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Feeling overwhelmed? There’s increasing evidence that yoga is an especially effective way to chill out. Here’s why: This practice appears to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which brakes the adrenaline-fueled reactions you experience while you’re under pressure. When you’re in a slow-breathing yoga pose, nerves send signals throughout your body to slow your heart rate. Yoga may even lower your blood pressure and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. And just about anyone can get these benefits.

The downshift begins as soon as you inhale. “When you slow your breathing, your worry center turns off and you feel calmer,” says Patricia Gerbarg, M.D., an assistant clinical professor at New York Medical College. Your brain responds accordingly: “Imaging studies show that the parts of the brain associated with joy, laughter, love and concentration light up when people hold a yoga pose,” notes Mark Pettus, M.D., director of medical education at Berkshire Health Systems.

Of all forms of yoga, the style of Yin yoga is especially accessible. This gentle style, in which you hold poses for relatively long periods (two to five minutes), offers a simple way to tap into a calm, meditative state. After just one session of these relaxing poses, you may feel calmer. Go ahead and give them a try: they’re are all simple and seated—no headstands required. 

1. Butterfly 

Sit on the edge of a folded blanket or cushion, with your pelvis tilted forward. Bend your knees, press the soles of your feet together. Rest your hands on your feet, let your knees drop, and bend forward until you feel a tug in your hips or spine. Hold for one to five minutes. This pose targets your hips, groin and spine (and the ligaments that run along it).

2. Half dragonfly 

Sit on the edge of a cushion. Bend your left knee as you move the sole of your left foot to the inside of your right thigh. Inhale and, as you exhale, place your hands on each side of your extended leg. Lean forward; hold for two to five minutes. Switch sides; repeat. This pose benefits your hips, lower back and hamstrings.

3. Sphinx or Seal

Lying on your stomach, place your forearms on the floor in front of you. Relax your shoulders, press your arms into the floor and lift your chest slightly; you will feel gentle pressure in your lower back. If you do not have low back troubles, try a more intense stretch: lift your chest higher by pressing your hands on the floor and straightening your arms. Hold either position for two to five minutes, stretching and soothing your lower back and spine.

4. Child’s pose

Start on your hands and knees. Bend your knees and push your butt back and over your feet. Then extend your arms in front of you and rest your forehead on the floor. Hold for two to three minutes as you breathe deeply and slowly. This is a resting pose, designed to help the muscles in the back recover from the Sphinx/Seal pose and other back bends. Use it anytime your body needs a break.

5. Forward bend

Sit on the floor with your legs extended. Look down and lean forward, reaching your hands toward your feet. Grab your lower legs and, if possible, stretch further and gently grasp your ankles or feet. (Bend your knees slightly if you feel pressure behind them.) Hold for two to five minutes, targeting your legs and spine.

6. Spinal twist

Lie on your back with your legs extended. Bend your left knee to bring it close to your chest. Move your left knee across your body, and rest it on or near the floor to your right. Extend your left arm along the floor away from you or toward your head, whichever is comfortable. Hold for two to three minutes. Switch sides; repeat. This pose will benefit your spine, hips, shoulders and chest.

7. Corpse pose

To end this sequence of poses, lie on your back, legs extended, with your eyes closed for two to three minutes.

As previously posted on More.com