Presented by Ascend Agency
Ask anyone if they’ve experienced any stress in the past few years, and the answer will likely be a resounding “Yes.” It’s been a trying couple of years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
People have been turning to various remedies to deal with stress, whether it’s exercise, journaling, or therapy. It’s becoming clear that taking care of one’s mental health matters. And one major area of mental wellness is finding a healthy and effective way to alleviate stress.
When triggers for stress and anxiety seem all around, having an effective tool for stress relief on hand can be instrumental to support your overall health.
SKY Breath Meditation For Stress Relief
SKY (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga) Breath Meditation is one such tested and verified approach to stress relief. SKY Breath Meditation is a breath-based technique that employs cyclical and rhythmic breathing patterns to induce a meditative state. Breathing and one’s emotional state often work in tandem. Learning how to use controlled, rhythmic breathing can significantly reduce one’s stress level, even after one session.
“SKY Breath Meditation uses natural rhythms in one’s own breath,” says Art of Living teacher Andrew Keaveney, “It stimulates the vagus nerve, which in turn yields numerous autonomic benefits, including activation of one’s relaxation response and allowing the nervous system to slide into ‘rest and digest’ mode.”
Studies have shown that SKY Breath Meditation effectively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety and reduces stress hormone serum cortisol production by 56% within two weeks of starting the program.
“In deeper restful states, the body feels safe to let go of the stresses it has been holding onto,” says Keaveney.
Promoting A Healthy Immune System & Good Sleep Patterns
The immune system is having a moment right now. With the world still grappling with coronavirus, bolstering one’s immune system is at the forefront of many people’s minds.
Meditation has been proven to boost immunity, as shown by an eight-week study conducted by Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the study, groups were given the flu virus, and then meditation was introduced, along with other treatments, over an eight week period. The group performing meditation showed an increase in antibodies, which react to and combat illness in the body.
Stress and anxiety can rear their ugly heads in one’s sleep patterns. During the pandemic, sleep problems were rampant. A recent study involving over 50,000 people from 13 countries showed approximately 40% of people experienced interruptions in their sleep patterns amid the pandemic disruption. Many people in the United States report sleeping less than seven hours a night. In a cruel cyclical pattern, stress and anxiety can cause a lack of sleep which, in turn, causes stress and anxiety.
SKY Breath Meditation can overwhelmingly positively affect sleep, promoting a sounder sleep and overall better sleep quality.
“SKY has demonstrated a 218% increase in time spent in the deepest restful stages of sleep,” says Keaveney in a statistic that could be life-changing for people who experience insomnia and the resulting stress.
Well Researched And Received
There have been over 100 independent studies done on the efficacy of SKY Breath Meditation. The comprehensive range of benefits has been studied across four continents and published in peer-reviewed journals. The practice has a positive application on a global scale.
The benefits of SKY Breath Meditation can be evident from day one, and people who begin SKY Breath Meditation report an increase in happiness after only one week.
Stress and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States. Although they are highly treatable, only 36.9% of people seek help with their anxiety.
Keaveney, a meditation practitioner since the age of 16, strongly believes in the restorative nature of meditation.
“The better able we are to create peace in our own mind through meditation, the more growth in these performance areas that we like to measure,” says Keaveney.
The need for stress relief is evident in a world entangled in a persistent pandemic. Trying SKY Breath Meditation can help people regain their calm in a world that is sometimes anything but calm.