With Adriene YouTube channel has flows for everything — period cramps, bad moods, text neck — it's great. This gentle flow from Mishler is meant to calm the body, and you have the option to bring pillows as well (I definitely did). My favorite part was doing Forward Fold in a seated position with my chest on a pillow.
10-Minute Chill Out Yoga Stretch From Sarah Beth
I highly recommend doing this sequence before bed. It's simple yet effective in relaxing the mind and finding your center. Some feel-good poses include Happy Baby and Chair Pose. I know what you're thinking: "Why would you want to do a move like Chair Pose, that targets the legs, right before bed?" Personally, it brought some heat into my body, and by focusing on my balance, I was able to forget about the day's stressors. Of course, you can do this sequence whenever is convenient for you.
23-Minute Detox Flow From Yoga With Adriene
This particular "Yoga Wash" video really did calm me down after a particularly stressful day and completely alleviated my stress headache in just 20 minutes.
30-Minute Restorative Yoga From Alo Yoga
The key to this restorative yoga flow is "breathing space" into the tight areas of your body. It's full of deep hip stretches and comforting poses like Child's Pose as well as a variation of Savasana to end the video.
30-Minute Chill Yoga From Class FitSugar
This mellow Class FitSugar yoga flow led by Mishler is a must when you want to step away from your day and simply be in the present. My favorite part of the video is when she has you do Lion's Breath about two thirds of the way through, where you exhale loudly with your tongue out to release any anxiety or emotional buildup. It's phenomenal. Also, you get to whisper "I'm strong" to yourself, which is equally wonderful.
12-Minute Stress Relief From Boho Beautiful
This quick flow is particularly calming because of the push-pull of the waves in the background. You end with Happy Baby and Savasana, and you are guided through the process of internal awareness and winding down.
26-Minute Stress Melt From Yoga With Adriene
Mishler does it again with a yoga flow to melt your stress away. You'll be close to the ground for the entire video and tapping into energy as well as relaxing into poses such as Child's Pose. Are you in?
45-Minute Stress Relief Flow From Yoga With Kassandra
Though this yoga flow is a bit longer than the others, it's worth your time. It starts with a breathing exercise where you use your fingers to plug one nostril as you inhale, then plug the other as you exhale (it's surprisingly relaxing). She incorporates a lot of Forward Folds as well as a few poses using a block (which I didn't have but did anyway).