Pranayama for anxiety – Does it work? Yoga can be practised in various forms – asanas or postures, meditation, positive affirmations, and pranayama or breathing exercises. All forms of yoga have countless advantages and can benefit human beings to the fullest if they practise any of these forms sincerely and consistently. In this article, we will specifically learn more about the benefits of practising pranayama, the safest and relatively easier forms of yoga. We will specifically examine if pranayama can help ease anxiety in people, which is the root cause of many psychological illnesses, and some physical disorders too. Additionally, anxiety and stress can affect anbody – be it students preparing for their exams, adults trying to deal with difficult situations at their workplace, or senior citizens who are worried about their children, and so on.
Let’s now study what pranayama can do to reduce or lessen anxiety and stress in people. The Sanskrit word pranayama means controlling breath, and breath is controlled using various techniques and breathing exercises. First of all, unlike other forms of exercises, pranayama or breathing exercises can be performed by anybody regardless of their age or other physical condition.
Likewise, studies published in 2010 in the Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology studied the impact of Anuloma Viloma, another pranayama technique, on 30 Indian male senior citizens. This research study revealed that Anuloma-Viloma pranayama had a positive impact on the participants of research. The participants were trained in the Anuloma-Viloma technique for seven days in a yoga camp. Thereafter, the participants were requested to regularly practise the pranayama technique for three months. Their anxiety levels were measured (using the Sinha Anxiety Scale and Beck Depression Inventory) before and after practising pranayama. Results showed that their anxiety and depression levels had gone down after practising the Anuloma-Viloma pranayama regularly for three months.
While research suggests that practising pranayama has several benefits in general, we recommend that you seek a medical opinion (if you are suffering from any physical or psychological condition) before you choose to practice pranayama or any other form of yoga. While practising pranayama is safe and can help improve the quality of your life, we recommend that you practise it under trained and qualified yoga teachers.
Brown, Richard P., and Patricia L. Gerbarg. “Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression: part I-neurophysiologic model.” Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 11.1 (2005): 189-201.
Gupta, Pranay Kumar, et al. “Anuloma-Viloma pranayama and anxiety and depression among the aged.” Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology 36.1 (2010): 159-164.
Sengupta, Pallav. “Health Impacts of Yoga and Pranayama: A State-of-the-Art Review.” International Journal of Preventive Medicine 3.7 (2012): 444–458. Print.
Kirkwood, Graham, et al. “Yoga for anxiety: a systematic review of the research evidence.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 39.12 (2005): 884-891.
NCCAM: https://nccih.nih.gov/
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