Written by: Scott Robinson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Stress is a major part of everyday living. We all face pressure daily. Whether at home or in the office, the causes of stress are everywhere. Even events on a geopolitical level (such as the Ukraine war) can cause us to feel stressed. How it individually affects us comes down to the way we perceive and process that stress. In this respect, yoga is an extremely effective practice for dealing with stress. In this article, I will share specifically how yoga helps with stress.
What is stress?
As we understand the word ‘stress’ today, it is not always clear whether the ‘stress’ relates to the pressure itself or feeling the effect of the stress. We hear the term commonly used 'I feel stressed'. This implies an experience of stress in response to a cause or condition. Or, we hear terms like ‘I’ve got a lot of stress in my life’. This suggests that there is some stimulus that causes us to feel in a certain way.
The formal definition of stress was first coined by Dr. Hans Selye in the 1950s. Based on his observations arising from physiological studies performed on animals when injured or placed under unusual or extreme conditions, Dr. Selye defined stress as:
The nonspecific response of the body to any demand.
Dr. Selye studied the effects of illness arising as a result of people adapting to stress. So in other words, how people 'respond’ to stress. This helped to revolutionise the approach to complementary medicine. These approaches look to the causes rather than the actual disease itself. In other words, prevention is better than cure.
In Dr Selye’s model of stress, any demand placed upon the body (both mental and physical) will result in the increase of inflammatory signals in the body (e.g elevated levels of adrenalin and cortisol).
As a result of this process, there will be tissues and organs that adapt to that stress. Eventually, without the implementation of effective stress management tools and techniques, the persistent demands cause the tissues and organs to eventually break down. This results in disease.
Yoga and the stress response
In the context of the stress response, yoga is a very effective practice to help counter it. Studies have shown that yoga helps with stress by dampening the inflammatory signals produced by the body. It works by quietening those areas of the body that are over-activated and provides tools to self-soothe and regulate.
The yoga sutras and stress
In the yoga of Patanjali, (which is commonly referred to as ‘classical yoga’ and is the most widely referred to yoga in the west today), chapter 1.2 states:
Yogas chitti vritti nirodah.
A commonly held interpretation of this sutra is that yoga is the process of ‘stilling the mind'. Through the mind-body connection, yoga helps quieten the left hemisphere of the brain (which is very dominant in western culture).
Yoga practices that work somatically are the most effective when it comes to stress reduction. One could say this is 'mindfulness with movement'. The result is that the practice becomes embodied. This helps to cultivate more sensory-motor awareness and the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (ie the rest and digest part of the autonomic nervous system).
Conclusion
Stress is an endearing feature of modern life in the 21st century. When we interpret stress in the context of the response to stimuli and the perception (or threat) that the cause of the stress conveys, we can begin to approach the practice of stress management through practices that help modulate it.
Specifically, yoga helps with managing stress by encouraging greater mind-body connection and sensory-motor awareness. The result is that individuals who practice yoga become more resilient and healthier in relation to the challenges they face in everyday life.
To experience less stress in your life through yoga, join one of my weekly online group classes. Or to go deeper, work privately with me.
To receive a complimentary copy of my e-guide, ‘5 Things You Need to Start Your Yoga Practice’, subscribe here.
Scott Robinson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Scott Robinson is a Finance Professional and Yoga Teacher. He is also the founder of Yogibanker ‒ a specialised yoga & wellbeing service for the financial services industry. He helped found 'dbYoga' at Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading financial services companies as well as leading regular mindfulness sessions under the brand of 'Mindfulness Mondays'. Over the years, Scott has helped hundreds of finance professionals become stronger, more flexible and less stressed through yoga & mindfulness. Scott's passion is to bring yoga & wellbeing to the financial services industry ‒ one that is kinder, more sustainable with wellbeing at its core.
References:
Kabat-Zinn Jon. Full Catastrophe Living. United States, Bantam Book 2020.
Medzhitov Ruslan, The Spectrum of Inflammatory Responses, Science, 374, 1070-1075 (November 2021) pp 1070 – 1075 *
Bower E. Julienne, Ph.D. & Irwin R Michael, MD, Mind-body therapies and control of inflammatory biology: A descriptive review, Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, Volume 51, January 2016, pp 1 –11.
Siang Yong Tan, MD and A Yp MS Hans Selye (1907–1982): Founder of the stress theory, Singapore Medical Journal, April 2018, 59(4): pp 170 – 171.
