YOGA FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT

By Cynthia Worby, MSW, MPH, Yoga Teacher

 

 

It seems as if everywhere you look there is another article or talk show discussing yoga, as if it were the latest craze. Oprah Winfrey loves yoga and devoted an entire TV show to it last year. Yoga has gained tremendous popularity in the U.S. in the past ten years. It is estimated that at least seven million Americans are doing yoga and one out of thirteen are thinking of doing so. According to a recent article in Yoga Journal (which has experienced a six-fold increase in subscriptions in the past five years) Yoga is the fastest-growing segment of the fitness world. In 1996, 31 percent of fitness centers offered yoga. That statistic increased to 61 percent in 2001.

 

Certainly, the boom in yoga has coincided with the enormous interest in alternative medicine. However, like many "new age" practices, yoga is not new. It is an ancient discipline (not a religion) that began in India 4000 to 6000 years ago designed to strengthen and align the body and quiet and focus the mind so one could sit for hours and meditate and evolve spiritually.

 

Why has yoga become so popular in our society now? STRESS! It is estimated that eighty percent of illness is caused by stress. Positive stress is a motivating and encourages creative expression and productivity. Negative stress adversely affects health and may lead to illness, lethargy, anxiety and depression. Dr. Sarno, in his book, The Mind Body Prescription, describes the tremendous increase in chronic pain syndromes as an epidemic. In twenty-five plus years of practice, he has determined that most illnesses are a result of stress lodging in chronic patterns in the body,

 

In the United States people are working longer and longer hours, with less time available for leisure (what's that?) activities. We are hooked up to our telephones and computers twenty- four seven. It is virtually impossible to get away from business concerns and busyness (unless we disconnect from our electronic devices). We are a nation who has forgotten how to relax. In the endless striving for the American dream and its materialistic rewards, we have lost our ability to balance the responsibilities and pressures of daily life with practices that cultivate inner quiet and focus.

 

We hold a tremendous amount of tension in our bodies. Many people begin yoga for stress-related conditions such as low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, neck and shoulder pain, migraine headaches, insomnia, fatigue and depression, to name a few. Doctors and other allopathic health care practitioners have begun referring their patients to yoga teachers and some insurance companies are reimbursing clients for yoga classes.

 

Businesses such as Nike, NYNEX, IBM, AT & T, PepsiCo, HBO and Apple, to name a few companies, are sponsoring yoga classes for their employees as a regular health benefit. This corporate interest in yoga dates backs twenty-five years, when companies initiated wellness programs to lower health care costs in response to a report by the surgeon general stating that inactivity was as great a health care risk as smoking cigarettes. Positive results such as greater productivity, lower health care costs, increased creativity and self-esteem, and a kinder workplace, where the spirit of cooperation and sharing is present, are just some of the rewards reaped from employee participation in yoga. These businesses realize that employees need time to relax and many people find yoga an excellent tool for managing stress.

 

Researchers from the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusets Medical Center in Worcester found that yoga, along with meditation, reduced stress and improved work performance. This hospital-based mind body clinic is the largest and oldest center in the US. It has worked with over 10,000 patients since its inception in 1979. The clinic's program offers meditation and yoga-based classes to clients throughout the business world. Judged, professional athletes, correctional staff and CEOs have participated in training programs with long-term reduction in physical and psychological symptoms of stress. Participants report better ability to relax, more energy and zest for life, and greater ability to cope with life's ups and down.

 

Yoga is not a panacea, but a powerful self-help tool, which helps to put everything in good working order. From inside out the physical postures, in combination with the breath, tone, massage, stimulate and tone the internal organs and glands, strengthen and soothe the nervous system, and increase the capacity of the respiratory system. Digestion, sleep, hormonal balance, and the body's ability to fight infection (the immune system) all improve. Our emotions become balanced as anxiety and irritability diminishes. Interpersonal relationships improve in our professional and personal lives. Most important, a person's relationship with him self improves. Positive outlook and feelings of well-being grow and affect all aspects of life.

 

The yoga postures develop strength, flexibility, and long, lean muscles. People who are stiff loosen up and flexible people gain strength (which protects their joints). Sitting all day while commuting and in the office can take a toll on our body's posture, alignment, and freedom of joint motion. Yoga postures bend the body in six different ways to create a supple spine and healthy joints: forward, backward, side to side, and twisting. There are standing, seated, prone, supine and inverted postures. Inversions are wonderful for reversing the effects of gravity and promoting the healthy flow of blood and lymph and drainage of waste in our bodies and quiet the mind.

 

Stress has a big impact on the quality of our breath, causing our breathing to become shallow and irregular. This affects the amount of life force, oxygen and nutrients that is absorbed, lung capacity, and the emotional state. Yoga teaches how to breathe fully and smoothly. The breathing techniques of yoga have different effects and are utilized to quiet and calm the mind and to strengthen the nervous system. these techniques control and distribute the flow of energy and breath through out the body so that each cell is nourished.

 

Yoga's physical postures, breathing exercises, relaxation and meditation techniques train the body and mind in the art of relaxation and letting go, and teach us how to live in the present moment. We become better listeners, a real gift for those we interact with and, certainly, a crucial skill in the business world. This connection cultivates an awareness, which helps us recognize our unique patterns of stress, teaches us how to reduce and manage stress, and enriches our personal and professional lives immeasurably.

 

 

Cynthia Worby is the director of Bedford Yoga in Bedford, New York.