Practices incorporating yoga asanas, which are specific physical postures and body positions practiced in yoga, show positive effects on the physiological regulation of stress, whether or not accompanied by mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques.
Asanas are a central element of yoga practices, designed to strengthen, stretch and balance the physical body while promoting mental concentration and relaxation.
These practices are associated with several significant physiological benefits, such as a reduction in evening and morning cortisol, ambulatory systolic blood pressure, as well as an improvement in resting heart rate and high-frequency heart rate variability.
In addition, they appear to favorably influence fasting blood glucose, cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins.
Meta-analyses, which are statistical studies combining the results of multiple independent trials on a given subject, indicate that yoga, when asanas are integrated, may have a beneficial effect on stress management by modulating long-term physiological response.
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Sources:
✍️ Yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction and stress-related physiological measures: A meta-analysis.
Pascoe MC, Thompson DR, Ski CF.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 Dec;86:152-168. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.08.008.