By Monica Le Baron

In Part 1 of this post, we explored the stress cycle and how everyday pressures like traffic, receiving a phone call, and work can trigger it, creating a constant state of tension. Simply managing stressors isn’t enough to break this cycle; our bodies need clear signals to feel safe and relax fully (through the parasympathetic “rest-and-digest” state).

Yoga therapy offers a powerful way to complete the stress cycle, using practices that release built-up tension and restore balance in the nervous system. Here are the top four tools I use when a stressed client first comes to me for yoga therapy.

1. Yogic breath

Dirgha, also known as yogic breath or three-part breathing, can help us to use the lungs’ full capacity. Mindful attention to the breath can also remind us that every cell in the body requires an oxygen supply—a unique way to strengthen the mind-body connection.

Breathing freely during yoga practice stimulates the respiratory process throughout the body by increasing oxygen delivery to cells and improving overall energy expenditure. According to Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health, practices like deep breathing and mindful movement activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to reduce stress and restore balance.

How to practice

During this exercise, ensuring that everything feels organic and natural is essential—avoid forcing!

1. Place your hands on your abdomen and expand the belly as you inhale, like an inflating balloon. Exhale and release. Repeat three times.
2. Place your hands on your ribs and take three breaths, just as before, feeling an expansion on the inhale and a release on the exhale.
3. Place your hands on your chest and breathe into this area, gently lifting the chest on the inhale and releasing it on the exhale.
4. Next, combine the previous three steps into one inhalation: Inhale and expand your belly, ribcage, and all the way up into the chest region. In one long exhalation, release all the air from the inhalation.
5. Repeat step 4 for 10 breath cycles, or as long as feels comfortable.

2. Gratitude journaling

Research shows that cultivating gratitude can help you feel happier and more at ease with yourself. For example, a gratitude journal has helped me make peace with my past choices, feel less stress, and live joyfully.

How to practice

1. Take time to write the first five things that come to mind when you ask yourself, “What am I grateful for today?”
2. Your entries don’t always have to be positive; you can even be thankful for a painful experience that provided life lessons.

3. Hridaya mudra

A mudra is a symbolic gesture that uses your body, hands, and/or fingers to stimulate physiological systems responsible for processes like breathing, the flow of energy, and moods. Clients I’ve worked with find that hridaya mudra (or the gesture of the spiritual heart, shown here) can instill a greater sense of confidence in meeting challenges, reduce stress, and support the immune system.

How to practice

1. Place your right hand across your heart and your left hand on top of your right.
2. Breathe naturally and focus your awareness on the calming touch of your hands on your heart.
3. Rest here for 1–2 minutes and enjoy the sensation of your healing hands.

4. Body scan

The body scan is a powerful mindfulness tool that can help you reconnect with your physical self, notice sensations without judgment, and break the stress cycle by cultivating greater awareness and acceptance of sensory experiences.

How to practice

1. Lie down or sit in a comfortable position.
2. Take a couple of breaths.
3. Start by noticing your feet, and see if they feel heavy or light.
4. Then, slowly move your attention to your ankles, knees, and all your body parts until you reach the top of your head.
5. When you finish this scan, notice the parts of your body that feel heavy, tense, or uncomfortable, and breathe through the tension in that area. You don’t need to try to release the tension; just notice and breathe deeply but easily, sending loving thoughts toward that area.

With regular practice, the body scan meditation can significantly improve your ability to focus and stay present in daily life. As Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), explains, the body scan helps cultivate “a new appreciation for your body and how much it can serve as a vehicle for embodying here and now.” This practice encourages a deep connection to the present moment, allowing us to experience life more fully and with greater awareness—reducing stress, enhancing well-being, and strengthening our ability to close the cycle of stress.

Coming full circle

Completing the stress cycle is vital for restoring mind-body-spirit balance, especially in our fast-paced lives. Yoga therapy offers powerful ways of addressing our systems’ needs and signaling safety through techniques such as yogic breath, gratitude journaling, mudra, and body scanning.

How are you finishing the stress cycle? Comment below to let us know!

Monica Le Baron, MBA, C-IAYT, is a sleep expert and the author of Sleep Simplified. She helps ambitious women with sleep disorders get a good night’s rest in 30 days or less.