How does yoga help you to destress and relax?
We hear all the time that yoga is good for de-stressing and relaxation. Maybe that’s even what brought you to yoga in part. But how does yoga actually work to help you to rest and restore? Especially when there are so many different styles, and the physical practice can vary from gentle to hard work!
Here’s an explanation of how it works:
Yoga strengthens our ability to responsively shift between being in active mode, and slowing down to rest and relaxation.
After being active, our body needs to shift to rest, where the repair of cells and system functions takes place.
Modern life can skew us towards being overstimulated and stuck in active mode, suffering from a deficit of rest and repair.
You may not FEEL ‘stressed’ and in need of more rest but it’s your body that decides whether adequate repair and recovery is taking place.
So many health and physical problems have roots in the body not having enough physical and/or emotional rest and repair time, whether that’s current or historical.
Being human involves illness, injury and things beyond our control. Yet, from a yogic health point of view, a lot of health problems are to a large degree rooted in an overloaded mind+body. ‘Overloaded’ being a very individual tipping point, and changing all the time.
A physically based (asana + pranayama) yoga practice is supportive of a balance between active and rest modes via having a deliberate practice of the process of active to rest - an arc of practice. This looks like:
tuning into the felt sensations of the body - building self awareness
slower breath rhythm with simple movement
movements which work muscles and joints, creating a sense of energy use and flow
winding down to slower breathing + movements, stillness and rest
There are many possible variations on this intentional process. Interestingly, it still works, whether the movement part is gentle or vigorous, depending on your capacity and needs.
You’ll notice some kind of arc in all my classes whether dynamic or gentle.
From Active mode (sympathetic nervous system) to Rest & Restore mode (parasympathetic nervous system)
This deliberate journey from activation to a more restful state is called ‘down-regulating’ as we guide the nervous system, AKA the mind+body communication system, towards the ‘parasympathetic’ rest state.
When we begin to ‘downregulate’ with slower movement and breathing and then stay in stillness, many physiological changes happen as the body shifts to ‘parasympathetic’ dominant (‘rest and digest') state. The heart rate slows down, muscles relax, blood flow is redirected away from the limbs/muscles towards the trunk and organs. Even our way of thinking changes as brain waves shift from active beta waves to slower alpha and theta waves which foster calm and a wider perspective.
In a yoga practice you are ‘exercising’ your ability to toggle between more active and more restful states.
Shifting to a parasympathetic dominant state doesn't mean you emerge from your yoga feeling ready for a nap. This kind of restorative down-regulation can create a feeling of calm and also -
alertness with calm
better focus
more physical energy
a sense of perspective with the things we have to deal with
more emotional capacity and patience
Everyday life can be overstimulating with so much sensory input (via screens etc) that it’s easy to be stuck in a more activated state a lot of the time. This can simply feel normal and even useful for all the things you need to do. The nervous system can end up perceiving ‘doing mode’ as safer, making natural slowing down feel uncomfortable.
It’s easy to start the day with coffee, be on the go all day, and then try and unwind later in the day with more stimulating distractions. However, by midlife particularly, the fallout from long term deficits in deep rest can start to show up:
Low back pain and other physical niggles and injuries that don’t resolve
Chronic complaints like -
Migraines
Insomnia
Digestive issues
Skin problems
Anxiety & depression
Fatigue
Stronger symptoms of perimenopause
Allergies
Autoimmune issues and more
Basically, your body+mind under pressure will manifest somewhere.
Our medical system has to focus on treating the presenting symptom, but the root cause is often complex and systemic, with overload contributing to a lack of balance.
Rest and repair requires consistent PRACTICE over time - you may have noticed, lying down to release tension and deeply rest on demand just isn’t so easy for most of us!
There are ways of immediately shifting to feeling a bit calmer, and also, it‘s a learned skill to be able to sense into and then to undo the many layers of tension and overactivation habits we hold.
The regular practice of the arc of a yoga practice with the slowing down part always following a more activating part, helps to build our capacity for releasing tension and accessing deep rest so that we can better handle and enjoy all the demands and activities of life.
This is what happens with all forms of physical activity, but yoga is a very intentional method to do this, with the added benefit of honing self awareness skills. Which is why I’m spelling all this out. Personally I find it helpful to know I’m creating this arc of practice - revving up and winding down - and to intentionally observe and explore what might be helpful on any given day.
Encouraging balance and regulation can start with 10 mins a day of time and space for yourself. You could pause right now and take a full breath in and slowly, then very slowly breathe it out. Try it and see how even just the idea of giving yourself some 'breathing space' feels in your body : )
Anything new or interesting to you in this blog? Let me know in the comments or drop me an email.
