Let’s face it. Most of you want to destress. Your days are so busy that after your yoga class you simply want to feel good.
Have you had a hard week? A frustrating phone call? Do you need a moment to reset and get your relaxing back?
We all face stress. But not all stress is the same. Not all stress is bad stress. Some stress is short-term, motivating, feels exciting, and improves performance. These positive stressors could include starting a new job, having a child, moving, buying a home, or getting married. This type of stress is known as eustress and generally has a positive impact on mental and physical health.
However, as we all know, stress can also be negative. Money problems, job insecurity, divorce, death, abuse, illness, and relationship conflicts are all negative stressors that create distress. Excessive job demands, internal fears, and worries about the future can also create distress. Overscheduling, failing to be assertive, and procrastination are common distress-causing habitual behavior patterns. Unlike eustress, distress causes anxiety, feels unpleasant, decreases performance, and can lead to mental and physical problems.
Generally, people will experience both types of stress throughout their lives. In this article, I will mainly be discussing distress and its effects on the body, as well as how yoga can help.
When Stress Happens
So, what happens to our bodies when we experience stress? There are two main hormones released when we are placed in a stressful situation. Both can wreak havoc in our bodies if they are produced in abundance.
Adrenaline and cortisol are released when you experience fear, pain, and anxiety. You can actually feel the adrenaline surging through your body when you are in a stressful situation. There is an instant thumping in your chest, shortness of breath, and then starts the wetness that quickly covers your entire palm…not to mention your underarms!
Adrenaline is a hormone created to appropriate different responses in our body and triggers the fight or flight response. It also contracts the blood vessels to re-direct blood flow to the areas in need, and it can reduce the body’s ability to feel pain. This hormone may provide a person with an extra amount of strength in very stressful or dangerous situations. People have moved entire cars off train tracks when adrenaline was triggered.
Unfortunately, adrenaline can also cause our bodies to create another hormone, cortisol. Cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone”, is produced in the adrenal glands and can have awful effects on our body. An abundance of cortisol can cause disease, tumors, physical pain, joint and muscle stiffness, weight gain, weight loss, and ulcers.
Are you feeling a lot of mental and physical stress from school, work or your personal life? But you actually want to be relaxed and calm and ready to take on the world?
Chi’s Yoga is your personalized healthy yoga. It is my mission to help you own your yoga. We understand that every BODY is different. And so is your yoga. Your yoga is yours only!™ Chi’s Yoga helps you turn your head off.
Watch out for the second part of this series and learn how!
If you want to know more about how I practice, join my weekly yoga classes in Ikoyi-Lagos.
Also feel free to click here if you want to find out more about Radical healing, Radical transformation™.
Happy International Worker’s Day! You are blessed.
Chi
Chi’s Yoga – Your yoga is yours only!™
