Yoga Can Help You Deal With Everyday Stress
As a stressbuster, yoga is one of the most popular forms of treatment.
But maybe the word "stressbuster" is too strong to use. Yoga doesnt bust stress so much as gradually reduce it while teaching the practitioner how to handle it when it occurs again down the road.
Yoga can be an effective way to handle stress in that, unlike pills or other medications, it doesn't create harmful side effects or bring with it the possibility of chemical dependence. Quite the contrary, yoga can help relieve you of your dependency on medical treatments to help you to relax, instead teaching you how to tap into the natural elements that are inside of you to help you cope with the pressures of life without relying on chemicals.
First, stress, as we use the word today, was a term that was developed in the 1930s by a scientist Hans Selye who defined it as "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change." Although many researchers and scientists today refrain from defining stress, including those at the American Institute of Stress (because there can be good stress - such as winning a football game - and bad stress - losing a football), they do agree that programs like yoga can aid in reducing bad stress.
The scientific discovery of the benefits of yoga in reducing stress is continually being tested and analyzed. One study, conducted by the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, tested the effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yogic deep breathing on reducing stress. Researchers found that there is sufficient evidence to consider Sudarshan Kriya Yoga to be a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress-related medical illnesses, substance abuse, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders. Yoga techniques enhance well-being, mood, attention, mental focus, and stress tolerance."
In a different study, done by the Department of Psychology and Center of Health Equity Studies at Sweden's Stockholm University, 26 women and seven men who worked at a large corporation were split into four groups and were treated with either cognitive behavioral therapy or Kundaliniyoga for four months in an effort to reduce stress. The study found that not only did the psychological and physiological levels of stress decrease, but there was no significant difference in the amount of the reduction between the two groups. The study reported: "The results indicate that both cognitive behavior therapy and yoga are promising stress management techniques."
Thanks to studies like these, the medical world has embraced many of the stress reduction and relaxation techniques used for centuries in yoga. These practices involve slow, careful movements, muscle stretching, controlled breathing, visualization and meditation.
As regular yoga participants know, all of these techniques can unify the mind, body and spirit in a manner than medicine cannot. And by reducing stress, yoga also can help reduce or sometimes even eliminate the conditions associated with a number of other physical aliments. Yoga has been known to lower blood pressure, relieve insomnia, reduce muscle tension, provide relief from allergies and asthma, aid in attempts to quit smoking and help control overeating.
Without the need for pills or expensive medical treatments, yoga can help the body relax and make use of the natural healing that lies within. It may not be a stressbuster, but yoga can put stress in check.
But maybe the word "stressbuster" is too strong to use. Yoga doesnt bust stress so much as gradually reduce it while teaching the practitioner how to handle it when it occurs again down the road.
Yoga can be an effective way to handle stress in that, unlike pills or other medications, it doesn't create harmful side effects or bring with it the possibility of chemical dependence. Quite the contrary, yoga can help relieve you of your dependency on medical treatments to help you to relax, instead teaching you how to tap into the natural elements that are inside of you to help you cope with the pressures of life without relying on chemicals.
First, stress, as we use the word today, was a term that was developed in the 1930s by a scientist Hans Selye who defined it as "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change." Although many researchers and scientists today refrain from defining stress, including those at the American Institute of Stress (because there can be good stress - such as winning a football game - and bad stress - losing a football), they do agree that programs like yoga can aid in reducing bad stress.
The scientific discovery of the benefits of yoga in reducing stress is continually being tested and analyzed. One study, conducted by the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, tested the effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yogic deep breathing on reducing stress. Researchers found that there is sufficient evidence to consider Sudarshan Kriya Yoga to be a beneficial, low-risk, low-cost adjunct to the treatment of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress-related medical illnesses, substance abuse, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders. Yoga techniques enhance well-being, mood, attention, mental focus, and stress tolerance."
In a different study, done by the Department of Psychology and Center of Health Equity Studies at Sweden's Stockholm University, 26 women and seven men who worked at a large corporation were split into four groups and were treated with either cognitive behavioral therapy or Kundaliniyoga for four months in an effort to reduce stress. The study found that not only did the psychological and physiological levels of stress decrease, but there was no significant difference in the amount of the reduction between the two groups. The study reported: "The results indicate that both cognitive behavior therapy and yoga are promising stress management techniques."
Thanks to studies like these, the medical world has embraced many of the stress reduction and relaxation techniques used for centuries in yoga. These practices involve slow, careful movements, muscle stretching, controlled breathing, visualization and meditation.
As regular yoga participants know, all of these techniques can unify the mind, body and spirit in a manner than medicine cannot. And by reducing stress, yoga also can help reduce or sometimes even eliminate the conditions associated with a number of other physical aliments. Yoga has been known to lower blood pressure, relieve insomnia, reduce muscle tension, provide relief from allergies and asthma, aid in attempts to quit smoking and help control overeating.
Without the need for pills or expensive medical treatments, yoga can help the body relax and make use of the natural healing that lies within. It may not be a stressbuster, but yoga can put stress in check.
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