girlsgotgoalsphYou are only one yoga flow away from a good mood.
We all have those days where we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Having a low mood is totally normal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. A good yoga session can strengthen your body and boost your mood instantly.
You may think that it takes years of dedicated practice on the mat to see the results, but just one great yoga flow can do wonders for both your mind and body.
Mood-boosting yoga poses
From measurable transformations both at a physiological and psychological level to balancing the body, mind, and soul, there is no better healer and nurturer than the art of yoga. Here are some yoga poses that help your body relax, your mind find peace, and boost your mood.
Mountain Pose
Mountain Pose (Tadasana) is a foundational yoga pose for all standing poses. You will be using this pose often to prepare for other poses, but it also can be done by itself to help you improve your posture.
The mountain pose is empowering and grounding. This pose increases your awareness and makes you focus on the mind-body connection. Through this pose, you become more aware of the present moment which is key to happiness.
By doing this pose regularly you can reap its benefits such as:
- Improves your posture and body awareness
- Establishes good alignment of the spine
- Strengthens your legs
- Stillness can cultivate space for the body to pause and rest for digestion and circulation
- Mountain Pose activates the body and engages the inner fire to expel dreariness and depression.
Tadasana may not look like much, but keeping your body active and aligned is hard work.
Camel Pose
Ustrasana is an intermediate level back-bending yoga posture known to open Anahata (Heart chakra). This yoga posture adds flexibility and strength to the body and also helps in improving digestion. The camel pose is a heart-opener that increases your lung capacity and helps you breathe deeper.
Here are the benefits of this pose:
- Improves digestion
- Stretches and opens the front of the body. It also strengthens the back and shoulders
- Relieves the body of lower back ache
- Improves flexibility of the spine and also improves posture
- Helps overcome menstrual discomfort
Shoulder Stand
Any inverted pose increases the circulation of blood and oxygen to your brain. This calms your mind and makes you happier and less stressed.
This pose doesn’t only boost your mood, but it has a lot of other benefits.
- Increases the range of motion and flexibility in your neck and shoulders and can even strengthen your legs and back muscles as your entire body is engaged during the posture.
- Enhances your lymphatic system.
- Increases blood circulation.
- Reduces fatigue.
Yoga practice helps develop the body and mind bringing a lot of health benefits yet is not a substitute for medicine.
There are so many more yoga poses that can boost your mood quickly and effectively. So, if you’re feeling low during this pandemic, do yourself a favor and try these three poses to send dopamine and serotonin flooding into your body.
