Stress

Stress is struggle and struggle is life.

Therefore, for the individual living in the world who is continually being subjected to the wear and tear of tension, frustration and disappointment, who is living under continual pressure, yoga should bring about equilibrium and balance of mind.

— Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Stress is a natural response to challenges in the environment. Up to a certain level, stress sharpens judgement and improves performance. However, excessive and protracted stress has at present become widespread. Excessive stress is experienced as physical, emotional and mental tension and strain. It arises when you feel unable to meet the demands and requirements placed on you from multiple sources. Underlying triggers include high or unrealistic expectations, problems with loved ones, work pressures, deadlines and work overload, financial worries and excessive mental activity. Other triggers can be crowds, traffic, noise and even welcome events such as a new job, the birth of a child or organizing a wedding.

Stress is an unavoidable part of life; however, continual stress has a negative effect on the immune response, increasing susceptibility to many diseases and illnesses, and it slows healing. Consequently, many diseases, illnesses and ailments can be attributed to stress. Long-term stress is particularly dangerous as it eventually wears out the body by weakening the entire psychophysiological system. This can have a negative impact on your mental and emotional balance, relationships, work and social life.

Signs and symptoms of stress

• Impatience and frustration

• Insomnia

• Fatigue, chronic headaches

• Overeating or lack of appetite

• Anxiety and depression

• Stress-related disease such as high blood pressure, heart disease or cancer

• Digestive problems including excess acidity, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation or diarrhoea

• Respiratory problems and short shallow breathing, including asthma

• Low immunity to colds, flu and infection

• Muscular tension in the neck, face, back, shoulders or abdomen

• Emotional tension or instability, manifested as frequent bouts of anger or sadness

• Feeling psychologically overwhelmed by life

  
  

A hatha yoga sadhana can help you to manage the detrimental effects of stress, to restore mental and emotional health by fostering balance, harmony and relaxation. Shatkarmas induce physical purity, mental clarity and happiness thereby improving the overall health of the mind and body; asanas, pranayama and relaxation awaken and increase prana, the vital life energy. Together these practices remove toxins accumulated during the stress response and instead bring about a deeper connection with what it feels like to be healthy once again. This glimpse into the state of health motivates one towards pursuing the feeling of wellness over illness.

Pratyahara and concentration practices such as yoga nidra and ajapa japa help to calm the mind and remove mental dissipation. Developing greater awareness of the triggers of stress through meditation and introspection allows you to change your internal reactions and responses. By becoming the drashta, witness, of life and not entangled in its web, an awareness of life’s inherent unity and divinity dawns. Stress is then replaced by a much greater force and understanding.

HATHA YOGA SADHANA

• Shatkarma:Jala neti, dailyKunjal kriya, once per weekLaghoo shankhaprakshalana, once per month

Morning, before breakfast

• Tadasana

• Tiryak tadasana

• Kati chakrasana

• Pawanmuktasana part 1

• Abdominal and yogic breathing

• Nadi shodhana pranayama

• Bhramari pranayama

• Maha bandha

Afternoon or early evening

• Yoga nidra or yoga nap

At night before bed

• Review of the Day, 5 minutes, focusing on moments and events which were stressful, how you reacted and ways you could improve on your reaction next time. Also see the introduction, To Live a Yogic Lifestyle for the practice of yamas and niyamas.

• Trataka, 5 minutes

• Ajapa japa

Weekends

• SWAN meditation: once a week analyze your strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, and needs. Identify the causes of stress – whether due to external circumstances or internal conflicts – and take the necessary steps to remove them from your life. Put your SWAN in a written format and review it monthly.

  
  

Lifestyle adjustments

Diet

• Eat food as prasad, a gift from Mother Earth to nourish and nurture you. Offer thanks for this gift of nourishment.

• Eat with awareness.

• Eat a diet composed mostly of fresh wholefoods: fruits, vegetables and grains. Avoid processed and artificial packaged foods.

• Limit your intake of caffeine.

• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and mood-altering drugs as they provide only a temporary sense of relief.

• Avoid snacking or using food for emotional fulfilment.

• Create a quiet and peaceful environment during mealtimes.

Regularity

• Be regular in your daily activities whether sleep, food, exercise, leisure or work. Be punctual with every activity.

• Create balance and restraint, two antidotes to stress.

• Get regular exercise, sufficient sleep and adequate rest.

Use your breath

• Develop breath awareness. Connect with your breath as often as possible during the day. Become aware of how you are breathing. Then take ten long and deep abdominal breaths.

Awareness

• Be aware of whether you are frowning, tightening your jaws or clenching your teeth, and make it a point to relax the face every hour.

• Smile with or without reason to yourself or others.

• Be aware of your daily activities: while you are driving, sitting, talking, cooking. Awareness reduces the stress associated with that activity and brings in grace and efficiency.

  
  

Complementary practices from raja yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga

Raja yoga

• Digital fasting, or not using electronic devices, daily before sleep and on Sundays.

Karma yoga

Practise the yamas and niyamas of karma yoga:

• Do your best with skill and full awareness.

• Act without expectations of results in any form.

• Remain balanced.

• See yourself not as a doer, with interests and self-centred motivation; instead see yourself as an instrument willing and ready to be played.

Bhakti yoga

• Sing kirtan and listen to soothing, calming music.

• Engage in an activity which is free of any self-interest, or selfish motivation. Give of your time, energy, skill and care freely to someone or to some project dedicated to the upliftment of others.

• Engage in one activity daily that helps you connect with nature; it could be in the form of tree pooja, or watching the sunrise or sunset.

Jnana yoga

Suggested questions to use for your daily/weekly spiritual diary:

1. How many times was I aware of being stressed?

2. What did I do to remain calm and composed?

3. What attitude, habit, personality trait stressed me?

4. What was the stress factor in my external environment?

5. Which quality do I need to develop to be more relaxed?

There is chaos and disturbance on the surface only. Dive deep into the centre by withdrawing yourself from the sensual objects and look within; you will enjoy perfect inward stillness and supreme peace. Nothing can upset your poise or equanimity now. Rishis of yore lived always in this centre and were happy and joyful despite various external disturbing conditions. Nothing could shake their mental balance.

— Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Relaxation is an art, for there are various practices which one can develop and utilize to bring about relaxation of the mind and body, transforming life into an expression of wellbeing. Relaxation is also a science, for it is based on solid scientific fact.

Relaxation sounds easy – one merely closes the eyes and sleeps. But, in fact, for most people relaxation, deep relaxation, is very difficult. While resting, their minds are in a state of turmoil and their bodies are continually tossing and turning, and the muscles twitching. The biggest obstacle to overcome is for people to actually take active steps to bring about relaxation, to develop and use the various techniques that are available. Because most people cannot relax, in the real sense of the word, they will find that their whole lives will change by just being able to relax. It is such a simple thing, but it can bring wonderful results.

Shavasana is an easy and useful method of giving peace to the body and mind. It is a unique method of complete relaxation, and also an aid to sensory withdrawal.

— Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Without stress, we would not be able to survive and function in the world. In reality stress is like adding a pinch of salt to food to give it taste. When stress becomes unmanageable, it becomes distress, so rather than stress management, it is managing distress that is the problem. Stress is not negative; it is an important component of our existence. Even cavemen had stress, hunting wild animals and not knowing what calamities would befall them. Stress took birth with life and that is the reality.

How can yoga manage physiological, psychological, professional and environmental stress? Stress disturbs the whole personality, body, mind and emotions, and causes imbalances, illnesses and diseases. Yoga has always believed that it is possible to deal with stress through practice and effort to acquire personal peace and harmony. People who have adopted the wide variety of practices available in yoga have experienced the wonders they can work if practised in the right manner.

If the practices of asana, pranayama, relaxation, yoga nidra and the two practices of concentration, trataka and ajapa japa, are incorporated into one’s routine, the ability to manage each and every kind of stress in the world is possible. The ability to maintain health in the most adverse conditions can be developed. The strength to experience one’s inner power in the most demanding situations the world can throw at you will arise.

If the entire body and emotions feel affected by stressful conditions, some simple postures, pranayamas and relaxation should be practised. Postures such as tadasana, the palm tree pose, tiryaktadasana, the swaying palm tree pose, kati chakrasana, the waist rotating pose, and pawanmuktasana, the energy releasing poses, are recommended. Pranayamas such as nadi shodhana, alternate nostril breathing, and bhramari, the humming bee breath, and then some yoga nidra, relaxation, should also be done.

Bandhas are locks and there are three areas of the body which get blocked or locked when under stress or tension. Many people notice that when they are under pressure the stomach becomes tight, or the perineum becomes tight, or the neck becomes tight. Tension headaches can result from tightening of the neck muscles.

This is unconscious tensing, while bandhas are conscious tensing. Unconscious tensing creates stress and conscious tensing releases stress, as the process and movement are being controlled. This means tension is not being created, it is being controlled and guided.

If trataka is practised at night before going to bed, when one lies down the mind is absolutely quiet, there is no vikshepa of mind, there is no confusion or movement of mind. Trataka is a most effective technique to focus the mind, clearing it of confusion, conflict, stress and tension. Along with practising trataka, a regulated lifestyle is a must. Irregular sleep and waking times, dietary indiscretions, high stress levels, indulgence in sensory pleasures and an unbalanced attitude towards life, all put off the desired effects.

—Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati