Why Yoga Works: Yoga’s Impact on the Nervous System & Stress

Introduction

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There is a plethora of research showing yoga’s positive effect on chronic pain, brain health, hormone regulation, PTSD, anxiety, depression, bone density and much more. Get concise summaries and links to original research here:

• How Yoga Supports Health & Physiology
• Research Summaries by Subject

In this lesson, we’re focused specifically on how yoga impacts stress levels. But in real life, there’s no clear dividing line between how yoga impacts conditions such as chronic pain, and how it impacts stress. That is, if we suffer from PTSD, anxiety, MS or fibromyalgia, we will also be suffering from some degree of stress that may be an outcome of the condition, but also an exacerbating factor. 

Attempts to separate yoga's impact on one or the other is simply researchers' efforts to pull things apart for greater understanding about how yoga impacts people, and what leads to healing. But let's not lose sight of the fact that the body is a holistic system that defies such rigid lines of delineation. The entire collection of research can help us to get a grasp on just how powerful yoga can be. The stunning results from the following research speak to this in a profound way:

REDUCING STRESS CHANGES GENETIC EXPRESSION: EPIGENETICS IN ACTION

Skeptics have long believed that meditation and other stress reduction techniques are nice but ineffectual practices that do little for you. Nothing could be further from the truth — and now we have the science to prove it. Intriguing new research suggests that regularly eliciting the relaxation response — a natural counterbalance to the stress response — can act on our genes in ways that may evoke multiple health benefits and help reduce the harmful effects of stress… Exciting new research from the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital suggests that the simple act of eliciting the relaxation response (and thereby dialing back the stress response) temporarily changes the activity of certain genes… For starters, it switches off genes associated with chronic inflammatory responses. Many experts believe these inflammatory responses stress the body, possibly contributing to a host of chronic ailments, such as heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetes. At the same time, it switches on genes linked with a variety of functions: the use of energy in the body, the release of insulin (which helps regulate blood sugar), the maintenance of telomeres (protective end-caps on our chromosomes that erode with age until a cell dies), and the functions of tiny cellular powerhouses called mitochondria… This information was prepared by the editors of the Harvard Health Publications division of Harvard Medical School. It is excerpted from our Special Health Report Stress Management. – Harvard Medical School

Chronic stress is known to both cause and exacerbate disease, and can lead to other problems such as anxiety or depression. A balanced nervous system is the key to positively managing stress. Below you’ll find related facts and research. In addition, you can also inspire and teach through personal experience and stories that help to bring the research alive. 

LEARNING TO HEAL & REGULATE OUR NERVOUS SYSTEM

How important is it that we learn to heal and regulate our nervous system? Consider this: who would you rather have babysitting your child? Someone who is tense and anxious and has trouble staying focused, or someone who is focused, calm, and happy? Which surgeon would you prefer operate on your brain or heart? One who is tense and anxious and sleep deprived, or someone who is focused, calm, and well rested? So, how important is it that we learn to heal and regulate our nervous system? The answer is obvious isn’t it? Learning to regulate our nervous system is every bit as important as exercising our body. In context to our relationships it is arguably far more important. – Max Strom

Yoga’s Impact on the Nervous System

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Yoga’s impact on the nervous system is arguably the primary reason that it helps to relieve stress.

YOU CAN’T JUST TELL YOURSELF TO RELAX

Of course, when you are stressed out, you can’t just tell yourself to relax. (I remember when I was suffering terribly from chronic stress, a therapist told me to “stop worrying.” I said, “Are you kidding?” and, duh, never went back.) But this is where yoga performs so brilliantly. – Nina Zolotow