Best yoga asanas to reduce daily stress, support your nervous system

Benefits of Balasana: This yoga pose helps relieve pressure in the spine, calms the central nervous system, and deeply relaxes the body and mind (Image: Canva)

Stress affects everyone. It can be due to work, family, health, or just the fast pace of modern life. No matter what the reason, stress often leaves you feeling tired, anxious, and mentally scattered. Over time, it starts to affect your nervous system, focus, and well-being. Therefore, managing stress is important and yoga can come to your aid.

Yoga offers practical tools to manage stress and strengthen the mind. With just a few minutes of daily practice, you can feel calmer, clearer, and more in control. “Yoga views the human system holistically, where the mind, body, and breath are in constant dialogue,” says Himalayan Siddhaa Akshar, Author and Founder of Akshar Yoga Kendraa. He explains that stress is not just a mental issue, it also affects you physically by disturbing the balance of our nervous system.

According to him, practices like yogic breathing, meditation, and simple postures can create space in the mind and help restore that balance. “With regular practice, the body becomes more relaxed, and the brain begins to process challenges with greater calm and clarity. The nervous system, like a tuned instrument, can vibrate in harmony when we adopt the right techniques,” says Himalayan Siddhaa Akshar.

Also read | Yoga: 5 breathing exercises to reduce stress, sleep better

He suggests 4 easy-to-follow yoga techniques that support mental agility while helping to calm the nervous system:

• Kapalabhati Shuddhikriya: Start with sukhasana (comfortable seated position). Keep your spine straight and begin short, forceful exhales while pulling the abdomen inward. Allow the inhales to happen passively. Do 50–60 strokes per round; rest and repeat 2–3 times. This energising practice clears mental fog, boosts focus, and stimulates pranic energy flow toward the brain.

• Balasana: Sit in Vajrasana, stretch your arms forward, and gently rest your forehead on the ground between your palms. Keep your eyes closed and breathe slowly. It relieves pressure in the spine, calms the central nervous system, and deeply relaxes the body and mind.

• Anulom-Vilom: Sit comfortably with a straight back. Using your right hand, close one nostril, inhale through the other, then switch. Breathe slowly and evenly for 5–10 rounds. Balances both sides of the brain, reduces anxiety, and improves emotional stability by regulating the breath and calming the mind.

• Aarambha Dhyaan: Visualise a white circle above and a black circle below, forming a triangle with your body. Inhale from the white circle (positive energy), exhale into the black (release negativity). Practice for 5–11 minutes. It clears negative thoughts, boosts mental clarity, and rewires the brain to handle stress with more awareness and balance.