Stress can be good for us, our stress response gives us the energy and drive allowing us to act in dangerous situations, allowing our bodies to do extraordinary things. However, ongoing or chronic stress can be detrimental to our health and cause all sorts of problems. So, how do we find the balance?

It's helpful to see two types of stress:

Good stress motivates us, excites us, inspires us, it's usually short term and helps you to focus and perform well.

Bad stress drains you, leaves you feeling uneasy, shaky or unwell. It can cause depression, anxiety and mood swings.

Stress when it isn't properly released, can lead to illness. When our body is under stress our immune system is suppressed. Stress can result in physical symptoms such as, headaches, chest pain, stomach problems, trouble sleeping and high blood pressure.

We often view stress as the enemy, something to be avoided. However, stress, in moderation, is an essential part of life. It propels us to meet challenges, fuels our drive, and helps us perform at our best. But when stress becomes chronic, it can wreak havoc on our health. This article explores the delicate balance between stress and relaxation, delving into the nature of stress, its impact on the body, and how restorative practices can help us achieve a healthier, more balanced life.

The Central Nervous System

Our central nervous system is a network of nerves in our brain and flowing down through our spine. It's constantly sending signals to all parts of our bodies. It can be broken down into two halves:

Sympathetic Nervous System (stress response, fight or flight)
Parasympathetic Nervous System (relaxation response, rest and digest)

What happens when something triggers a stress response?

When you're stressed you are in your sympathetic nervous system. Stress hormones are released such as cortisol and adrenaline. Your heart rate increases, as does your blood flow. This means your body is pumping more oxygen-rich blood into the brain and lungs.

As this is happening our other automatic body functions slow down, the ones that won’t protect or help you in a stressful situation -like digestion, immune system and cell reproduction among others.

These important bodily functions go into a sort of standby to allow optimal use of other functions more relevant to us in a stressful situation. Our body does this to protect and help us. Seems good, right? What happens next is what’s most important - how we process and release stress.

What's Happening When the Stressor is Gone?

While the stress response prepares our body to handle stress, it's the parasympathetic nervous system (our relaxation response) that plays an equally crucial role in bringing our body back to a state of calm. Once the stressor has passed, the relaxation response takes over, helping to restore balance.

Let's explore how this relaxation response works and why it's important for our overall well-being.

In a “normal” reaction after the stressor is gone our body breaks down the stress hormones, our nervous system goes back to baseline. The balance in our nervous system allows our automatic processes to begin working again, slowing our breath and heart rate and redistributing energy evenly throughout our body.

The Challenge in Returning to Balance.

The problem is, sometimes the journey from stressed back to balanced can be longer or more difficult. For some, the process of down regulating stress hormones can be slow.

Think about a time when your experienced stress and it lingered for the rest of the day?

There's a few possible reasons for this;

Vitamin Deficiencies; a person is deficient in vitamins needed to break down stress hormones in the body.

Hormone imbalances; if your baseline is already imbalanced this can put pressure on your body.

Too many stressors; Sometimes life has too many stressors, not giving the body a chance to return to “normal”, just as we’re starting to calm down from one thing another comes and stresses us out all over again.

Trauma & life experience; how we deal with stress is heavily influenced by our personal life experience, some people tend to cover it up or get caught up in it, propelling it to continue one stressor leads to the next and so on.

Staying in your stress response for too long overtime can increase your risk of health issues.

Have you ever noticed when you're having a particularly stressful or emotional week and then you end up catching a cold too? And you think “ugh not today”.

It makes sense really because when we are stressed our immune system is compromised.

Activating the Relaxation Response.

The parasympathetic nervous system response helps to maintain things like your resting heart rate, lowering blood pressure, your metabolism and resting bronchial constriction (relaxation of the lung muscles allowing us to breath slower and more deeply).

The relaxation response downregulates the body, starting from the vagus nerve which sends impulses to the body and the body sends them back. In this case your body is telling your brain what’s happening through the nervous system.

For example, often, stress shows up as muscle tension.

When we notice specific parts of the body and consciously release the tension this sends signals to our brain that we are relaxed. This is a time where the body is signaling to the brain rather than the other way around.

Another important thing to understand is that both contrasting nervous system responses can and do work together.

Think about running, your stress response heightens your heart rate allowing you to run fast, your relaxation response downregulates this to allow you to calm your heart and breath and be able to run for longer at a steady pace.

Learning to smoothly transition between stress and relaxation translates into being able to manage stressful life situations and maintain some level of balance in the body.

Manipulating the Relaxation Response.

When we go fully into the relaxation response it slows us down, slows our breath and heart. Our automatic functions - the ones which go on standby in our stress response are now able to work to their full extent. Some things that happen in the body include:

Increases in Digestion
Amplified cell reproduction
Strengthens immune system
Releases Toxins
Breaks down sugars faster due to a release of insulin

In my interpretation this is basically what we are doing in restorative yoga, we are going so far into the relaxation response that we allow the body to restore itself.

This can help especially in situations where the person has been in their stress response too long and their baseline “normal” balance is a heightened state of stress.

Just as going too far into our stress response creates a high baseline level of stress, maybe leaning far enough into our relaxation helps to counter that bringing the body back into balance.

Funnily enough it will be the person who lives in a state of stress that usually struggles the most with restorative yoga - it's not easy to allow your body to completely relax when you are used to living with stress and being busy and productive all the time. However, it might be exactly what you need.

The Practice of Restorative Yoga.

Modern yoga focuses a lot on doing, movement, flexibility and mobility. This is not bad, movement is good for your body but sometimes we might need something more slow and nurturing and it's good to be able to recognise that and give it to ourselves.

Restorative Yoga is a practice of non-doing, it is a gentle slow practice which focuses on support, comfort, quiet, warmth and conscious rest.

Imagine you enter a yoga space and each mat is covered with a soft blanket, a bolster lays on top beside it a meditation cushion and an eye mask. There are extra blankets to wrap around you to keep you warm. The class begins connecting to the breath and finding complete stillness in the body. You go through a series of 4 to 5 positions in 90 minutes, all of which are fully supported by the earth and the props. The time flies by and you float out in a daze of relaxation.

By understanding and nurturing our parasympathetic nervous system, we can cultivate deeper relaxation and restore balance in our lives. Restorative yoga focuses on deep relaxation and conscious rest, a powerful tool to restore balance and promote healing. Whether you’re constantly on the go or simply looking to deepen your relaxation practices, learning to tap into your body’s natural relaxation response is an invaluable lesson to take through life, especially in times of stress.

If this article resonated with you maybe you’d like to try Restorative Yoga at REST Retreat in Ireland this October click here for more details.

Restorative Yoga Retreat

The Relationship Between Stress and Relaxation, Is Stress Good for You?