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The Science Behind Yoga and Stress

 

By Dr M Storoni MD PhD on Tuesday July 14th, 2015

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What does bending your body into yoga poses do to your brain chemistry and
nerve connections?
There are two functional parts of the brain that play a key role in stress. These serve the functions of
emotion and cognitive function. So I am calling them the ’emotional’ brain (amygdala and its
connections and medial forebrain structures including the medial prefrontal cortex) and the ‘logical’
brain (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, other parts of the prefrontal cortex, parts of the cingulate
cortex and parts of the hippocampus). ?
The emotional brain is able to initiate a ‘stress response’ via the sympathetic nervous system which
culminates in adrenaline and cortisol racing through our circulation.The logical brain is always trying
to ‘turn-off’ this stress response and it is also trying to restrain the emotional brain. The stronger our
logical brain, the better it becomes at doing these two things. When the stress response is ‘turned off’,
our parasympathetic nervous system signal is ‘turned on’. This signal ‘relaxes’ the body. So a strong
logical brain goes hand in hand with relaxation.

The stress response and ‘relaxing’ signals travel through the body along a particular route and parts
of this route have little ‘switches’ which we can physically manipulate to turn the signals on or off.
The neck is an example of where such switches are located (by the carotid arteries).

we are holding a posture our logical brain is being activated”

Training the stress circuit

Yoga is training this entire stress circuit at two levels. First, every time we are ‘holding’ a posture,
staying very still to concentrate or trying to balance, our logical brain is being activated. When we are
bending forwards, our ‘relaxation’ signal is being turned on through the ‘switches’ in the neck. So
bending forwards and concentrating at the same time is triggering both the logical brain and the
relaxation signal at the same time.

Bending backwards triggers the stress response signal through the switches in our neck. Contracting
a muscle also triggers the stress response signal. So, when we bend backwards and contract our
muscles while still having to stay still and concentrate on balancing, our logical brain is given an
extra challenge. It has to overcome the stress response signal being triggered in these two ways
before we can be still and concentrate during a posture. This ‘extra’ resistance the logical brain is
having to work against, ‘trains’ it like a muscle.

circuitry that enables you to nd it easier to control your thoughts is formed”

Rewiring the nerve connections

At the end of a series of yoga postures, the logical brain has had a ‘workout’. It is buzzing with activity.
You feel mentally calm as it is keeping your emotional brain quiet. Training the logical brain in this
way for a long time can result in a rewiring of the nerve connections within the logical brain. New
circuitry that enables you to nd it easier to control your thoughts is formed. You may nd it easier to
channel your thoughts in the direction you want and not ‘dwell’ on negative thoughts or experiences.
This is partly why yoga seems to have a positive effect on depression and anxiety, where sufferers
have a tendency to dwell on negative life events. Stronger connections within the logical brain keeps
the lid down on the emotional brain and the stress response. This is why yoga can be so effective at
battling stress.

The key thing to do is to attempt yoga postures which are structured in a well-formulated
sequence where each posture involves a long hold. Then your yoga and stress will begin to be
balanced.

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Words By Dr M Storoni MD PhD

Originally posted on Brainboost Camp

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references
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comments
14 Responses to The Science Behind Yoga and Stress

Carolyn Tirelli-Genther says:

July 14, 2015 at 9:37 pm

Please continue to post information

Jesse Maxwell says:

September 27, 2015 at 11:59 pm

This article covers, well, the healing capabilities of internal and external equanimity and endurance.

The TriggerBox says:

October 10, 2015 at 7:22 am

Great tips, meditation de nitely helps too. I ran across this article that talks about choices we can make to improve the
focus of our lives: http://www.thetriggerboxblog.com/6-choices-that-will-change-your-life/.

Thanks again for a great post.

LaPortaMA says:
October 23, 2015 at 2:37 pm

Reminds me of Disraeli-twain statistics.

Fave at it, science writers, but eventually you’ll have to let go of the supposed “facts” to nd the truth.

S H says:
November 5, 2015 at 10:32 pm

If you want new and very clarifying knowledge about the inner reality, then here is the book for you:
http://www.amazon.com/Alkuajatus-Original-Thought-Hannu/dp/9522865303/

Bren Murphy says:

November 24, 2015 at 10:21 am

Regular yoga practice rewires the plastic brain – so over time you become a completely different thinking being. Very
powerful stuff! Thanks.

James Holden says:

December 3, 2015 at 4:16 pm

Aside from how physical yoga asana positively impacts the re-wiring of the brain. The various other arms of yoga such
as Pranayama breathing practices, meditation and Yoga Nidra deep relaxation are excellent to draw upon to help re-
wire the brain and build stress resilience through mindfulness and awareness. This builds higher stress resistance and
faster stress recovery. A greatly enjoyable article and video Dr Storoni.

The Minds Journal says:

January 23, 2016 at 8:27 pm

This was good information and very helpful too. Thanks for this lovely article.
There are indeed many things that we should really not be stressing about.
http://themindsjournal.com/10-things-people-stress-about-that-may-not-be-worth-it/

Richard Grif ths says:

January 30, 2016 at 11:00 pm

This article is misleading because it reduces yoga to an exercise of the ego. The author recommends the suppression of
emotion instead of emotional resolution and transcendence. Accordingly, the author thinks that peace comes from
suppressing feelings by applying rationality and logic. However this is a description of a common defence mechanism of
the ego. In reality spiritual peace comes not from suppressing feelings but from feeling fully, beyond reactive emotions.
Yoga can be used for this spiritual purpose, instead of being used for the ego purpose of suppressing emotional
reactions. The author thinks that stress is the result of failing to “keep the lid down on emotion”. But in fact a great deal
of stress is the result of keeping the lid on emotion. The effort to suppress emotion in order to deny reality is common,
and is extremely stressful. Using yoga to maintain suppression of emotion is not helpful. It’s actually damaging, because
it prevents emotional resolution. But this is what the author recommends. Evidently, the author has been educated in
cognitive psychology, and is unaware of the discoveries of transpersonal psychotherapy. This article bears the hallmark
of a theoretician who has read a few books but who knows nothing about personal and spiritual growth.

Sudha Allitt says:

February 17, 2016 at 3:07 pm

This article is a useful but very simpli ed introduction to the physiology of the nervous system. It holds some
interesting information that yoga teachers and yoga therapists should understand in order to better serve their
students. Science has gone to great lengths to understand neural repatterning, its bene ts and consequences. I disagree
with another comment that suggested the author is telling people to stuff emotions. I don’t read that. What I read is a
simpli ed description of how the asana ties into the nerves and therefore works to tone the nervous system. Like it or
not she is citing valid information BUT not complete information. It is true that by acting consistently in a logical
manner emotional reactions will be reduced. For an average individual who has not explored the purpose or the reason
why one would even want to reduce emotional reactions this may mean the onset of psychological disturbance.
However, when it comes to the individual who is consistently studying yoga, the reason they are not just stuf ng their
emotions has more to do with the psycho spiritual aspect of the experience that they are having in the posture or
during any technique of Yoga for that fact. This is an oversimpli ed discussion at best across the board. We all need to
keep in mind that there are multiple levels of practitioner from beginning to advanced. Additionally, there are multiple
levels of development and awareness within each practitioner as well. The beginning practitioner is often in the early
stages of discovering the depth of their tendencies toward emotional reactions and that those reactions can fall under
their conscious control. Or, they are newly discovering that they want or need to change them. What they do with that
knowledge can de nitely play into the ego creating an imbalance, but it can also play to open the individual up to the
presence of spirit, holistic, health, balance, etc. The dedicated practitioner, and by that I mean the practiced yogi, is more
often not holding into the posture or it’s alignment solely for the sake of their ego, they are more likely to be holding
into the posture for one or more of the following reasons: to understand, overcome and/or transcend personal suffering,
to strengthen their own sense of resiliency, to tone the nervous and other systems i.e. better health, to have a
meditative experience, all and any of which will manifest the ultimate cause, to bring the practitioner closer to God,
Goddess, Divinity, Creator, Cosmic Consciousness… you name it. Yoga is not just about a physical practice, although many
people get stuck there. That is not a negative thing to say. It is simply the reality that some people have physical
obstacles that need to be overcome before they can begin to dive into the deeper spiritual questions. That’s the purpose
of the asana. To bring greater health and stability to the body, and to tone the nervous system so that the individual can
sit in meditation for longer periods of time, which will naturally open them up to those deeper questions. There are
many practices and techniques that belong to Yoga. To properly de ne yoga one must look at the Bhagavad Gita,
Patanjalis Yoga Sutras and the vast number of other scriptures that discuss its meaning and it’s purpose. Across the
board yoga is considered to be a pathway to divine consciousness, uni cation, self-realization, and some sense of
liberation. The reality of these practices is that the participant or student has to start somewhere. Having a
knowledgeable teacher instruct them on the functioning of the nervous system is very important so that the student
can begin to realize for them self the part that they play in their own suffering and the strength that they actually do
have to change their reactions. It is a given that some people will stuff their emotions because that’s their tendency. But
there are vast sea of practitioners who have been successful in reducing the amount of suffering and sorrow they
experience in this life because they have made the conscious choice to look inward, to recognize honestly their own
reactionary tendencies and to work to try to change them. There are so many things that could be said in response to
this article and the responses it has elicited such as the role of ahimsa, satya, svadyaya, etc… All in all it is a harmless
article and maybe even a purposeful and easy rst read for the curious mind as long as it is followed by a lengthier and
more inclusive discussion. I would rather offer a student this to read than the multitude of articles out there that deface
yoga and reduce it to a purely egotistical practice. May we all leave the compassionate space and discussion necessary
for young authors to exercise and adjust their understanding. No one responding here had all the answers at the get go,
we all started somewhere. Hari Om.

Martina Figari says:

November 13, 2016 at 9:17 am

Love your answer

Thank you

Jn Thimmaiah says:
March 18, 2017 at 11:41 pm

True.

Cindy says:
February 4, 2017 at 7:57 am

Thanks, I have alot of arthritis in my body, which in turn causes depression and anxiety. This article has inspired me to
start doing yoga. Your article seems to be more help than my medications. THANK YOU!

Jn Thimmaiah says:
March 18, 2017 at 11:47 pm

Recently I passed through knee pain which I never experienced. I am 70. I’m a yoga follower. I got rid off pain
by practicing paida, lagin of Hongchi xiao on you tube. It is also a simple yoga technic.

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