The body has a stress response for a reason. Humans evolved in nature surrounded by many dangers and needed a mechanism to respond to external threats. Imagine yourself in an open plain looking at a tiger in front of you. What would you need to survive? How does yoga change this response?
Healing of Illnesses Linked to Alternative Therapies and Understanding Trauma
Although it would be nice if it were not true, no one can claim to go through life without experiencing physical or emotional trauma. Trauma does not need to be something huge, like surviving a natural disaster. Instead, trauma can be a small occurrence that affects us in a big way that we may not realize is the cause. The trauma could be related to constant pressure such as concern over the pandemic or job demands. Traumas can also come from unresolved issues from the past that are activated again in the present.
Try Mindfulness and Yoga for a More Restful Sleep
Holidays are usually a happy occasion, although they can also bring a lot of negative stress. Add the negative stress of the continued pandemic along with loneliness due to ongoing quarantines, and it is a mixture that can cause the soundest sleeper among us to have problems drifting off. Negative stress causes a release of stress hormones that increase the heart rate and change the blood flow. Over a long time, this can cause physical changes including sleep deprivation. Statistics show that Americans are sleep deprived, which is defined as having fewer than seven hours of sleep a night. Sleep deprived adults have increased risk for health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, and depression.
What Can We Do to Sleep Better and Improve Health?