Like it or not, celebrities stories sell. Madonna and Sting top the (long, growing) list of 'yoga celebrities' - and now the spotlight's on Coronation Street's Samia Smith.
The Mirror reported on Smith's battle with panic attacks, which she has had since the age of 11. The paper writes that Smith's six-day-a-week yoga regime is helping her overcome the debilitating condition.
She told the paper: 'When I've got stuff on my mind, or I'm tired, it's like an elastic band round my chest and I can't take a deep breath.
'You feel as though you're going to die. It's horrible. But now I do yoga six days a week and it relaxes me.'
Yoga's ability to calm the nervous system makes it an amazingly effective treatment, in many cases, for panic attacks.
Yoga company www.yogaatwork.co.uk is one organisation specialising in helping people overcome panic attacks by focusing on breathing (specifically on the all-important, calming 'out' breath).
There is plenty of information out on there on the web offering advice and tips on how proper breathing can help. I found this article especially interesting.
We'll be covering this subject in more detail in the near future. In the meantime, has yoga helped you overcome panic attacks? If you'd like to share, do log in and leave a comment.
Lucia Cockcroft, editor
.jpg "Baddha Konasana - Bound Angle Pose")
