Cope with tension, the yogic way

With stress becoming an integral part of modern existence, one needs a different approach to stay healthy. Certain asanas of yoga can help you tackle emotional and physical problems better by Acharya Sri Rajeshjee

Aprevailing myth about emotions is that there is nothing we can do to control them. However, psychiatrist and researcher Norman E Rosenthal writes that the more we learn about emotions, the better equipped we are to deal with the troublesome ones.

Researcher james Laird from Clark University has found that asking students to make facial expressions like smiling or frowning made them happier or angrier respectively. If simple facial expressions can influence the state of one’s mind, imagine how much powerful yogic postures that focus on the endocrine and limbic system can affect the mental balance. The state of one’s mind is like a simple equation of the right balance between the body and the mind wherein the Asanas are the body part and the pranayama and pratyahara are the mind end.

Unfortunately, modern comforts and luxuries have not contributed to the mental and emotional well-being of individuals. In fact, tensions have increased in equal proportion. For example, one of the ‘programmed response’ of modern living is the fear of failure and that the only people worthwhile are those who have ‘made it’.

This is just one example of the many pressures of life that cause tension. These tensions cause an imbalance in the mental and emotional state of the person, and subsequently affect their personality.

Yoga in managing stress

In was Sage kapila who gave us the Samkhya system. Later on, during Buddha’s time, Maharshi Patanjali modified Kapila’s philosophy and gave us the yoga-sutras. He defined yoga as the science of mental control which affects the various dimensions of a person’s personality and patterns of behaviour.

Asanas

It has been scientifically proven that asanas and yogic postures bring about complete harmony between the body and the mind. To understand this, we must know how the mind and body complement each other. Worrying and thinking too much, getting angry or self-conscious, all lead to hyper activity of your glandular system. As is well-known, the endocrine system/glands have great impact on the physical and mental behaviour of a person. These glands include thyroid, pituitary, pineal, pancreas, etc.

The mind and the endocrine system are closely linked. With regular practice of asanas and yogic postures, many tensions can be dealt with as they mange the endocrine system in a balanced way. The simple practice of two asanas, namely, Paschimottana asana and Dhanurasana can result in muscular and mental relaxation.

Paschimottana asana

In Hatha Yoga Pradipika, this asana is simply described as, “Stretching the legs (in front) on the ground, like a stick bending forward, holding toes with both hands and placing the forehead on the knees.”

This asana stretches the whole spinal column and the central nervous system thus enabling nervous and pranic impulses to pass directly up to the higher centres. When there is a lot of tension in the body and mind, paschimottan asana helps eliminate it by regulating the adrenal glands and the whole system.

Dhanurasana

It is an asana in which lying flat on the floor on the stomach, the ankles are clutched by both hands and then the whole body is drawn like a bow, hence its name.

It is useful in overcoming lethargy and sluggishness of mind and body. It directly affects the solar plexus at the navel which is a large sympathetic nervous centre so important for healthy functioning of the body organs. It is particularly good for relieving tension because various endocrinal glands are massaged and toned, notably the thyroid and adrenals.

But it is most important to bear in mind that asanas should be learnt from a proficient yoga guru and should be performed with full mental awareness and correct breathing pattern. Awareness on every part of the body participating in the movements is of supreme importance in yoga.

These asanas remove the tension which gets accumulated in the muscle in the course of the day.

Emotional Tension

Emotional asanas remove the most difficult to manage. Especially of it is the loss of a loved one in an accident, divorce or even a love affair gone bad.

While tranquilisers and hypnotism are used for overcoming emotional problems, they do not help in tackling them at the root. Yogic practices of pranayama (lengthening of the prana or breath) and pratyahara (the stage wherein the sensations from taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell do not reach the brain) help in managing emotional problems.

Pranayama

It is system of breathing exercises which help in expelling maximum amount of carbon dioxide from the body and ensure a good supply of oxygen to the brain and body. But, as the yogis have said, that one should not mistake pranayama merely as breathing exercise. It improves oxygen in the body and expels carbon dioxide which has its own benefits physiologically. But as Swami Satyananda has said, “Pranayama actually utilizes the breathing process as a means to manipulate all forms of prana within the human framework whether gross or subtle. This in turn has repercussions on the mind and body.

“Mind is the master of the senses and the breath is the master of the mind.”

(Hatha-Yoga Pradipika 4:29).

Breath awareness stills the mind, helps your awareness to turn inwards as one watches with eyes closed and an inward gaze, the movement of breath within our body. It helps in warding off thoughts which in turn relaxes the mind and smoothens out tensions.

Pratyahara

The process of pratyahara is intended to disconnect one’s awareness form the sense organs, thereby instigating internalization of awareness. Pranayama followed by pratyahara is a potent combination for calming al tense nerves, muscles and knots of tension within oneself.

All this will remain a whole lot of words unless one actually practises and experiences the wonderful benefits of yoga.