Why These Stress-Busting Yoga Poses Are So Effective

Need to zap stress, like, now? Well, these relaxing yoga poses have got you covered — and there's even some science to back up their anxiety-relieving effects. There's no doubt that stress can do nasty things to your body. And, there's even less doubt that giving yourself the time to breathe deeply can help get rid of some built-up anxiety. As this new Happify infographic explains, that deep-breathing can help calm you down physically and mentally — and it'll even lower your body's level of the "stress hormone" cortisol. In one study, participants were faced with anxiety-producing math problems. But, those who regularly practiced yoga were more physically resilient in the face of that stress. Specifically, their oxygen requirements went back to normal quickly after being stressed. Check out the full infographic below, created with the help of Radius Yoga founder Dana Santas, to see the complete relaxing yoga flow. After all, there are few problems in life that wouldn't be made more bearable after a few breaths in corpse pose.