January 2008

Committee Area

Using Yoga to Overcome Stress

By Swami Sivadasananda

Swamiji is a Trustee of the London Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre and one of the Senior disciples of Swami Vishnudevananda. The director of the Centre, Swami Krishnadevananda will be one of the guest tutors at the St Andrews Annual Seminar next June.

    Many aspects of modern lifestyle are run at great speed, with heavier workloads, greater distances to travel, and higher expectations. People experience  stress in different ways, and while stress symptoms can be clearly diagnosed, there is no common medical solution for them. Yoga provides one effective system for bringing about relief from stress.
    Feelings of stress come about due to the body’s instinctive response to external factors, known as ‘fight or flight’. This survival instinct is activated when we are confronted with imminent threats, such as a natural catastrophe or a direct physical attack. At such times, we literally need to face up to a situation (‘fight’ for our life) or flee from it (‘flight’) to save our lives. Time pressure, emotional conflicts, financial worries, pollution, competitive environments and excessive
noise cannot be compared with an imminent physical threat, yet our nervous system interprets them in the same way. The activity of certain body systems is put on high alert, while other systems are temporarily slowed down. Depending on the situation, the body starts to behave as though there is really somebody we should fight or from whom we should run away.

Stress symptoms

    Part of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system, sympathetic nerves originate from the thoracic (central) and lumbar (lower) area of the spine, from where they spread out to many of the body's systems, sending news of the apparent ‘emergency’ at times of stress. As the name suggests, we have no conscious control over this part of the nervous system, so we do not know that these nerves have been activated until we experience actual stress symptoms.
    Increased strength and speed of heartbeat: Blood is pumped around the body faster to provide muscles with the oxygen they supposedly need to respond to the situation. When this reaction sets in, any kind of quiet, concentrated activity (including sleep) becomes very difficult.
    Changes in the digestive system: Blood is directed away from the digestive organs to skeletal muscles, basically shutting down the digestive system. Any food eaten during this time is likely to sit in the stomach for a long time, putting unnecessary strain on the body.
    Increased contraction in the skeletal muscles: many major muscles contract in expectation of either fight (mainly the neck and shoulder muscles) or flight (mainly the leg muscles). As well as being uncomfortable, these contractions use up large amounts of vital energy, causing us to feel physically tired even if we have done little muscular work.
    Increased rate of breathing: the solar plexus becomes tense and prevents healthy abdominal breathing. Instead, we inhale into the chest and exhale only in a short, superficial way. This incapacity to exhale in a relaxed way creates feelings of anxiety and can make it difficult to speak quietly or use long sentences without becoming breathless.
    Increased glucose levels: glucose levels become higher in the blood, thereby releasing from the pancreas to use up the extra blood sugar. This release can be quite strong, resulting in a sudden drop in blood sugar levels, which is why we often feel hungry after a stressful event. If stress becomes habitual, a typical reaction is to crave and eat a lot of sweet food.

Exercise the stress away

    Many doctors advise sport as a natural way to ‘work out’ stress, yet many sports actually imitate the ‘fight or flight’ situation. Most sports are either physical or psychological combat situations, which stimulate and express the fighting instinct. By contrast, different types of running or walking (including running machines) imitate ‘flight’. In yoga the Sun Salutation is a gentle and non-competitive way to work out the urge to be active. We can gradually speed up movements, as long as we maintain deep, rhythmical breathing. In this way we don't add new stress, due to tense movements, to our nervous systems. When we are lying in final relaxation afterwards, we can actually feel how the activity of the sympathetic (stress-activating) nervous system has actually calmed down.
 

Rest and repair

    The parasympathetic nerves, another part of the autonomic nervous system, connect to the same organs as the sympathetic nerves, but with the opposite effect. They generate ‘rest and repair’ in the organs, telling the body to return to normal once the ‘emergency scenario’ of the stress reaction is over.
The parasympathetic nerves, once activated: slow the heartbeat; promote digestive gland secretions; encourage digestion; stimulate bowel movements; and increase tears and saliva secretions. While the sympathetic (stress activating) nervous system is stimulated automatically, the parasympathetic (calm inducing) nervous system needs to be activated consciously. This is why we may feel incapable of ‘just relaxing’ in a stressful situation. Through yoga, we learn to do this.
 

Stretch the stress away

    When a newcomer to yoga stretches a muscle during a posture, at a certain point it becomes slightly uncomfortable. Initially the stretch is maintained for a short
time only and is followed by relaxation. This rhythmical alternation of stretch discomfort and relaxation progressively relaxes the tense muscles and activates the parasympathetic reaction, creating a sensation of relaxed well-being. By the time the student reaches final relaxation, he or she can feel the process of rest and repair in every cell of the body from the head down to the feet.

Relax the stress away

    At a later stage the yoga postures demand more active muscle contractions (rather than just stretching), especially in asanas such as the Cobra, the Locust and the Bow. These create relaxation on an even deeper level because many hidden tensions are released from the muscle fibres when the muscles relax after a strong contraction. This prepares the mind to accept the challenges of daily life in a more relaxed way.

Yoga is the key

    In summary yoga exercises reduce the over stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and activate the ‘rest and repair’ of the parasympathetic nervous system. Daily practice is a guaranteed protection against stress, because the benefits last for up to 24 hours. The yoga approach to stress management is first of all to create a stress-free experience each time we practise yoga, in a quiet, clean, clutter-free space. It is also important, through self observation,
to develop our awareness of any physical or mental habits that may be allowing unnecessary stress, whether unhealthy eating, negative thinking or simply
having no ‘down time’ for ourselves. Yoga also advocates practical lifestyle tips, ranging from a healthy vegetarian diet to positive thinking and meditation exercises, which will help to eliminate such self-created stress conditions.

    The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres were founded by Swami Vishnudevananda. The year 2007 marks the 50 year celebration of Sivananda Yoga in the West. The International Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training courses are taught worldwide and have trained more the 20,000 yoga teachers to date. The course will take place in Findhorn Bay, Scotland from 19th May to the 18th April 2008. Please contact the Sivananda Yoga Centre in London at 020 8780 0160 for more details or visit www.sivananda.co.uk

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