Steps in Yoga and how yoga is useful in stress management

1. A.Sankara Narayana Murthy
Assistant Professor/Mechanical Engineering
Kamaraj college of Engineering and Technology

2. What is Yoga
Yoga originated in India
From sanskrit word “yuj” meaning union between
mind ,body and spirit.
Include ethical discipline,physical postures,breathing
control and meditation.
Yoga is not only stretching.
There are 8 limbs of yoga.
Physical postures called “Asana” is just one of the
eight limbs of yoga
Majority of types more concerned with mental and
spiritual well being.

3. The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Body
mind
spirit
1.Yama
2.Niyam
3.Asan
4.Pranayam
5.Pratyahar
6.Dharana
7.Dhyan
8.Samadhi

4. Yama
Five ethical guidelines regarding moral behavior
towards others
Ahimsa-Nonviolence
Satya-Truthfulness
Asteya-Nonstealing
Brahmacharya-No lust or sexual activity within
marriage.
Aparigraha-don’t collect things that are not
necessary.

5. Niyam
Five ethical guidelines regarding moral behavior
towards others
Sauch-Clealiness
Santosh-Contentment
Tapas-Sustained Practice
Svadyay-Self Study
Ishvara Pranidhan-Surrender to God

6. The Eight Limbs Cont.
Asana-Practice of yoga postures
Pranayam-Practice of breathing exercises
Pratyahara-Withdrawl of the senses, meaning that
the exterior world is not a distraction from the
interior world within oneself.

7. The Eight Limbs Cont.
Dharana-Concentration,The ability to focus on
something uninterrupted by external or internal
distraction
Dhyana-Meditation
Samadhi-Bliss. Building upon Dhyana,the
transcendence of the self through meditation. The
merging of self with the universe.

8. What is Stress
The wear and tear our bodies experience
The state of threatened homeostasis
Stressors cause imbalance
Body tries to balance
Yoga can be a great help balance the imbalance!

9. Stressors
Can be positive and negative.
Positive stressors-can help compel us to action, can
result in a new perspective.eg:Birth of a new baby, a
job promotion, getting married.
Negative stressors-can result in feeling of
distrust,rejection,anger etc.eg:death of a loved one,
loosing a job, getting divorced.

10. Clinical Significance of yoga
Reduced stress
Spiritual growth
Sense of well being
Reduced anxiety and
muscle tension
Increased strength and
flexibility
Slowed aging
Sound sleep
Improve many medical
conditions:
Lower heart rate
Lower blood pressure
Allergy and asthma
symptom relief
Smoking cessation help

11. Stress and Healthcare Providers
Providing care to others is a rich and rewarding
experience
Often feel improved self esteem and confidence
But….They have the responsibility of another human
being’s life.
No wonder they live under tremendous stress!

12. Stress and Healthcare providers
Continuous exposure to suffering
Psychological effects of death and dying patients
Decreased sleep and food
Long hours of work
Constant worry about law suits
CME – study ,study , study!

13. How Yoga Can help
Practicing yoga can be a best thing a provider can do
for himself/herself
Doing simple “Pranayam” (breathing technique) in
breaks can calm their mind.
Practicing yoga for ½ hr. a day can make their body
fit to take care of others.
Yogic thought process- will teach not to work only for
money.

14. Most Research in India
Study at LTC ,Mumbai,India to determine if practice
of yoga has any effect on anxiety status during routine
activities and prior to exam done showed reduction in
baseline anxiety as well as anxiety before exam.
Study at Nehru hospital,Chandigarh,India The
psychological tests after yoga therapy showed high
sense of well-being in the nurses

15. Conclusion
A body with a stressful mind can not be a healthy
body
HC providers are people who help others to keep
their body healthy
Off course, to do so, first they need a healthy body
without a stressful mind
Yoga helps the mind to become clear and pure and
clear mind is not affected by stress.
HCP with this kind of pure and clear mind can really
work better for the well being of their patients.

16. References
1) Pizer A, “The Eight Limbs of Yoga”, June 7 2006, Available at
http://yoga.about.com, Accessed on February 19, 2007.
2) Cooper C, Balamurali TB, Selwood A, Livingston G. “A systemic
review of intervention studies about anxiety in caregivers of people
with dementia”. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.2006
Sep; (Epub ahead of print).
3) Scott E, “Stress Management”, May 10 2006, Available at
http://stress.about.com, Accessed on February 19, 2007.
3) Malathi A, Damodaran A. “Stress due to exams in medical students-
role of yoga”. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 1999
Apr; 43(2):218-24.
4) Parshad O, “Role of yoga in stress management”. West Indian
Medical Journal.2004 Jun; 53(3):191-4.

17. References cont.
5) Shapiro SL, Schwartz GE, Bonner G, “Effects of
mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and
paramedical students”. Journal of Behavioral
Medicine.1998 Dec; 21(6):589-99.
6) Waelde LC, Thompson L, Gallagher-Thompson D. “A
pilot study of a yoga and meditation intervention for
dementia caregiver stress”. Journal of Clinical
Psychology.2004 Jun; 60(6):677-87.
7) Walia IJ, Mehra P, Grover P, Earnest C, Verma SK,
Sanjeev, “ Health Status of nurses and yoga.1.Baseline
data”. The Nursing Journal of India.1989 Sep; 80(9):235-7.