Yoga for Anxiety and Stress: How it supports the nervous system
In our fast-paced modern world, chronic stress and anxiety are incredibly common. This might show up as racing thoughts, shallow breathing, muscle tension, fatigue and overwhelm. Anxiety and stress reflect how our nervous system perceives threats, either real or imagined.
Yoga is often suggested as a practice that can help you manage stress and anxiety. But why is this? How does yoga help reduce stress and anxiety?
In this blog we’ll help you understand how yoga supports your nervous system and how you can use it as a practical tool for anxiety and stress relief.
What happens in the body during anxiety and stress?
You’ve probably heard of “fight or flight” but “freeze” is also a sympathetic nervous system response when you experience stress or anxiety (i.e. your nervous system perceives a threat). The sympathetic response prompts your body to release stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, and increases your heart rate and breathing. Your body is priming itself to respond to the perceived threat.
We need the body to respond this way to immediate threats (if you’ve ever jumped a fence to take a short cut and needed to run from a farm animal, you’ll know how helpful that cortisol and adrenaline are!) but the problems come when we’re stuck in this sympathetic response due to chronic stress from our daily lives.
Common symptoms of chronic stress can include:
Poor sleep
Shallow breathing
Persistent tension
Heightened irritability or anxiety
Changes to appetite and digestion
Over time, these physical symptoms feedback into emotional stress, making it harder to ‘calm down’ once your nervous system is persistently on high alert.
Understanding the nervous system
Your nervous system has two main branches:
Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
“Fight or flight” mode
Speeds up your breath and heart rate
Prepares your body for action
Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)
“Rest and digest” mode
Slows your breathing and heart rate
Supports rest, relaxation, and recovery
We need to be able to move interchangeably between these two branches, so that we can respond appropriately to the world around us.
Yoga can teach your body how to shift back into parasympathetic dominance, which is essential for stress reduction and emotional regulation.
How yoga supports the nervous system
Yoga is a body-mind system. If you struggle with a busy mind and anxious thoughts, yoga helps you connect with your physical body, which can help calm your mind. Gentle, mindful movement provides an opportunity to develop awareness of what you experience in your body and mind, creating choice for how you respond. Slowing your breath sends a signal to your body to encourage parasympathetic activation.
Key yoga practices that help reduce anxiety
If you’re new to yoga, classes that emphasise slow movement, mindful breathing and relaxation can be particularly helpful for calming the nervous system.
Breathwork (Pranayama)
Intentional breathing exercises and breath awareness are a key feature of many yoga classes. A slower inhalation and a longer exhalation support parasympathetic activation and help regulate stress responses in the body.
Gentle and Restorative Movement
Gentle yoga practices that prioritise ease over intensity are excellent for teaching the body how to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system. Restorative Yoga is ideal because it’s a slow, floor-based practice using plenty of props for support and comfort. It creates the condition to slow down and invites your body to relax and shift into the parasympathetic nervous system.
If you’ve never tried Restorative Yoga before, why not join Claire on Wednesday evenings at our Cork Street studio.
Mindfulness and Body Awareness
Through movement and breathwork, yoga encourages you to become more present with sensations in your body. The more present-moment awareness you can cultivate, the less the anxious mind can dominate.
Yoga styles that are especially supportive for stress and anxiety (H2)
Restorative Yoga: Slow, supported and floor-based with mindful breathing to encourage rest and deep relaxation
Yin Yoga: Slow, intentional holds while you work on awareness of sensations in the body and thoughts in the mind
Gentle Yoga or Hatha Yoga: Mindful movement and breath awareness to encourage mind-body connection
Flow Yoga: Slow, flowing, breath-led movement to develop awareness of the mind-body connection
Take a look at the class schedule on our website to find a yoga class that suits you.
What the science says
Scientific studies increasingly support the idea that yoga can reduce stress and anxiety.
According to Harvard Health, the mindful breathwork that is such a key component of a yoga practice is linked with reduced anxiety and depression by elevating mood-related brain chemicals and lowering activity in emotional regions of the brain
Research on Restorative Yoga shows its potential for reducing work-related stress
Reviews of multiple studies show that yoga may reduce physiological stress markers and promote feelings of calm and well-being,
Yoga shouldn’t replace treatment for severe anxiety disorders requiring clinical care, but these and other studies demonstrate that yoga can be a valuable complementary tool in a broader stress-management approach.
Making yoga part of your anxiety-reduction toolkit
Starting a yoga practice for anxiety and stress doesn’t require fancy yoga clothes, the perfect setting, or anything else. What can help is finding some consistency in your yoga practice, whether that’s a few minutes of daily mindful breathing at home, or a weekly yoga class at Breathing Space.
Start small: even a few minutes of breathing or gentle movement can help calm your nervous system.
Practice regularly: that doesn’t mean every day (but it might). Find the frequency of consistency that works for your life circumstances. Aim for a consistent practice for the best nervous-system effects.
Tune into your body: Focus on what you feel, not how the pose looks, when you practice.
Pair with other supports: yoga is a great complement to, and can enhance the benefits of, talk therapy, exercise, and mindfulness practices.
Membership at our Dublin 8 studios is about more than just access to classes. It’s a way to prioritise your physical and mental health, stay consistent in your practice, and become part of a supportive community. See our membership options for 4, 8, 12, and 16 classes a month on our website.
Conclusion
Yoga offers a gentle yet powerful way to support your nervous system, helping you move from stress and anxiety toward calmness and resilience. The combination of mindful breathing and movement to create mind-body awareness teaches your nervous system how to shift away from a chronic state of tension and into one of balance. Whether you’re new to yoga, or a seasoned practitioner, the key to reducing stress and anxiety is consistent practice and kindness toward yourself.
We hope to see you at one of our yoga classes at our Cork Street, Dublin 8 studio very soon. If you are not sure which class to choose, reach out. We are happy to help you find the right fit.
