How To Use Yoga To Ease Your Mind

Breakdown of yogas benefits + beginner friendly moves

I’m sure as the school year begins, we start to see our lives change and morph into something we may not recognise. Transitions like moving to a new state for Freshman year of college, or even simply moving into a new apartment for your Sophomore year, can lead to all sorts of emotions that might be hard to handle. 

I personally feel myself struggling to figure out what to do with everything I’m feeling as I go through this transition. I broke up with my boyfriend only a couple weeks before moving to Orange to start my Freshman year of college at Chapman. Of course, I tried my very best to not let a breakup taint my first weeks of college. Those weeks are meant to be exciting and fun, but they ended up being a lot to handle as I processed it all. 

One thing I find myself utilizing the most when it comes to handling these kinds of emotions is yoga. In all the busyness of moving for college, I had somehow forgotten all about my love for moving my body. I used to do it all the time. Every time I felt upset by a fight with my boyfriend, or overwhelmed by a task I dreaded, I would simply do a quick nervous system reset with some yoga. I grew up with the knowledge that yoga can strengthen you, not only physically, but emotionally. 

Yoga helps your mental and emotional health by changing our brain and nervous system and literally opening up your heart. There is actual science to back this up. 

How yoga changes your brain: 

Yoga raises levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that lowers anxiety and calms the mind. 

Regular practice shrinks the amygdala, the brain area that controls fear, stress, and fight-or-flight reactions. 

It thickens the prefrontal cortex, which improves focus, planning, and emotional control. 

How yoga regulates your nervous system:  

It reduces cortisol, the main hormone responsible for physical stress. 

Deep breathing and poses stimulate the vagus nerve, which shifts your body into the parasympathetic “rest and digest” state. 

Increases Heart Rate Variability (HRV) which means your body handles stress better and recovers faster. 

Psychological benefits of yoga:

Physical movement, like yoga, releases feel-good chemicals that elevate mood and reduce pain. 

Yoga boosts mindfulness. Moving with breath trains you to stay in the present moment instead of worrying about the past or future. 

There are so many beginner-friendly yoga moves that can help you handle emotions. 

Yoga for when you’re feeling blue: 

• Reclined Butterfly: To help soften up and surrender.
• Elevated Child’s Pose: To open your “back heart”. 
• Extended Arm Lizard: To release emotional hip tension.
• Saddle Pose: To open your heart.
• Fish Pose: To create space for joy.

Yoga for when your nervous system is fried: 

• Pigeon Pose: To signal to your body that you are safe. 
• Cat Pose: To help calm your nerves.
• Cow Pose: To help open up to positivity. 
• Bridge Pose: To create a feeling of stability.
• Hand On Heart, Hand On Belly: For slowing your breath and grounding. 

I spoke a bit with Kendal Roney, a Senior here at Chapman, about her experience with practicing yoga. She’s been training for four years now and teaches her own yoga class on Mondays and Wednesdays in the group fitness room in the Henley gym. “Yoga has shown me how important it is to slow down, tune into your breath and body and listen inwards. So often we get caught up in the business of everyday life, but yoga taught me that now is all we have,” Roney said. Kendal also touched a bit on how moving her body helps her reconnect with herself. She said working through things physically helps her work through them mentally. “Yoga focuses a lot on the breath to body connection, and challenging myself through various postures helps me build my resilience and learn what I’m capable of,” she continued. “Pigeon pose is amazing for releasing the hips, where we hold so much emotion. I also love warrior 3, as it gives me an opportunity to practice balance and strength,”. 

If you’re interest in taking one of Kendal’s classes, you can sign up on the Chapman Rec Portal recportal.chapman.edu

P.S. Although it is scientifically proven that yoga releases stress and lowers cortisol, the claims behind each pose are also based on spirituality and can be open to interpretations.  

P.P.S Definition of “back heart”, in the context of yoga, is the physical and energetic space in the upper back, shoulder blades, and posterior rib cage behind your spiritual and physical heart center. This is where you can tap into your “Anahata” which is your heart chakra. 

• college
• health
• lifestyle
• mentalhealth
• sprituality
• yoga