Please note: if
you have no stress, this article will not be of interest.
But if you live in modern society, your system experiences stress just due to the level of stimulation (noise, visual messaging, abundance of choice, etc.). Imagine life 100, or 1000, years ago. It gets dark in early evening. It’s perhaps cold outside. Maybe you huddle by the fire or work by candlelight for a bit, but then you cocoon for long stretches. There’s no television, cell phone or central heat. You can go days or even weeks seeing just the same few faces. You have very little concept of what life is like on the other side of the world so you don’t worry about the wars or starvation there. Your nervous system today is wired for that level of stimulation. It’s very new in human development that we have access to 24 hour news, shopping, visiting, gambling, etc. We no longer have a long, open spaces in our lifestyle to nap, dream, work at quiet, repetitive tasks and generally be bored to tears.
Even if you have a perfect marriage, no money concerns, a benevolent boss and consistent access to the best parking spots, your system is chronically and cumulatively deprived of restoration time. What we commonly believe to be symptoms of aging are actually the result of this deficit.
Most of us wouldn’t sign up to go back in time. There are ways, however, to adjust to the
rest needs of your system without such drastic steps. One way is Restorative
Yoga.
You might consider yoga stretching or exercise, which it can
be. Restorative
Yoga is a different approach that also improves performance, concentration and alleviates pain…. without stretching or straining.
Restorative
Yoga means taking time to arrange your body over pillows, blankets, chairs,
etc. in such ways that all curves are supported gently. Properly propped, you feel no actual “stretch”
sensation. The position should be
neutral and as comfortable as possible.
Restorative Yoga helps us discover where we are holding tension. The actual effort involved in restorative yoga is the willingness to look at how and where we are holding tension, and to relax our body on the ground, allowing the breath to come in more, so the tension that we find can be softened or less gripping.
Restorative Yoga creates the conditions for the relaxation response to kick in. The grounding; complete, full breathing; and quietness of Restorative Yoga help us elicit the relaxation response, a neurological response that tells us we are safe, pulls us out of “flight or fight” mode and initiates the body’s self-healing process.
Restorative Yoga helps us face what we are avoiding about ourselves. Our habit of running around, conquering our to-do lists, and fueling ourselves with coffee and ambition can often be a way we avoid deep discomforts and unwelcome feelings in the body and mind. Restorative yoga asks us to stop engaging in all the doing and face what we really need to look at about ourselves. To learn about, befriend, and care for the whole of ourselves in a way we are not used to. This is an essential step for health and healing, for true renewal.
Previously, I only took Restorative Yoga seriously when I was injured or had already put in a good workout. Now it’s become the first priority in my self care protocol.
Try Legs up the Chair pose after work. Try the position pictured above when you’re fighting off a cold. In our “Learn to Rest” section of the resources page, there are many different options.
Energy is a resource for which we control the budget. Investing wisely to achieve maximum return is important here as it is with finance. Learn the science behind therapeutic rest in order to boost your focus, strength and resiliency.
As the holidays creep closer, the pressure to jam more into each day increases. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, doing less will actually help you get more done. Here’s how.
A tremendous amount of mental and physical activity takes place in the background of our awareness. Experts suggest up to 90% of our reactions, thoughts and behaviours are initiated from the subconscious mind. All of these electrical impulses, or thoughts, require energy. Many of these automatic decisions may not be in congruence with your current priorities, but you keep doing them anyway as reflexes and habits. For example, you may have a willful commitment to eating healthier, but late night cravings for ice cream when you can’t sleep derail you regularly. Sometimes, you can’t even recall eating it at all! This conflict can cause stress on the system about which we are oblivious.
Most of us think of stress as really tragic events or other big ticket changes in your life. Most people, because they function quite capably in their life’s work, don’t even feel stressed. By the time we report stress to our doctor or other caregiver, the symptoms of imbalance have deeply impacted our physical and emotional health.
Stress is an inherent part of being human. All of us experience stress or we couldn’t get out of bed each day. Stress is a normal and healthy set of physiological markers (such as increased heart rate, tension in large muscle groups, increased adrenalin, etc.) that allow us to get things done and feel alert. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the relaxation response. Again, this is a specific set of physiological markers that create an environment in the body for repair, digestion and reorganizing. Ideally, the human animal is equally balanced in the course of a day between activity and rest. The flow between the two states of activity and rest is a continuum and we constantly float along that spectrum. Even in the course of one breath, there is a little movement between activity and rest.
As stress has become more and more associated with negative health outcomes, intensive research has shown that stress response happens in modern life far more often than we realize. Stress, or activity, is generated in the sympathetic nervous system any time we feel the mildest of a survival threat. An update on your computer platform; searching for a parking spot; worrying that that last joke was well received – these common occurrences generate the biochemical changes in your body that take your away from the reparative and restorative rest we so desperately need. Add in a few bigger ticket stressors such as financial or family concerns and our system is drawn chronically into sympathetic nervous system activation too often and for too long.
Choosing to invest your energy in the
chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system prematurely wears you
out. It contributes to sleep disturbances, skin rashes, arthritic
pain, sharp tempers and a lack of creativity to name a few symptoms. Remember – modern life inherently pushes you
to this imbalance. Perhaps most
compelling is that the holidays are potentially a time for connection, family
and celebrating what is wonderful in our lives.
When we are depleted, the fatigue prevents us from being truly present
and enjoying the season as much as we could.
What we think of as “relaxing”, really isn’t.
Socializing – while very enjoyable, the noise, heavy food, alcohol, pressure to be witty, all add up to a “survival threat”. It stimulates your sympathetic nervous system.
Exercise – movement is extremely important but exercise alone, especially movement that is in any way associated measuring, evaluating or competing, activates the sympathetic nervous system. As the adrenalin and other hormones of the stress response are produced to answer the call of exercise, they are burned off so we feel more balanced when we finished. There has been no rest though.
Media – watching television or catching up on podcasts allows physical stillness but is in no way restful for the nervous system. Studies show that the powerful emotional centers of the brain react to the images and ideas on media as if they were happening directly to us. Our rational brains can distinguish the difference, but that part of your brain is not consciously directing these reflexive responses.
Relaxation is an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. There are separate nerves that enervate your organs and tissues for this branch of the autonomic nervous system. Remember, we flow along the continuum throughout the day and can feel relatively ‘relaxed’ when we are not actually in the relaxation response. To create the flow of neurotransmitters and biochemical markers that will truly help us heal, we need to take rest seriously.
Modern society is the most complex ever
recorded so your lives probably reflect that.
Besides the obvious advice to edit activities and eat healthy, here are
a couple interventions that can help you “power rest”. Introducing regular and repeated therapeutic
relaxation into your daily routine recalibrates your brain giving you greater focus and
strength.
This ancient breathing technique
alternately stimulates the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems to
help you create a better flow along the continuum. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Sit in a chair with an upright and alert
posture. (Instructional
video here.) Feel free to play some uplifting and relaxing music in the
background (try https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z8lIU9fKjk&list=PLNxTjx73TgkdaxeYhQQvIEYbSm-RqLeOm). Using your right hand, place the thumb over
the right nostril. Place the ring finger
over the left nostril. The index and
middle finger can curl down into the palm, or lightly rest them between the eye
brows. Inhale only through the left side
then adjust fingers so exhale is only through the right. Stay on the right side to inhale, then adjust
fingers to exhale on the left. This is
one round. Relax shoulders, align head
over the rest of the spine. Repeat until
the time goes off. This breathing
pattern may help you feel more balanced and prepare for deeper stages of
relaxation.
Strategy #2: Legs Up the Chair Pose
This restorative
yoga posture inverts the play of gravity on the body, inducing a physical
sense of relaxation. It alleviates lower
leg swelling, sore feet, aching hips, backs and knees (all symptoms of marathon
holiday parties and shopping). To do, (instructional
video here) utilize a kitchen or living room chair or couch. Align the legs so that the calves are
supported by the seat with the edge of the seat in the crooks of your
knees. Place a pillow or folded blanket
under your sacrum to elevate your hips slightly. A pillow might feel nice under your neck. Close your eyes and breathe slowly and
deeply. As little as five minutes can
bring new energy but continuing for up to 20 is recommended. Adding an eye pillow or cool cloth will
reduce lines and swelling around eyes.
