Yoga and Stress – Yoga for Stress Relief
Yoga, as it is practiced the world over, is but one part of the ancient Indian system of harmonizing the mind, body and soul. It is not, as is widely believed, only an exercise regime nor is it a therapy designed for treating disease or for stress relief.
Yoga is best defined as a comprehensive or all inclusive system. In fact it is a way of life. The ultimate goal of yoga is to achieve equanimity – a mental state where neither good nor bad happenings induce emotional responses. Yoga incorporates devotion to the almighty, righteous action, acquisition of knowledge, meditation and releases of piled up energy.
What we now see being practiced as yoga can be termed as modern yoga – a set of asanas or yogic postures, pranayama or breathing exercises and dhyana or meditation. Performed under guidance of a yogic master, yoga can provide benefits associated with workouts, breathing exercises and meditation.
Yoga is one of the rare ancient stress reduction techniques that are approved by modern science as it is based on deep study of body physics. Yogic postures are designed in a way to exert appropriate pressure on glands to allow free flow of energy and provide stress relief.
Yogic postures are but one part of the eight steps for gaining knowledge of the self, which eventually leads to a state of mind where neither adversity nor privilege makes a difference.
The eight stages outlined by the sage Patanjali are as follows:
- Ethical percepts or yamas.
- Observances or niyamas.
- Yogic postures or asanas.
- Controlled breathing or pranayama.
- Withdrawal of senses from extraneous distractions or pratyahara.
- Focused relaxation or dharana.
- Meditation or dhyana.
- Finally, the ultimate stage of yogic meditation or Samadhi.
Yoga is also one of the few ancient disciplines that have been studied and authenticated by modern science. Medical science attributes the success of yoga to the balance it creates in the nervous and endocrine systems which has a direct and positive effect on other organs and systems in the body. It is only when the body is healthy that you can achieve the most vital goal of yoga to attain mental peace, improved concentration and a relaxed state of mind and harmony in relationships.
A typical yoga class does not end with physical postures but with a pose of relaxation or shavasana (a corpse-like posture) followed by a session of guided relaxation the teacher leads the student through a progressive relaxation of the body for further reduction of stress.
Recommended Books
- Yoga for Stress Relief: A Simple and Unique Three-Month Program for De-Stressing and Stress Prevention
- Yoga for Stress Relief (With The Dalai Lama)
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