This Is Your Body on Stress

Stress is just your body's natural response to perceived danger. But what happens when your stress reaction never shuts off?

By Roger Cole

One of the best stress busters around is yoga. It directly counteracts both the physiological and psychological components of stress, simultaneously helping you take better care of yourself and change your attitude. The stretching you do in yoga relieves muscle tension. Upside-down poses and reclining poses slow the heart, relax the blood vessels, inhibit production of norepinephrine, and calm the brain. Pranayama (yoga's classic breathwork) slows respiration. As you practice being more aware and mindful, you gain a sense of self-control, equanimity, and peace. Perhaps most important of all, meditation and the teachings of yoga philosophy can help you realize that most of the things that upset you just aren't worth getting stressed about.

A research scientist and Iyengar-certified yoga teacher, Roger Cole, Ph.D., specializes in human anatomy and physiology, relaxation, sleep, and biological rhythms. For more information, see www.yogadelmar.com.

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