Release Body Tension to Release Stress
Successful Meditation and Relaxation with Yoga
Getting to the Root of Stress
For many people stress can be caused by external factors such as environment, social groups, workplace, family members and relationships. Others suffer stress from internal factors such as lack of assertiveness, perfectionism, low self-esteem, self criticism, and worry. Regardless of the root, stress causes noticeable changes in the body.
Workplace Stress
Individuals who work closely helping others, such as social workers, doctors, nurses and therapists sometimes suffer far more than other workers because of the very stressful and personal nature of their jobs. It is important to remember to work with both compassion and detachment (not indifference) to help manage stress in these fields.
Managing Work Stress
Attachment to work and its outcome can lead to self-judgment, repression and distortion of our experiences. There is a need to work mindfully, clearly and perceptively, to do what needs to be done simply because you are aware it needs to be done, with no desire, aversion or attachment to the action or its outcome. Through this practice of detachment you come closer to stopping stress before it manifests, and also become aware of what causes stress for you.
Breath is the Key
Of all the actions we need to complete in order to sustain life, breathing is the one that can be stilled for the shortest period and therefore it is the most essential. The quality of the breath affects our nervous system and body chemistry as well as our mental and emotional states. It is easy to overlook the autonomic process of breathing but every part of our life is affected by it, and yoga has an entire limb of practice dedicated to it called Pranayama.
To become better aware of our breath we need awareness of the body and to bring the body into a state of balance. Balance of the body and breath provides a foundation for health. If your body is tense and your muscles are tight your breath will not have free movement and will not be effective.
Link to Body Tension and Unhappiness
To illustrate the link between the body and mind try the Tense Body, Unhappy Mind Experiment. Hunch over, scrunch the shoulders to the ears, lock your tongue to the roof of your mouth, make a grimace with your face and squint your eyes. Hold this and try to think of something happy or even take a deep, full breath.
Harder then it seems, but not that unexpected. Think about when you are stressed. How does your body respond? What does your posture look like, and how many times when you experience stress are you able to think about happy things, or truly look on the bright side of life?
Before the Breath is the Posture
This is why before practicing breathing techniques or meditation the first step is to loosen some of the gripping stress has caused in the body through a series of simple yoga asanas, even quick physical postures that can be done in a chair will do. Once the body is stretched it is then time to release the breath, or move on to meditation.
Relax in any Environment
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