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What can we do?
It is critically important for optimal health to reduce
stress levels. There are a number of ways to reduce
stress and to reduce the body's reaction to stress.
Start by reducing the actual number of stressors in your
life. Examine your life and note the situations that
cause you the most stress. Refine your lifestyle to
minimize exposure to stressors.
Yoga and meditation can provide a "relaxation response"
which is the exacte opposite of the adrenal-driven "stress
response." When you achieve the relaxation response, blood
pressure decreases, cortisol output decreases, as does
muscle tension, immunity is heightened, alertness is
increased and memory is potentiated (Khalsa 1997, 54).
An important component of yoga is focusing on the
present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice
improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ
scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation
demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and
recall information better—probably because they’re less
distracted by their thoughts, which can play over and over
like an endless tape loop.
Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath, and focus
on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic
nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the
parasympathetic nervous system. The latter is calming and
restorative; it lowers breathing and heart rates, decreases
blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines
and reproductive organs —comprising what Herbert Benson,
M.D., calls the relaxation response.
When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around,
and come in and out of yoga postures, you increase the
drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells).
This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy
cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of
cellular functioning.
If you've got high blood pressure, you might benefit from
yoga. Two studies of people with hypertension, published in
the British medical journal The Lancet, compared the effects
of Savasana (Corpse Pose) with simply lying on a couch.
After three months, Savasana was associated with a 26-point
drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and a
15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom
number)—and the higher the initial blood pressure, the
bigger the drop.
This holiday, if you're feeling the stress, take a time out.
Lie down and put your legs up the wall. Viparita Karani
reduces the systemic effects of stress and is restorative
for the entire nervous system. It quiets the mind, and
refreshes the heart and lungs.
As a general rule inversions should not be practiced by
anyone who is suffering from high blood pressure or has eye
problems such as detached retina or glaucoma. Some women
like to avoid inversions during menstruation.
Join me in the New Year for yoga classes to help you keep
your stress levels low. Check out my
schedule for class times and locations.
Namaste,
Melissa West
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