Stress is a monster, which is the root cause of a host of diseases like, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, depression, obesity, skin ailments, cancer, immune disorders and even sudden death.
It is now an accepted fact in the medical community, that 80-90 percent of the illnesses are psychosomatic i.e. stress related.
The highly demanding requirements of modern lifestyle have put the mankind in a very stressful environment. Day by day our life is getting more and more distressed, restless and devoid of pleasure, peace and happiness.
Leo Tolstoy's statement, "Our whole life is taken up with anxiety for personal security, with preparations for living, so that we never really live at all," is so relevant in the modern times.
Though stress does not spare any body - men, women, young, old, and others, its worst sufferers are the corporate executives, software professionals, control room operators, call center professionals, air traffic controllers, and all those who use computers or sit on the desks for extended hours.
The 21-century fast-paced life, work pressures, tight deadlines, cutthroat competition and prolonged sitting in wrong postures, have made the work environment very stressful, forcing people to lead an erratic lifestyle where health is the least priority.
Stress affects people in many ways, including their health, relationships and performance at the workplace.
The mind is the only cause of all problems of tension or stress or strain of any individual.
Unfortunately, the conventional medical system has no permanent remedy for it. However, yoga provides very simple and effective tools to manage stress.
Before we discuss how yoga can be helpful in coping up with stress, we must understand the physiology of stress and its underlying causes.
What is Stress?
In the engineering language, stress is a force, which deforms bodies.
In simple medical terms, stress is defined as wear and tear of the body, brought about by any activity - physical, mental or emotional.
Stress is the reaction of our bodies and minds to something that upsets their normal balance.
According to yoga, stress is an internal disharmony, which manifests into chronic physical and mental disorders.
Any stressful situation produces intense feelings of being threatened, frightened, anger, fear or frustration.
All creatures have a defensive mechanism in-built by nature, to protect them from stress.
Changes Due to Stressful Situation
Whenever we are in a stressful situation, our adrenal glands release adrenaline - a hormone that activates a number of other hormones, enzymes and mechanisms, which bring in many changes in the body to manage the stressful situation.
Some of the important changes are:
· The muscles become tense to prepare the body for sudden action. This can lead to body aches and the areas most affected are the lower back and neck muscles.
· The breathing rate increases to supply the increased demand of oxygen. Over time, this causes problems like breathlessness and asthma.
· The heart rate increases to absorb the increased intake of oxygen. If you consider heart as a mechanical pump (which it is), then its life shortens if such episodes happen more frequently.
· The blood pressure rises to deliver more oxygen and nutrients to all the organs. This is often the cause of hypertension, which on the long run may lead to paralytic stroke.
· Digestion of food stops, as it is not a priority, and blood is needed elsewhere in the body to cope up with the emergency situation. This leads to acidity, ulcers, indigestion and diarrhea.
· Skin and mouth become cold, pale and dry due to diversion of blood to more important areas- muscles. Because the skin is deprived of nutrition, people who are stressed for long periods develop wrinkles earlier, the area around the eyes becomes dark and their hair may gray prematurely. These are the signs of premature aging.
· The blood sugar increases to meet the increased nutritional demand for all the above actions. This leads to upset in sugar levels in diabetic patients. High sugar levels for long periods can in turn damage nerves, eyes, kidneys and heart etc.
· Blood becomes capable of clotting faster to stop excessive bleeding, in case of an injury. This can cause clogging of arteries and veins.
· Hormonal changes take place, which can cause disturbances in the menstrual cycles and problems in conception in women.
With each episode of stress, the above actions prepare all the body systems on the apparent danger, and help to take the next step, which is either to resist or to retreat, the fight-flight response.
After the stressful situation is over, the body reverts back to its original state.
If such episodes are frequent, some of the changes mentioned above do not get an opportunity to revert to the original resting state. This causes serious malfunction of the concerned organs and systems.
No doubt, the mind and body do need some amount of stress to perform at their best. But if it is activated too often, stress turns chronic, and breaks down the systems of the body.
Causes of Stress
Stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the demands of life, and our ability to cope with them.
Unhealthy work conditions, extended hours of work, jobs requiring repetitive tasks, jobs with tight targets, insecurity, stiff competition, discrimination and financial problems are some factors that produce stress at the workplace.
Other causes of stress are illness, bereavement, divorce, loneliness, and emotional conflicts etc.
Yoga goes much deeper into the causes of stress.
In the words of Paramhansa Yogananda, the great Indian yogi: The disturbance of mental equilibrium, which results in nervous disorders, is caused by continuous states of excitement or - excessive stimulation of the senses.
Indulgence in constant thoughts of fear, anger, melancholy, remorse, envy, sorrow, hatred, discontent, or worry; and lack of the necessities for normal and happy living, such as right food, proper exercise, fresh air, sunshine, agreeable work and purpose in life, all are the causes of nervous disease.
Stress Warning Signs
Under stress, a person exhibits one or more of the following abnormal behavior and or physical symptoms.
These are the warning signs of stress, which require attention.
· A decreased quality and/or output of work
· Carelessness leading to sudden increase of errors and/or accidents
· Difficulty in taking decisions
· Difficulty in communicating
· Isolation and aloofness from colleagues and friends
· Working late or more obsessively than usual
· Missing appointments and deadlines
· Taking the path of least resistance, taking no risks
· Loss in sense of humor
· Anger, frequent outbursts of temper
· Constant harping on failures
· Mistrusting colleagues, family and friends
· Physical symptoms may include headache, fatigue, insomnia, backache, neck pain, loss of appetite, or overeating.
Managing Stress by Yoga
There are many activities conducive to relaxation and de-stressing.
These include yoga, a walk along the beach or in a beautiful garden, a hike in the mountains, drawing, painting, music, gardening, a sport you enjoy, even cooking for some.
Out of all these activities, yoga is by far the best, easiest and cost effective method to relax.
There are many yogic techniques of relaxation. Yoga offers many simple, yet very effective methods of dealing with stress. These include asana, pranayama, relaxation and meditation. Let us discuss these briefly.
1. Asana
Asana can relax tense muscles, make you more aware of your breathing, lower your blood pressure, decrease your heart rate, and divert your mind from stress.
Asanas especially beneficial for stress include: Suryanamaskara, sun salutation; Pawanmuktasana, wind release posture; Yogamudrasana, yogic gesture posture; Shashankasana, rabbit posture; Bhujangasana, cobra posture; Shavasana, corpse posture; Sarvangasana, shoulder stand posture.
2. PRANAYAMA
Most pranayama practices are helpful in reducing stress. Of special importance are: Anulom-vilom, alternate nostril breathing; Bhramari, humming breath; Kapalbhati, shinning skull breath.
3. Deep Breathing
Lie down on the floor in Shavasana (corpse posture). Keep your attention on the navel and practice deep abdominal breathing. Imagine that you are breathing from your navel. During each inhale, feel the abdomen rising up like a mountain. Feel the abdomen falling down to the floor during each exhale. Prolong the exhalation as much as you can. Feel how the body becomes loose and relaxed during each exhale.
With full attention on the navel, continue breathing from the abdomen for as much time as you want. Practice for about five minutes in the beginning, gradually increasing to 10-15 minutes or more as desired. Do not let your attention shift away from the navel. If the mind wanders away, bring it back to the navel. At the end of the practice, gently massage the eyes a few times with the roots of your palms. Then opening the eyes gently, turning on your left side, and taking support of the right hand, come up in the sitting position.
4. Reverse Breath Counting
Lie down on the floor in Shavasana (corpse posture). Become aware of your breathing.
Inhale from your abdomen, and feel the breath rising up to your head. Exhale slowly, and feel the breath flowing down from your head to the face, chest, abdomen, thighs, legs, and finally going out through the toes.
As you breathe, begin to count the breath in the reverse order starting from ten, twenty, fifty, hundred or any number depending on the time at your disposal. Let us say, you start with fifty. Mentally repeat fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight and so on decreasing one number with each breath till you reach zero. If the mind wanders, and you forget the counting, start again from the beginning, fifty in this case, and again go down to zero. Every time, you forget the counting, this is not uncommon if you are tense, start from the beginning. New comers may start with a lower number and gradually increase their practice.
If the mind can be kept on the breath for a few minutes, the body gets complete relaxation.
Practice the reverse counting of breath for as long as you want. At the end of the practice, gently massage the eyes a few times with the roots of your palms. Open the eyes, turn on the left side, and taking support of your right hand, get up.
5. Yoganidra
Lie down on the floor in Shavasana (corpse posture). Yoganidra or progressive relaxation is an internal tour or inspection of the body in which we pay attention to the various parts of the body one by one. When we pay attention to any part of the body, an increased supply of blood gets diverted from other parts of the body to irrigate that part abundantly, thereby relaxing and rejuvenating it.
We generally start from the feet. Bring your attention to the toes of both the feet. Breathing slowly and easily - feel your toes as fully as you can. Imagine the toes going loose and relaxed. As the breath goes in and out, consciously let go of any tension in the toes. Then gradually shift your attention to ankles, calf muscles, knees, thighs, ribs, shoulders arms and hands. Then start from the genitals, and gradually move the attention to the abdomen, chest, neck, face, and head and to the back along the spine till the tailbone. At each of these parts, hold the attention for a few seconds, let go of any tension and feel that part getting loose and relaxed.
Hold the attention on each part of the body for as much time as you have with you. Longer the time, the deeper and profound you relax. You can even divide the body into still smaller parts and take each side of the body separately. For example, start with the right side- toes one by one, sole, heel, ankle, calf, knee, thigh, right half of abdomen, right rib cage, shoulder, upper arm, elbow, lower arm, wrist, palm, all the fingers one by one and then returning back to the right toes. Then repeat on the left side in the same way - After that take the tour of the middle of the body staring from your genitals and going upward to the head and then to the back till the tailbone.
In this way, the whole body gets loose, relaxed and rejuvenated. If you are slow, systematic and careful of your breath, you will be amazed, how deeply relaxed you can get. At the end of the practice, gently massage your eyes a few times with the roots of the palms. Open the eyes slowly and turning on the left side, get up in the sitting position.
6. `31' & `61' Point Relaxation
These practices are similar to yoganidra, in which the awareness is moved along a defined path covering 31 or 61 sensitive points on the body. These paths are explained below. You may practice 31 or 61-point relaxation depending upon the time available. Both are similar except the path for 61-points is longer, which takes more time.
To start with lie down on the floor in Shavasana (corpse pose) and normalize your breath. Mentally count one and start from the eyebrow center, the first point. Hold your attention on this point for a few seconds and try to mentally look deeper under the skin. Then count two and take the awareness to the second point, which is the throat. Hold your attention there and look deep under the skin as before. In this way, travel along the entire path mentally counting each point and holding attention at that point for some time. If the mind wanders and you forget the count, which happens when you are new to the practice, start again from the beginning.
The path for 31-point relaxation is:
1. Eyebrow Center 2. Throat Center 3.Right Shoulder 4. Right Elbow
5. Right Wrist 6.Right Thumb 7. Right Index Finger 8. Right Middle Finger
9. Right Ring Finger 10. Right Little Finger 11. Right Wrist 12.Right Elbow
13. Right Shoulder 14. Left Shoulder 15. Left Elbow 16. Left Wrist
17. Left Thumb 18. Left Index Finger 19. Left Middle Finger 20. Left Ring Finger
21. Left Little Finger 22. Left Wrist 23. Left Elbow 24. Left Shoulder
25. Throat Center 26. Heart Center 27.Right Nipple 28. Left Nipple
29. Heart Center 30.Throat Center 31. Eyebrow Center
The path for 61-point relaxation is:
1. Eyebrow Center 2. Throat Center 3.Right Shoulder 4. Right Elbow
5. Right Wrist 6.Right Thumb 7. Right Index Finger 8. Right Middle Finger
9.Right Ring Finger 10. Right Little Finger 11.Right Wrist 12.Right Elbow
13. Right Shoulder. 14. Throat Center 15. Left Shoulder 16. Left Elbow
17. Left Wrist 18. Left Thumb 19. Left Index Finger 20. Left Middle Finger
21. Left Ring Finger 22. Left Little Finger 23. Left Wrist 24. Left Elbow
25. Left Shoulder 26. Throat center 27. Heart Center 28. Right Nipple
29. Heart Center 30. Left Nipple 31. Heart Center 32. Navel
33. Pelvic Center 34. Right Hip Joint 35. Right Knee 36. Right Ankle
37. Right Big Toe 38. Right Second Toe 39. Right Third Toe 40. Right Fourth Toe
41. Right Small Toe 42.Right Ankle 43. Right Knee 44. Right Hip Joint
45. Pelvic Center 46. Left Hip Joint 47. Left Knee 48. Left Ankle
49. Left Big Toe 50. Left Second Toe 51. Left Third Toe 52. Left Fourth Toe
53. Left Small Toe 54. Left Ankle 55. Left Knee 56. Left Hip Joint
57. Pelvic Center 58. Navel 59. Heart Center 60.Throat Center
61. Eyebrow Center
6. Meditation
Meditation brings relaxation and increased awareness. It takes you to that inner silence which is very relaxing and takes your attention away from the turbulence of the outside world. When you are stressed, sit in any of the methods of meditation (explained in chapter-6) that you enjoy the most. Think affirmations such as `I can face this stressful situation, I control my own life' etc.
Right Posture for Relaxation
The deep relaxation practices explained above are done best while lying in the Shavasana (corpse posture). However, short spells of these relaxation exercises can be done while sitting on the floor or in a chair. There are many occasions like traveling; waiting for your flight, train or bus, waiting for some one or a meeting to start, when you have nothing else to do except grumbling, feeling bored, anxious and tense. Relax.
Make best use of such stressful occasions by practicing any one of the above relaxation techniques for brief periods. You will enjoy your waiting, and probably won't mind the flight getting delayed further or the people coming late in the meeting you are chairing.
Do you know that Indira Gandhi, the former Indian Prime Minister, used to relax for short periods between her very tight schedules of meetings during electioneering. Napoleon Bonaparte, the French General used to relax on the horseback.
Other Preventive Techniques
Besides the above yogic techniques, following are some common-sense steps that increase our ability to cope with stress:
· Make a list of things that trouble you most, and try to analyze the underlying cause(s). Take sincere efforts to eliminate or reduce these causes as far as possible.
· Set right priorities at work and home.
· Avoid the habit of hurry and worry. Slowdown and take time to relax and de-stress.
· Whenever you are facing a stressful situation, take a minute and breathe deeply. A deep breath is a wonderful tranquilizer.
· Avoid self-pity and have confidence in yourself.
· Cultivate a healthy lifestyle.
· Cultivate outside interests and plan occasional diversions to break routine habits.
· Stress is a state of imbalance arising out of two human emotions — discontentment and collection. Discontentment nurtures the desire for more, and the more you acquire, the more you fear losing. While the discontentment never subsides, the insecurities continue to rise with progressive accumulation. The result is more stress. The key to managing stress thus lies in following Santosh (contentment), tapas (austerity), aparigraha (non-collection) and Ishwara Pranidhana (dedication to GOD).
Contributed by: harinag49 @ yahoo.co.in
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