1. Stress is not just “Fight or Flee”
It is common to associate stress with the “fight or flee” response of the body. But stress is more than fight-or-flee. Here are some broad categories of stress:
- Fight-or-flee (This car is going to run over me! I better get out of the way!)
- Worry (Will I be able to pay this bill? What will happen if I can’t?)
- Drudgery (This work sucks!)
- Pressure (Got to get this done in the next 30 minutes!)
All the above categories are considered “bad stress” as we are not productive when we experience these states. There is another stress that is usually considered “good stress” because it makes us extremely productive:
- Focus (I am lost in my work, with no sense of time or space).
It is important to understand that whether we considered it good or bad, stress becomes poisonous for our mind-body if it never stops. This condition is called chronic stress.
2. Stress is the conductor of the orchestra
The way the stress system works is that it controls every cell of our body. It does so by means of messengers that talk to our cells:
- The “fight-or-flee” stress uses the hormone Adrenaline as its messenger.
- The “worry” stress uses the hormone Cortisol as its messenger.
These hormones have a deep impact on our mind-body system. They talk to every cell in our body and change their behavior. The fight-or-flee causes our heart to beat faster, blood pressure to rise, and all our energy to be focused on fighting or fleeing. Because fight-or-flee has such a dramatic impact on our mind-body, it is usually a short-lived response.
On the other hand the “worry” type of stress response, based on the hormone Cortisol, is more persistent. This response causes elevated blood pressure, shorter breaths, tightened muscles, scattered unfocussed thinking, visceral fat, postponed repairs, poor digestion, and other ill effects if it continues unabated. This stress response happens when the mind-body believes that there is danger lurking. The mind-body is on stand-by to jump to the more urgent fight-or-flee response. This response puts the mind-body in a state where it tries to conserve energy for later emergencies that may arise.
Scientists are still working to determine which hormones are associated with the other stress responses. A key insight is that the “focus” type stress response cannot be achieved if the “worry” type of response is on-going.
It is useful to think of the stress system as a conductor of the orchestra. Based on the mind-body’s assessment of the situation it uses the stress system to coordinate effort from every cell in the body. The stress system is the conductor of the orchestra whose music our mind-body plays.
3. Ego and Stress are partners
A common question is: Why are we stressed so much?
There are few situations that trigger the “life is in danger” fight-or-flee response in modern day life. So from where is our stress coming? The answer is that our ego-system constantly perceives threats, and as a result it constantly triggers a stress response.
Since these responses are relentless, our mind bodies experience chronic stress. So while we may not experience any physical danger, our ego makes us feel that we are under constant attack. Every situation and every word is interpreted as being either for or against us. In addition we constantly worry about what may happen that will hurt our ego. We are out to defend our status and we constantly seek to gain affirmations. All this triggers stress responses in our body that are relentless. Our ego never lets up and so our body experiences constant stress.
4. Relaxation is not the same as boredom
While it is commonly understood that chronic stress is bad for us, nevertheless there are arguments about stress being good for us. A common rejoinder is: How can I get work done without stress? To answer this we have to understand that there are two states that are desirable:
One is the relaxed state where there is no stress. This state is important as it allows the body to rest and recover. Important repairs can be carried out during such times. Much of this happens when we sleep and so getting 7+ hours of sleep every night is critically important. But this is not enough. We must also remain relaxed during conscious moments too. Things like eating, digesting food, experiencing love and happiness, are best done in our relaxed state.
The other state is the focused state. This state can usually be launched only from the relaxed state. This is why remaining in relaxed state in conscious moments is important. The focused state is where we can work and do our creative stuff. After we come out of the focused state we want to return immediately to the relaxed state. Not giving enough time for the mind-body to remain in the relaxed state can destroy our health and well being.
Workaholics usually justify their obsession to only remain in focused state because they equate relaxation with boredom. It is important to see the distinction between the two. Relaxation allows us to rest and recover before we refocus. Boredom is inability to focus due to lack of motivation.
5. Stress is central to energy management
Those who are worried about their weight usually think that calorie is the only key thing to focus on. But ignoring the role of stress on our weight is the reason why so many experience “yo-yo” weight cycles. Stress is the key player when it comes to determining our weight as it plays a central role in energy management. When we experience chronic stress our body usually becomes an energy hog. We feel hungry often, our body absorbs every calorie we consume, repairs are postponed, and in order to conserve energy our mind-body becomes lethargic and inactive.
On the other hand when we are relaxed and not experiencing chronic stress, our body has a very relaxed attitude towards energy. Gone are the frequent hunger pangs. Now our body absorbs only the calories it needs, as it knows it can easily get more when the need arises. We now find it easy to be active and our body takes up extensive energy-intensive repair and maintenance tasks.
Trying to reduce weight without paying attention to our stress levels is like trying to go east by walking towards the back of the bus that is headed west.
6. Stress can be controlled
One common rejoinder to the problem of stress is “All this is well and good, but since we have no control over our stress levels, what is the point of this discussion?”
However it is important to understand that stress can be controlled. This is done by increasing periods of relaxation in our life. Remember that if we manage to slip in periods of relaxation in-between our stressful times, it gives our mind-body time to recover and so we come out of chronic stress. It is chronic stress that is damaging to our health, not stress itself.
Taking time to relax, walking in nature, watching enjoyable shows (not stressful ones), getting good sleep, chatting with friends and relatives, are some ways we can de-stress.
In addition we can take advantage of an ancient discovery. Many thousand years ago, there were some who advocated the path of meditation to realize deep spiritual truths. But they found that this required our body to get into the “focus” state. As discussed earlier, this is difficult to do if the body is not first in “relaxed” state. This is why the system of Yoga was invented. A sage called Patanjali synthesized these findings in a system of “Eight limbs” and his system is known as “Raja Yoga”. The first two limbs are do’s and don’ts. These are known as Yamas and Niyamas, and are there to keep the ego in check. As discussed, ego plays a central role in keeping us stressed. The other four limbs are:
a. Yoga postures (Asana)
b. Breathing exercises (Pranayama)
c. Withdrawal from sensory overload (Pratyahara)
d. Simple Meditation (Dhyana).
These four limbs are meant to put us in a relaxed state. This allows one to go into a focused state of meditation (Dharna) and eventually a deep state of meditation where a feeling of oneness is experienced (Samadhi).
But even if you are not interested in any spiritual goals of Yoga, you can take advantage of those limbs that help us get into relaxed state:
- The practice of yoga postures stretches our muscles and relaxes the mind-body.
- Doing breathing exercise that elongates our breath also signals the body to relax.
- Regularly shutting out all audio-visual sensory overload helps the mind-body to calm down. Silence the phone and the music system. Shut down the computer and TV, and go into nature for a quiet walk. This is one way of doing Pratyahara.
- Every day practice a simple 20 minutes meditation by repeating a phrase or chant in your spiritual tradition. This will trigger a relaxation response and calm down the mind-body system.
The surprising thing about all this is that de-stressing is not only important for our health and well-being, it is also important for our work and creativity. This is because it is difficult to focus and be creative without relaxing first.
We can put into use modern day insights about the way the stress system works and combine it with ancient practices related to Yoga that take advantage of these principles. When we do this we unlock the full extent of our potential and our purpose.
Related:
Six Ways Yoga Heals
Yoga’s Virtuous Cycles
Six Things To Know About Dieting And Weight Loss
Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah.