STRESS, YOUR HEART, and YOGA

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), stress is the health epidemic of the 21st century. Even before the pandemic, our lives were crazy busy. The pandemic has even caused more stress by disrupting our lives with schools closing for months and our daily routines changing. Healthcare workers and workers in many industries have definitely been over stressed for many reasons.

What does stress do to the body? When we are under any kind of stress; emotional, mental, family, financial, work, endless “to-do” lists, etc. our sympathetic nervous system is stimulated. This is our “fight or flight” side of our nervous system. When it’s switched on and stays on for long periods of time, our bodies release cortisol. This stress hormone narrows the arteries, increases blood pressure, causes the breath to become short and shallow and speeds up your heart rate.

How can you alleviate stress? YOGA! Through controlled breathing, stretching and movement, and meditation we can undo the stress. When we take a few minutes at the start of our practice to deeply breathe, we are stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, our “rest and digest” branch of the nervous system. By focusing on our inhales and especially our exhales, we start to destress and lower the cortisol in our bodies. The focus on our breath throughout the practice continues to allow us to destress.

The Yoga, Stress, and Heart Connection. One of the clearest benefits of yoga to the heart is its ability to relax the body and mind. A large number of studies show that yoga benefits many aspects of cardiovascular health:

· Lowers blood pressure

· Lowers cholesterol

· Lowers glucose

· Lowers heart rate

· Reduces stress and anxiety

· Reduces cortisol levels

Practicing Yoga is good for your body, mind, spirit and HEART! It’s a wonderful stress reliever!! Our hearts are happy on yoga!