IYENGAR YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF:  WILL IT WORK FOR YOU?

By  Deborah Rummelhart[1]

Those of you who have heard that yoga reduces stress may be thinking:  how do I know that yoga will reduce stress for me?  There are two ways I can prove to you that using Iyengar yoga for stress relief will work for you: 

(1) I can tell you exactly how I, your average stressed out busy adult in lousy physical shape, successfully used Iyengar Yoga for stress relief,

(2) I can provide you with medical references that prove people have successfully used Iyengar yoga for stress relief. 

Once upon a time I had a high pressure job with very long hours that produced a lot of money and a lot of stress.  When I got really stressed out, I would run into the bathroom and scream at the toilet.  My secretary told me I was her favorite person to work for because I never screamed at her.  I’m not sure how the toilet felt. 

One day I went in for a regular medical checkup and my doctor told me that my blood pressure had shot up.  Clearly, if I wanted to maintain my health, screaming at the toilet was not a viable long term stress relief strategy.

 Luckily, I discovered an Iyengar yoga teacher nearby and started studying with him.  Iyengar Yoga gave me stress relief in two ways:  it gave me an immediate vacation from stress, and it taught me how not to stress out in the first place. 

I got an immediate vacation from stress because at the end of every Iyengar Yoga class they teach a pose, Corpse pose, that teaches you how to relax.  To do Corpse pose you lie down on the floor and act like a corpse.  What does a corpse do?  Absolutely nothing!  A corpse does not move, it does not make lists of things to do in its head, it does not think about solving all its problems.  Actually, a corpse does not think at all.  If you are not moving, not making lists of things to do in your head, not thinking about solving all your problems and actually not thinking much at all, then you start to relax.  It felt really good to do corpse pose at the end of every class, because I always got to relax. 

Iyengar yoga also reduced stress because it taught me how to avoid stressing out in the first place.  For example, one day I was in a yoga class and was unable to do the pose the teacher was teaching.  I couldn’t do the pose at all, not even a little bit.  I started to stress out because I could not do the pose, and muttered out loud to myself, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it!”  The yoga teacher noticed I was stressing out and came over, put her hand on my shoulder, and said, “It’s OK.”  She then told me to breathe.  I started to breathe more  

deeply, and as I continued breathing, I calmed down and quit stressing out.  As I relaxed and quit stressing out and was able to do the pose a little bit. 

Now, I am able to take the lesson I learned in yoga class about not stressing out and apply it to every day real life situations.  For example, once I was driving on my way to teach a class and city of Los Angeles decided to do some major road construction on the street I needed to get to my destination.  Four lanes of traffic were squeezed down into to one lane, forced commuters to sit in their cars and watch the snails whiz by. I was going to be late, and I hate being late.   This was the perfect opportunity to get stressed out.  Instead, I remembered what I learned in yoga class, and started concentrating on breathing.  I was able to calm down, call a contact at the organization where I was to teach, and explain that I would be late.  As soon as I calmed down, traffic started moving.  It’s not so much that traffic moved faster as that my calming down changed my perceptions and traffic seemed to me to move more quickly. 

In addition to my personal experiences, there is scientific evidence that practicing Iyengar Yoga reduces stress.  In 2005, the Department of Integrative and Internal Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, found that a three month intensive Iyengar Yoga practice reduced stress in a group of breast cancer survivors[2]. In fact, there is so much scientific evidence that yoga reduces stress that the Mayo Clinic recommends people practice yoga to improve stress management and relaxation skills.

If you would like to decrease the amount of stress in your life, take advantage of the free yoga class coupon and see for yourself if you can use Iyengar Yoga for stress relief.  If you would like to get a good laugh and find out more about how Iyengar Yoga reduces stress and produces other health benefits, get a copy of Where Are My Ankles?  How Iyengar Yoga Rescued Me From Stress Fear and a Very Bad Back.  All you have to lose is your stress.