MANAGING STRESS THROUGH YOGA

Managing Stress through Yoga



Managing Stress through Yoga

Introduction

Yoga is a religious discipline that evolved in India more than 5,000 years ago. It has influenced, and been influenced by, the religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, but is not a religion itself. Indeed it is practiced by millions of people throughout the world of various religious faiths and backgrounds, and in the United States and other Western countries, it is often regarded, despite its antiquity, as a form of “new age” spiritual expression.

There are more than 100 forms of yoga, but almost all derive from one of several main branches, each of which is characterized by distinct philosophical underpinnings and techniques. All forms of yoga, however, share the same ultimate goal: the integration of mind and body, self-transcendence, and enlightenment. The word “yoga,” in fact, derives from the Sanskrit for “unity,” suggesting the convergence of various facets of the self (Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, 1998).

There are many people are using yoga techniques for physical exercise, but most of them do not know the history of yoga. We all have an idea what yoga is, but understanding techniques of yoga and its benefits, we must know roots and history of yoga. A quick glance at history of yoga will give us a better picture and true understanding how yoga works and how should it work. People just do yoga as form of exercise to promote a healthier life style. However, it is more than a system of doing exercise, and yoga is an ancient path to spiritual growth which originally came from India. The practice of yoga dates back to the 5000BC.The history of yoga is based in the Indus Valley civilization and yoga is techniques which are practiced by the Indus to initiate spiritual growth. The yogis, who practices yoga called yogis, encourage people through practiced from many years. In beginning, Yoga's aim was to heal community members as religious mediators but later on it became way of living better life for yogis and other people.

Yoga-based Stress Management

Yoga methods have had the most popularity in the treatment of hypertension (Patel, 1993). This technique appears to reduce stress in part by helping the client to reframe the stressor in a nonthreatening fashion. Yoga, which means “union,” is an Indian philosophy that presents various values, techniques, and disciplines to teach ways of establishing harmony by developing the mind among the various sides of life. The sides of human life are both material (body) and nonmaterial (mind and soul). Different techniques or combinations are used depending on whether one's intellect, emotions, or actions dominate. The main components of yoga include 14 breathing exercises (which facilitate regulation of the mind and body), 200 balanced physical postures (which help to prevent musculoskeletal deterioration), and exercises for awakening “kundalini” (the energy reservoir at the base of the spinal cord). Yoga is based on a belief that life can be conceptualized as a gaseous exchange that takes place between “inspired” (oxygenated) air and ...