by the Yoga Alliance
Stress
The feeing of stress is a combination of our perception of an event, and our body’s biological reaction. Work issues, difficulties, challenges, obstacles, deadlines, papers, tests, athletic events, performances, family problems, and tragic events are only a few of the events that can instigate stress. World events, particularly surrounding the recent Hurricane Katrina, can create stress not only in the local area of the tragedy, but can have wide-ranging impacts, affecting people’s mental health.
One of the ways in which we respond to stress is through our fight-or-flight response. This is a combination of the activation of our sympathetic nervous system and specific hormonal pathways which result in the release of cortisol, one of our primary stress hormones, from the adrenal glands.
Acute, or immediate stress, can often be motivating, or can activate systems in the body. We’ve heard of people being able to accomplish physical feats in emergency circumstances because cortisol increases blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar, as well as increasing mental focus. Because the stress response increases mental focus, it can often help us meet a deadline or finish a project. Too much stress, on the other hand, can interfere with numerous abilities.
And on a long-term basis, chronic stress can be damaging. Stress hormones including cortisol decrease the ability of our immune system to respond. They also increase blood sugar levels as well as blood pressure and heart rate. This is where how we respond to stress can have a significant impact.
Yoga and Stress
The practice of Yoga is well-demonstrated to reduce the physical effects of stress on the body, and has even been found to lower cortisol levels. People find that they feel more relaxed after practicing Yoga. The asana, or physical postures of yoga are helpful for reducing muscular tension, which reduces stress. Yoga includes not only the asana most often thought of when considering Yoga. Most Yoga classes end with savasana, or a pose of relaxation. Some classes include a guided relaxation where the teacher leads students through a progressive relaxation of the body, which reduces the experience of stress.
Yoga also includes meditation and breathing practices as well as a set of ethical precepts and observances (yamas and niyamas). These other elements also have beneficial stress-reducing qualities. When we are experiencing stress, our breathing tends to become shallow and rapid. Shallow and rapid breath further heightens the body’s stress response, and we can become caught up in an ineffective breathing pattern that only causes more stress. Many yoga techniques emphasize slowing and deepening the breath, which activates the body’s parasympathetic system, or relaxation response. Just by changing our pattern of breathing, we can significantly affect our body’s experience of and response to stress. This may be one of the most profound lessons from yoga practice.
Selected Research Investigating Yoga and Stress
Several different types of programs have been studied in regard to their effect on the ability to relieve stress. One is the mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR), which is taught, studied and popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The mindfulness-based stress reduction program includes guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices, yoga and gentle stretching, inquiry exercises to enhance awareness, individual instruction, group dialogue and home assignments.
The effectiveness of the MBSR has been studied in a variety of different scientific studies both at the University of Massachusetts as well as other medical centers around the world. Results that they have reported on their website which are still in the process of being written about include improved ability to react effectively under high degrees of stress. Published studies have found that program participants experience lower levels of stress. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues also found that people who practiced a meditation technique while receiving treatments for the skin disorder psoriasis (which is sensitive to stress) had skin that healed faster than people who did not listen to the meditation tapes during treatment.
Other types of yoga practice have demonstrated the ability to reduce stress. As mentioned earlier, Yoga can reduce cortisol levels, a finding which was documented in the October 2004 issue of the journal Annals of Behavioral Science. In the June 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology, researchers found that caregivers for people with dementia (a very challenging position) improved physical and emotional functioning after Yoga. A February 2005 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine analyzed the breathing techniques of Sudardhan Yoga Kriya, which the authors say can reduce stress, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
Selected References
Robert-McComb, J.J., Tacon A; Randolph P; Caldera Y; A pilot study to examine the effects of a mindfulness-based stress-reduction and relaxation program on levels of stress hormones, physical functioning, and submaximal exercise responses. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; 2004; 10(5), 819-27.
West, J., Otte, C., Geher, K., Johnson, J., and Mohr, D.C. Effects of Hatha yoga and African dance on perceived stress, affect, and salivary cortisol. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2004; 28(2):114-8.
Brown, R.P. and Gerbarg, P.L. Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression: part I-neurophysiologic model. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2005; 11(1):189-201.
Waelde, L.C., Thompson, L., and Gallagher-Thompson, D. A pilot study of a yoga and meditation intervention for dementia caregiver stress. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2004; 60(6): 677-87.
Robert-McComb, J.J., Tacon, A., Randolph, P., and Caldera, Y. Mindfulness-based stress reduction in relation to quality of life, mood, symptoms of stress and levels of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and melatonin in breast and prostate cancer outpatients. Psychoneuroendrocrinology. 2004; 29(4): 448-74.
Kabat-Zinn, J., Wheeler, E., Light, T., Skillings, A., Scharf, M.S., Cropley, T. G., Hosmer, D., and Bernhard, J. Influence of a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention on rates of skin clearing in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis undergoing phototherapy (UVB) and photochemotherapy (PUVA) Psychosomatic Medicine. 1998; 60: 625-632.
Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Web site: www.umassmed.edu/cfm.
The International Association of Yoga Therapists has a full bibliography available with further information on stress and yoga. Their website is www.iayt.org.
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