Yoga and Ayurveda for Stress, Burnout and Anxiety
Stress isn’t all bad. A little bit of stress can keep us feel motivated to overcome challenges to grow and evolve.
About Stress and the Nervous System
When faced with a little bit of stress, our nervous system activates to enable our navigating through the stress (fight, flight, freeze) and then deactivates to return to a state of balance and ease.
This natural process is referred to as nervous system regulation (i.e. moving from a state of stress to a state of ease).
The problem is, many of us are constantly stressed (finances, relationships, world view, past trauma, bombardment from media, etc, etc) and so our nervous system is commonly in a state of chronic stress.
Chronic stress results in nervous system dis regulation (i.e. not easily moving from a stress response to ease response).
The impact of Chronic Stress
When under perceived threat, the stress response involves the release of stress hormones in order to: increase heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar levels in order to enable a surge of energy to overcome the threat.
When in a state of chronic stress, the body’s favours the stress response while suppressing other bodily functions that are associated with thriving such as: digestion, metabolism, creative thinking, happy hormones, immunity and fertility (e.g.).
Therefore, it is not possible for the body to be thriving and chronically stressed.
It is well known and evidence-based that chronic stress leads to:
weakened immune systems, increased risk of heart disease, digestive issues, inflammatory health problems (arthritis, autoimmune conditions, gastritis, etc etc), anxiety, depression, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.
Stress is by far the most common factor I have found in working with people wanting to achieve more health and vitality.
Stress & Anxiety Indicates Excess RAJAS
Yoga and Ayurveda identify 3 qualities of energy that influence our psyche, known as the Gunas. These are:
Rajas (active and dynamic),
Tamas (flat, dense and dull) and
Sattva (pure, light and uplifting).
The Gunas are inevitable in affecting our body, mind and emotions and are often transient in their influence, depending upon the weather, life events, foods consumed (e.g.), etc.
When in balance, Rajas is the energy of passion, enthusiasm and achievement: qualities essential for a full life!
However, when in excess, Rajas results in: an overactive mind, perfectionistic tendencies, competitive, anxious, reactive and quick to anger.
Rajas stimulates the stress response within the nervous system.
The Ayurvedic Approach to Stress, Burn out and Anxiety
Ayurveda is a wholistic medical system that recognises the interconnectedness of the body, mind, emotion and spirit. The Ayurvedic approach to Stress, Burn Out and Anxiety is:
Determine, treat or remove the root cause of stress
Reduce the sources of Rajas Guna in diet and lifestyle
Encourage the opposite Gunas = Tamas in diet and lifestyle
Encourage Sattva Guna in diet and lifestyle
Support and pacify Vata Dosha, which is implicated with nervous system dis regulation
Yoga for Stress, Burn out and Anxiety
Yoga is the original Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy (or body-based therapy) has recently become associated with the treatment of mental and emotional health due to the recent realisation of the interconnectedness between body, mind and emotion.
Yoga is the original somatic therapy having long established the interconnectedness of body, mind and emotion through its vast and extensive theory and science that supports the (initially) body-based practices.
The detailed maps of the subtle body in the Vedic tradition (e.g. energy channels and chakras), easily explain why repressed emotion live inside the body as energy forms in predictable locations within the body depending upon the type of emotion repressed.
Body-based Yoga practices can target emotional centres within the body to help liberate the energy associated with repressed emotions. Where trauma is involved (big or small), it is ideal to combine Yoga therapy with counselling or psychotherapy (e.g.) to ensure adequate expression and resolution of the emotional state (so to not re-embody the emotion repressed).
Yin and Yang are both needed
The most obvious choice for someone who is affected by Rajas (or with a disregulated nervous system), is to offer restorative Yoga as an antidote (i.e. a more tamasic activity).
However, someone affected by Rajas will not easily rest in restorative yoga as their tendency is active and dynamic (and is more likely to become frustrated if asked to simply rest in a yoga pose).
Instead, a combination of both dynamic (yang) and restorative yoga (yin) styles are needed to meet the individual with a little bit of Rajas as an outlet for the energy they may have within before being able to benefit from a restorative pose (e.g.).
Pranayama
Breath work (or pranayama) is extremely helpful in influencing the Gunas. Cooling and calming breath practices can be used in yoga therapy to help overcome Rajas.
However, as many affected with Rajas (or over stimulated nervous systems) may do so as a result of trauma or anxiety, breath practices need to be gentle, optional and taught in a way that does not further encourage states of distress (this is common and can be avoided using trauma sensitive yoga principles).
The Vayus
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The Chakras
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Yoga Nidra Meditation
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Trauma Aware Facilitation
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Article due to be finished 8th April.
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