Stress is tough to deal with, but if turning to medication isn’t an option for you, try both yoga and teas. But which is more effective in beating stress, yoga or teas?

Check out the benefits of teas and yoga in reducing stress and calming the mind. Finally, discover if both can work together for overcoming anxiety and stress better.

Tea Benefits for Overcoming Stress

According to a study, “The Social Psychological Effects of Tea Consumption on Stress: Executive Summary,” teas might help in reducing stress.  About 4% of the participants, the tea-drinking group, were able to reduce anxiety levels versus the non-tea-drinking group.

One of the tasks that the participants completed was the d2 Test of Attention, which involves looking for the letter D instances in a text passage, and then crossing them out based on the marks they could see below and above it.  (Malcolm Cross and Rita Michaels, 7 August 2009)

That’s not the only study citing how teas are beneficial for overcoming a stress, though, but thousands of them.

Herbal teas, including green and turmeric teas, can help reduce stress. Turmeric teas contain curcumin, turmeric’s active ingredient. This compound can help in blocking traumatic and fear related memories, making it an effective aid for people battling posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Turmeric works by ameliorating chronic stress damage, which affects and impairs the brain’s cognitive departments especially learning and memory.

Curcumin in turmeric can also reverse the reduction of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor, a type of protein affecting nerve growth and needed for long-term memory. It can also help in preventing structural changes in neurons due to stress.

Turmeric also helps reducing anxiety and depression by increasing the level of dopamine and serotonin.  Mediating anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects are serotonin, Gamma aminobutyric acid and noradrenaline – neurotransmitters controlled by curcumin.

Green tea can also relieve stress. Ideally, you must drink five cups daily for the best results. If you do, you may notice psychological distress reduction.

What makes green tea effective is its polyphenol content, namely epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin (EC) and epigallocatechin (EGC), which offset mental and physical fatigue.

Other healing herbal teas include passionflower tea, which contains flavone chrysin that reduces anxiety and stress.

Another is peppermint tea known as a natural muscle relaxant, promoting overall calm. It is ideal to drink before bed for a calming sleep.

Drink any of these teas daily and experience an instant stress relief and a happier life outlook with a better mood all the time.

Yoga Benefits for Overcoming Stress

Everyone into yoga would say that it could provide him or her with stress relief due to mood improvement and increased sense of well-being.

The activity can also promote connectedness with Spirit and God. It also allows for mindfulness and increases self-compassion.

By achieving a better mood, you can be more focused in the present, allowing yourself to take a break from your daily stresses.  Having better focus on the now, you can also relax better.

This relaxing activity can also calm and relax the mind, especially when you’re anxious and stressed out that tend to happen more often than not when you’re mind is so busy to the point of being frantic.

By focusing at present, you can achieve a relaxed mind, one of the benefits of yoga on stress. Yoga, which also promotes meditation, can slow the mind, allowing it to focus.

With consistent practice, you can achieve a more relaxed state of mind – something valuable in dealing with stress.

As yoga poses also helps calm the mind and body, you can also experience better breathing and prevent rapid breathing due to tension and stress.

Effective breathing comes easy with practice that can teach you how to utilize your entire lung capacity and your diaphragm correctly.

[Shallow and rapid breathing causes more anxiety – and that something you can avoid by doing yoga.]

Other benefits of yoga for battling stress include controlled breathing, physical movement, meditation, mental imagery, controlled breathing and stretching.

For the body, yoga can help in sound sleep, reduced cortisol levels, allergy and asthma relief, lower blood pressure, spiritual growth, sense of well-being, anti-aging, increased flexibility, slowed aging process and spiritual growth.

Certain yoga poses, including boat pose, big toe pose, child’s pose and dolphin plank pose, are effective poses for battling stress.

Benefits of Doing Both

Can you benefit from doing both yoga and drinking tea?  Yes, you can!

Both are mind and soul enriching and can provide stress relief. They can help you alleviate anxiety and depression – making them effective stress busters that leave you collected, cool and calm.

When consumed after yoga, herbal teas can help you feel that you’re going on an aromatic journey. You’re also going to feel that your mind and body are relaxed, making it easier for you to sleep or go back to your daily grind. Nevertheless, both can make you healthier and feeling more relaxed.

Green tea, which is dubbed as the healthiest beverage on the planet, can enhance your inner peace and ensure calmness for its muscle-relaxing properties.  You must drink tea after yoga to improve your circulation for its antioxidant properties.

And speaking of stress relief to achieve with yoga practice and drinking tea,   you can also sleep better.

And as it does not contain as much caffeine as coffee has, it can definitely give you a high quality sleep.

And unlike coffee, teas deliver a slower energy release, not a quick energy jolt that subsides fast, too.

Other benefits of drinking teas after yoga include metabolism boost, reduced inflammation and strengthened immune system.  So after your yoga session, drink your cup of tea and double yoga’s benefit on stress relief.

If you want to reap the stress relief benefits of teas and yoga, you should start combining both.

Always sip a cup of tea whether green tea, turmeric tea or passionflower tea, after a session – and notice immediate stress relief, calmed mind and body and better life outlook.

Certainly, everyone can enjoy not only drinking tea or doing yoga daily but also living their lives to the fullest with better mood,  upped energy and connected mind, body and soul.

Experience the big difference. Drink tea after yoga starting today!

Previous articleWhich Survival Foods Do You Need in Your House?
Next articleLearning The Basics Of Cross Stich For Creating Beautiful Arts And Crafts