Most of the time when people walk in there they used to get stressed. You will feel it walking towards you from all the corner of your office, whether it is from corridors, from your colleagues or from your boss cabin. At first, you think that it is unnecessary but whether it is?? Have you ever been able to ignore it. Let us face it that the stress has become the most used word in our conversation whether it is small or bigger one. But do we know what stress is and what causes stress in reality?
Let's look at stress in two perspectives.
Hans Selye defined stress as a body’s non-specific response to a demand placed on it. When your body feels tension whether in the form of physical and emotional it response with stress. It can come from a mere thought of change that can make you feel frustrated, angered or even make you nervous. It is a reaction that happens when your body is subjected to any kind of change. We as a human being made to withstand such changes in life so it is not unnatural. However, the human body is like a rubber band and it has its own limit; if we stretch it too much then it can break us apart.
Stress is not necessarily a bad thing; it is a part of your life. It shows how we can withstand the change going around us. There are two types of stress; positive stress is called Eustress; that makes you creative, healthy and lead you to a joyful way of growth. It tests your ability to acquire new skills and broadening horizons.
The negative aspects of stress, called ‘Distress’ is what we often refer to stress. It interferes with the performance of the people, creates negative emotions, hopelessness, vulnerability and frustration in the body and life. Normally our metabolism that builds the body called anabolic metabolism, however, when the stress is acute our body starts to react to it by releasing cortisol. This makes your brain more alert, increase your blood pressure, heart disease and overdue of it can cause you depression or anxiety.
According to the Upanishads our natural state of existence is full of absolute happiness and bliss which we can name as Ananada. According to the sage Patanjali it is known as swarupa; a state which is beyond any physical tension or stress. The mental modification (chitta vrittis) disrupts us from the state of Ananda and brings in the imbalance in the life of a yogi and that is what a yogi refers to as stress.
According to eastern philosophy, stress is called VEGA- excessive speed. Stress is our emotional reaction to the situation also known as UDVEGA. The source of UDVEGA is fear of unknown or sudden change. These negative reaction cause pain and lead to various ailment and diseases and other imbalances at the emotional level that manifest certain upsurges, caused by strong likes and dislikes.
In simple words, stress arises in the mind as an uncontrolled surge of emotion in our life. Emotion such as anger, frustration, fear, tension, depression etc is psychological responses to demanding situations.
Yoga is a powerful exercise to calm your mind; quite often we are not aware of ourself and not aware of even our thoughts. Most of us are not ignorant of our own potential and limitations and heavily relies on coffee and other stimulants to diverse our mind. Identifying the problem is the first step towards healing. A regular yoga practice will make you more aware of your thoughts by the practice of deep breathing and meditation. As you progress with the practice you will start paying more attention to your life, situation and emotions.
A regular yoga practice will make you more aware. When you get deeper into your practice, you will start paying more attention to your life, situations and emotions.
"Stress is like weather, every body talks about it and no body does anything about it."
It is difficult to get a hold of the mind. Sometimes we have to trick the mind to get it under our control. Luckily, yogis have already done the hard work. Knowing the limitations of time, inclination and modern style of living, Swamis and Gurus of repute have designed some easy to do practices. The principles behind the practices are based on relaxing the body, slowing down the breath and calming the mind. Again, developing internal awareness is essential.
The following are the practices recommended at different levels of our existence.Annamayakosha: Asanas with slow movement to combat the rush from within.
The stagnation that occurs is due to automation. It is therefore necessary to keep awareness throughout the practice to unravel the deeper layers of stress and relaxation.
When practicing, give enough time in-between poses for relaxation. Here, asanas should be preformed only up to an extent permissible. Touch that pleasurable pain and let it go.
Pranamyakosha: Pranayama slows down breath, makes it rhythmic and deep. It has tremendous affect in calming down the mind.
Manomayakosha: Retaining awareness and relaxation can help gain mastery over the mind. Having tasted the blissful state during the first two practices, the mind will set itself into a meditative mood. Here, further meditative practices can be initiated. Guided meditation techniques like yoga nidra and deep relaxation practices can also be included here.
Vijnanamayakosha: A change in the programming has to take place. The software inside needs a change. The ignorance (Avidya) over the goal of life and happiness need to change. A happy, healthy, peaceful, efficient and harmonious life with inner awareness is the goal of life. As we study scriptures, listen to people of knowledge and make a strong resolution (Samkalpa) and keep repeating it in the mind, we can get to the deeper layers of our consciousness and slowly but steadily change our attitude towards life.
Remember, there’s more to life than increasing its speed. Don’t let the outside world affect your inner peace. Your goals will still be there tomorrow. Don’t be complacent but don’t be consumed by achievements. Your quality of existence today matter. After all, it takes days seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years to make a lifetime. So how you feel every second will add up. Pay attention to the seconds that will make up your years!
