How can yoga help you with stress?

You may have already heard that yoga can help manage the impacts of stress. It is one of the most popular reasons people flock to yoga classes. Especially with our modern day of living that is fuelled by stress. But how exactly can downward dog and funny breathing exercises help in reducing stress in the body?

Well, it all starts at the Autonomic Nervous System. This is a system in the body that is responsible for a whole range of bodily functions, from slowing and accelerating our heartbeat to secreting hormones such as adrenaline. It is a pretty important system and does what it needs to do, working away in the body, most of the time without us even noticing.

There are two divisions of this system:

• the Sympathetic Nervous System – known to many as the fight or flight system

• the Parasympathetic Nervous System – known as our rest and digest.

These two systems work continuously to try and achieve balance in the body, known as homeostasis. We need the Sympathetic Nervous System to give us energy and turn our thinking caps on. Likewise, we need the Parasympathetic Nervous System to make all the repairs in the body, just like an anti-virus software.

However, in modern day living we can find ourselves stuck in first gear, in the fight and flight state, and potentially struggling with the impacts of stress and overwhelm on the body. The common analogy here is that we are wondering around in the woods and come across a tiger, the Sympathetic Nervous System kicks into gear and enables us to make a run for it. When we are safe our Parasympathetic Nervous System switches on and calms the body back down. But if that system doesn’t switch back on, we stay in a heightened and agitated state – the body literally goes into overdrive. Although walking into tigers is not commonplace in modern society there are other things that can trigger this response, such as trying to meet a work deadline, or someone cutting you off in traffic.

If the body stays in that fight and flight response for long periods of time that is when chronic stress can begin. Here our adrenal glands will continue to secrete adrenaline which can result in long-term side effects such as digestive issues, suppressed reproductive system, fatigue, low immunity and increased inflammation in the body.

This is where yoga can help. The tools of yoga specifically target the Parasympathetic Nervous System, such as asana, pranayama, meditation, and relaxation.

The key here is the breath. When we take a breath in, we activate the Sympathetic Nervous System. When we take a breath out, we activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System. In yoga, we learn how to breathe properly and then how to match this breath with movement. In doing so we are slowing down the breath, we are regulating our inhale and our exhale, and balancing the Autonomic Nervous System.

Meditation and relaxation techniques, such as yoga nidra, also help to activate our rest and digest system by slowing down the heart rate, relaxing the muscles, and reducing blood pressure. Here we are bringing awareness to our breath and body and softening the mental chatter, turning on the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

So the next time someone says to you that they are off to do yoga to manage their stress you now know the ins and outs as to why – there is a method to our madness!