Ways to deal with stress

by Oda Lindner,

There is hardly a person in our society who does not know what stress is. Studies have shown that even children can suffer from stress-related illnesses. Stress has entered the schools and the work place and is evident in offices, stores, and banks. Traffic is stressful, the daily news creates stress, housework can be stressful, and in many homes even family life has become stressful.
 
            What does stress mean to our health? Can our bodies handle this continuous onslaught? It seems not. During the past millennia the human body learned to respond to sudden situations of danger with an inbuilt “fight or flight” response. This response is a reaction of the autonomous nervous system which instinctively protects the organism from harm. It automatically raises the heart beat, increases the blood pressure, diverts the peripheral blood circulation to the skeletal muscles and shuts down the digestive tract. It also dilates the pupils, heightens sensory reflexes and raises the overall muscle tone. In short, the response is well-suited to put us in the position to fight or flee from a tiger. In modern society, this automatic reflex has not served us very well. A traffic jam does not go away when you fight it, and the boss does not respond kindly when you try to fight or flee. 

            Modern life has therefore brought us into a situation where our bodies tend suffer from continuous stress. The fight and flee response which would have been helpful in the past has now turned against us. The central problem is constituted by the fact that, when a reflex is continuously engaged in order to combat permanent stress, the entire system begins to weaken. This in turn creates a whole host of stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, indigestion, heart burn, anger, anxiety, depression, allergies, and a number of autoimmune diseases. All these diseases lead to an even greater susceptibility to stress – and a vicious cycle is formed. The cycle can lead to grave illness and death. It is obvious therefore that it has to be broken. But how is this to be done? First, there are of course medical treatments and medications given by a doctor (and no one should forgo any such medications and treatments if they have been prescribed).  Second, there are ways in which one can learn how to interfere with the automatic response to stress, and this is the option I will describe here.

We often wish that we could simply make the source of stress vanish, but in most cases this will not happen.

When we are stuck in traffic, we are stuck in traffic. Could we change our response? Most stress-related reflexes are invoked by the involuntary nervous system. This implies that under normal circumstances we have no control over the fact that our heart beats faster or our breath rate go up. There are however ways in which we can develop control over some of these functions. Here is where Yoga becomes of interest. Yoga deals with the conscious awareness of the human being on all of his levels. It offers a range of methods that help gain control over the involuntary responses with which one responds to the surroundings. First there is the simple awareness that one is indeed in a stressful situation. Most of us are not necessarily aware of this. We are continuously under time pressure and usually hasten from one stressful situation to the next. Since we are always in a rush, we do not realize how much stress we are under. Yoga teaches people how to relax and how to be continuously aware of their immediate environment. It therefore directs their awareness to quickly detect stress whenever it arises. Intermediate Yoga practitioners have often learned through meditation to stay with each stressful moment as one would stay with a big wave while sailing in high winds.

When Yoga students are aware that they are confronted by stress, they have a number of tools available to them. First, they usually realize that their breath rate is up. Breathing practice (pranayama) has taught them to be aware of their normal rate. When that rate increases, they are able to slow it down by simply focusing on a longer out breath. Since the breath is the gateway to a number of autonomous nervous functions, the slowed breath automatically lowers the heart rate and the blood pressure and restarts the digestive system. Next, a Yoga practitioner concentrates on the conscious relaxation of the skeletal muscles by focusing on warm hands and feet. This restores the peripheral blood circulation back to the extremities. Then he or she softens the eyes and relax the gaze which in turn relaxes the dilated pupils. Next, the practitioner consciously relaxes the sense of seeing and hearing which thus returns the sensory reflexes back to their original functioning. Finally, the simple fact that the person responds in a relaxed manner will take the “sting” out of the stressful situation and will relax other people as well.

In Yoga one would therefore counter a stressful situation with these simple steps:

1. Slow down and be aware
2. Extend your out breath
3. Relax your muscles
4. Think of warm hands and feet
5. Soften your gaze
6. Relax your eyes and ears
7. And don’t respond to stress with more stress

Next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, you may want to try these suggestions. Be aware though that it may take effort and time to overcome the natural fight and flight responses.  Awareness and relaxation are not our normal way to counter stress. They have to be learned and practiced regularly. Yoga usually offers a suitable environment in which one can not only to regain some flexibility and stamina, but where one can also practice awareness, relaxation and breath control. It is for this reason that Yoga has become so popular and is now recognized in medical circles as one of the best natural ways to reduce stress and stress-related illnesses.

Oda Lindner teaches Yoga and meditation in Edmonton and Osoyoos.