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Chronic stress affects every aspect of people's lives, from work to personal relationships to sleep patterns and eating habits (see Acute Stress Impairs Self-Control in Goal-Directed Choice by Altering Multiple Functional Connections within the Brain's Decision Circuits). This takes a toll on people’s health, contributing to numerous physical, mental, and behavioral problems. Psychological symptoms of stress include: experiencing irritability or anger, constant fear, worry, anxiety, and nervousness and mental fatigue (see Stress A Major Health Problem in the U.S., Warns APA).
The adverse effects of stress at the physical and mental level include:
- effects on lung capacity and function as it quickens breathing and episodes of hyperventilation leading to asthma and panic attacks
- hypertension and a rise in bad cholesterol,
- underactivity of liver’s metabolic and detoxification functions leading to metabolic disorders like Type-2 diabetes and obesity
- irregular menstrual cycles and decreased libido
- improper digestion and absorption of nutrients leading to malabsorption and other inflammatory conditions in the gut
- insomnia and/or fatigue
- chronic anxiety or depression
- weakened immune system
- effects on muscle function (under stress, muscles tense up and this can lead to systemic pain especially in those already compromised areas like shoulder, back, neck or joints)
For more details on how stress affect at the physical and mental level see How Does Stress Affect You.
Stress management techniques vary among the general public. For those who manage their stress poorly, health status is affected. It is common to see stressed individuals overindulging in unhealthy foods, resorting to poor eating habits, smoking, or seeking out sedentary activities including TV, video games or internet ,which affects the body and mind further, putting these people in an endless cycle of stress and stressful behavior (see Stress a Major Health Problem in The U.S., Warns APA).
The American Heart Association lists several tips for dealing with stress, including maintaining a positive life-style and positive communication, involving in those activities or simple things that provide pleasure, and daily relaxation (see Four Ways to Deal with Stress). The Mayo Clinic, too, has detailed information on how to identify and deal with stressful situations (see Stress Relief).
Interestingly, all of the literature searches on stress unanimously describes the positive impact of yoga, meditation, and guided relaxation in alleviating stress, even though the Yoga Sutras do not allude to their role in relieving stress. These techniques were actually developed to strengthen the body and mind to delve deeper into meditation, pranayama, and other spiritual practices as a means to achieve enlightenment. However, the positive effects of the asanas, breath techniques, and meditation were so astounding that over the years these practices were adopted as part of stress management techniques (see About Stress: Acute vs. Chronic). Interestingly, for each of the physical and mental effects described earlier, there is a suitable yoga regimen for managing the stress. Just type the ailment + stress using our blog search function and you will find the recommended techniques.
Anyone can resort to short sessions of yoga and relaxation as a quick practice, especially to deal with stress. There are several articles on our blog that have advocated the need to incorporate short sessions of yoga, meditation, and breath practices to deal with acute and/or chronic stress at home or office (see Stress, Your Health and Yoga and Featured Sequence: Mini Office Practice). One may question the benefits, if any, from a short session of yoga. However, scientific studies have shown the numerous benefits including the rejuvenation of the body and mind, from even a short session of yoga and relaxation. Participants not only showed improvement in their physical parameters but short sessions added a cognitive boost as well. The reasoning is simple: stress triggers all the physical and mental changes, while yoga practices can reduce stress, so use yoga to reverse the physical and mental effects. At the cellular level, yoga, meditation, and relaxation techniques de-stress the mind and body through numerous mechanisms including:
- releasing brain chemicals that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off anxiety and mental stress
- normalizing blood pressure and stabilizing the heart beats
- reducing anxiety and depression
- improving the ability to sleep by de-activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stimulus (HPA) and lowering the hyperarousal phenomenon (see Proof that Meditation Helps Improve Sleep)
Thus, yogic stress management practices not only help to deal with stresses of all kinds, but they also enable you to move toward equanimity (see 7 Ways to Cultivate Equamity). Making the commitment to take care of yourself through regular asana, meditation, and relaxation practices may seem to be a huge undertaking, but, remember, not only does these practices empower you—they keeps you free from the mercy of stressful forces.
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