We live in a very fast-paced world. Stress is unavoidable. Urban cities are full of noise, pollution, and congestion. All of these contribute to stress. We cannot escape it. However, we can learn how to minimize the effect of stress on our health. In this article, we learn how to live with stress. We focus on how yoga can relieve work-related stress.   Stress is a strain that our body feels in response to physical or emotional change. We all experience it at some point in life. It can be due to extra workload at home or office. It can be due to emotional pressure in relationships. Moreover, it can also be due to factors like pollution. There are many reasons why the body can feel stressed. The way we respond to any kind of stress is important. Over time, if stress goes unchecked, it can create physical and mental health problems. Stress can be long-term, short-term, chronic, and acute stress impacts us in the following ways:

Effects of Stress on Physical Health

When our body experiences stress, it releases a hormone called cortisol. Our body enters a fight or flight response when in stress. This is important for survival. However, when our body is constantly in this state, it can be dangerous. High levels of stress can lead to physical problems such as high blood pressure or heart attack.

Prolonged exposure to stress, especially work-related stress results in hair loss, weight loss, or weight gain. It can also lead to problems in intercourse, migraine, or immunity. These health ailments can make it further difficult to live with stress at work.

Effects of Stress on Mental Health

When under stress, you are prone to think impulsively. Sometimes stress can make you angry. You may yell at your colleagues or even get irritated easily. It can affect your relationship with your spouse or children. Stress can also lead to anxiety or depression in the long run.

This can be referred to as a strain caused by a mismatch in job demands and individual capabilities. Often when the work environment is highly stressful, a person experiences job stress. In some cases, an overload of work can lead to stress. A toxic or highly competitive environment at work can create stress. Additionally, when a person doesn’t get enough rest from work, they experience work stress. Just like any other stress, it affects the mental and physical wellness of the person. In addition to this, it also affects the productivity of the worker and impacts the profit of the company in general. It is very difficult to perform well and live with stress at the workplace.

Some common factors that can lead to work stress include low salaries, boring work, or toxic workers. Other factors are unclear demands, no opportunity for growth, or some kind of harassment at work.

It is extremely difficult to find a workplace devoid of stress. Even if we want to, we cannot eliminate stress from our lives. Some amount of stress is even beneficial. For instance, eustress. It is a kind of stress which makes you feel excited and motivated to thrive. However, the other types of stress can harm your performance. There are many ways of living with stress. We aim to eliminate the negative stress response. Yoga is one such way in which we can reduce the impact of stress in our lives. It is also beneficial in controlling negative stress responses.

Yoga is considered to be a holistic approach to combating stress. It is well researched in many parts of the world. It is ancient and result-oriented. Yoga integrates the mind and body. It consists of various poses that help in muscle relaxation and several breathing techniques that bring the focus back to the body. Yoga helps an individual to live with stress and not get overwhelmed by the pressure. It improves our stress responses.

As discussed earlier, yoga is a combination of body and mind. Several poses improve your physical fitness and help you maintain a healthy body weight. It is also beneficial in managing symptoms of other mental conditions such as depression or anxiety. Yoga is especially beneficial for work-related stress. Here is some more information on yoga for work-related stress.

Yoga Relieves Muscle Tension

Desk jobs can make people lazy. Lack of activity can have negative health effects such as obesity or low stamina. Yoga involves slow and rapid stretches. This improves flexibility. Additionally, it also keeps the joints and muscles moving. Further, stress creates a lot of tension in the neck area and joints. Yoga exercises help to reduce them. For instance, Hatha yoga or Surya namaskar engages many muscle groups. When doing these steps, a person can feel the tension leaving their body.

Yoga Helps in Breath Control

When we feel stress, our breathing becomes faster. Sometimes our heartbeat becomes rapid. In yoga, there are many breathing exercises. One such exercise is Anolom-Vilom or controlled breathing. Breathe control is an excellent way to live with stress and manage it. In yoga, a lot of focus is placed on breath control. It is believed that breathing is a very important yet neglected function. The person thus learns to control the breath in most of the yoga poses.

Yoga Helps Achieve Peace of Mind

Our mind is always occupied with thoughts. So many of them are unwanted. We often lack control over them. At work, a million things are running through our minds. Yoga is a mindfulness-based practice that includes focusing on the here and now. In yoga, the main focus of breath control is to bring attention to the present moment. Additionally, yoga helps in clearing our minds. When we do yoga, the body releases endorphins or feel-good hormones. These hormones help in positive thinking. Moreover, yoga poses need a lot of attention. Therefore it is difficult for the mind to wander off. If you have peace of mind, it becomes easy to live with stress.

Yoga Helps in Relaxation

Several elements like sleep yoga, body scanning, or pranayam are focused on paying close attention to our body parts. For example, in a body scan, you pay close attention to several muscle groups. You focus on the sensation in those groups. This helps you become aware of the tension you have been facing. In-office or workplace, you often neglect your physical health. A body scan helps you pay attention to your body’s needs. Additionally, when you scan your body and imagine the tension leaving your body, you feel relaxed. This way yoga helps you release physical tension you may face at work. These techniques can help you live with stress at work. It is extremely difficult to find a workplace devoid of stress. Even if we want to, we cannot eliminate stress from our lives. Some amount of stress is even beneficial. For instance, eustress. It is a kind of stress which makes you feel excited and motivated to thrive. However, the other types of stress can harm your performance. There are many ways of living with stress. We aim to eliminate the negative stress response. Yoga is one such way in which we can reduce the impact of stress in our lives. It is also beneficial in controlling negative stress responses.

Yoga is considered to be a holistic approach to combating stress. It is well researched in many parts of the world. It is ancient and result-oriented. Yoga integrates the mind and body. It consists of various poses that help in muscle relaxation and several breathing techniques that bring the focus back to the body. Yoga helps an individual to live with stress and not get overwhelmed by the pressure. It improves our stress responses.

As discussed earlier, yoga is a combination of body and mind. Several poses improve your physical fitness and help you maintain a healthy body weight. It is also beneficial in managing symptoms of other mental conditions such as depression or anxiety. Yoga is especially beneficial for work-related stress. Here is some more information on yoga for work-related stress.

Yoga Relieves Muscle Tension

Desk jobs can make people lazy. Lack of activity can have negative health effects such as obesity or low stamina. Yoga involves slow and rapid stretches. This improves flexibility. Additionally, it also keeps the joints and muscles moving. Further, stress creates a lot of tension in the neck area and joints. Yoga exercises help to reduce them. For instance, Hatha yoga or Suryanamaskar engages many muscle groups. When doing these steps, a person can feel the tension leaving their body.

Yoga Helps in Breath Control

When we feel stress, our breathing becomes faster. Sometimes our heartbeat becomes rapid. In yoga, there are many breathing exercises. One such exercise is Anolom-Vilom or controlled breathing. Breathe control is an excellent way to live with stress and manage it. In yoga, a lot of focus is placed on breath control. It is believed that breathing is a very important yet neglected function. The person thus learns to control the breath in most of the yoga poses.

Yoga Helps Achieve Peace of Mind

Our mind is always occupied with thoughts. So many of them are unwanted. We often lack control over them. At work, a million things are running through our minds. Yoga is a mindfulness-based practice that includes focusing on the here and now. In yoga, the main focus of breath control is to bring attention to the present moment. Additionally, yoga helps in clearing our minds. When we do yoga, the body releases endorphins or feel-good hormones. These hormones help in positive thinking. Moreover, yoga poses need a lot of attention. Therefore it is difficult for the mind to wander off. If you have peace of mind, it becomes easy to live with stress.

Yoga Helps in Relaxation

Several elements like sleep yoga, body scanning, or pranayam are focused on paying close attention to our body parts. For example, in a body scan, you pay close attention to several muscle groups. You focus on the sensation in those groups. This helps you become aware of the tension you have been facing. In-office or workplace, you often neglect your physical health. A body scan helps you pay attention to your body’s needs. Additionally, when you scan your body and imagine the tension leaving your body, you feel relaxed. This way yoga helps you release physical tension you may face at work. These techniques can help you live with stress at work. Signing up for a yoga class can be the very first step toward combatting work-related stress. However, there are simple yoga techniques that can be used to live with stress.

1. Try breathing exercises before you go to work. Practice positive affirmations along with them. If you are feeling stressed about a presentation, go to the washroom, try deep breathing and then give a presentation.
2. Learn simple face yoga and practice it whenever you think the work stress is getting the best of you. Many face yoga routines are available online.
3. Try visualization. Simple imageries. Imagine a calm place. Try to notice simple elements of the place. It can be sounds of the place, texture, or even colors of the place. This can calm you down if you are too stressed at work.

If you have been facing stress or anxiety, there are several self-help courses at Epsychonline that can help you. There are courses such as DBT for social anxiety which can be helpful. These courses are curated by experts and can help you deal with stress effectively. Do check them out.