Yoga Teacher Training - Yoga-Based Stress Management in Healthcare
Yoga Teacher Training - Yoga-Based Stress Management in Healthcare
We sometimes view stress as outside forces that influence how we navigate life, but the physical manifestations of stress come from the body. When faced with health challenges or a crisis, the added pressures and unknowns of tests, diagnosis, and treatments may compound pressures and anxieties.
Our nervous systems are programmed to work under distressing conditions for short periods of time, but it's not peaceful, comfortable, or even healthy for us when stress won’t quit. We address diseases and injuries with medicine and therapies - but the stress management portion of healing might be overlooked.
Stress management for clients is something that a yoga teacher may excel in. Especially if the teacher has advanced yoga teacher training (like a Yoga Alliance RYT500 from an RYS-300 school) with a focus in understanding yoga-based stress management and general healthcare.
Read on to learn more about stress, stress-management, and how yoga comes into play.
Understanding The Nervous System and Stress
Stress directly affects the body and its functions. The nervous system regulates organs and their functions, pain, movement, sensations, and stress responses.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) takes care of our body's necessary functions that allow us to carry on, like our heartbeat, digestion, and breathing. Within the ANS is the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The "fight or flight" response dictated by the SNS moves resources to muscles for running, the heart for pumping blood, the eyes to take in more light, and the stimulation of sweat glands. These changes are your body's reaction to stress - get ready to rumble or run.
The ANS also has the counterpart to this reactionary system, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS takes the opposite path - relaxation and peace. The heart rate slows, breaths become deeper, and digestion ramps up. Your body, and subsequently your mind, become calm.
Regarding yoga-based stress management, yoga supports the parasympathetic nervous system and can transform how we respond to stressors in the long term. And there is plenty of research to support this.
The Science Behind Yoga-Based Stress Management for Clients
Stress shows up as hormones, like cortisol, and proteins such as cytokines in the body. Increases in these substances in the body are a physical reflection of increased stress and inflammation in the tissues. We know that yoga reduces stress, and now there is research into just how this happens in the body.
One study followed a group of patients practicing yoga over several months while being treated for periodontal disease. Researchers found that for some participants, cortisol levels dropped. These patients also experienced lower depression and anxiety scores. (1)
In a similar study, long-term changes were tracked over a six-month time frame in patients with disease. This preliminary study measured anxiety with salivary cortisol levels in participants incorporating yoga into their healthcare regime. Additionally, this study tested memory before and after months of using yoga-based stress management techniques. Memory improved, and stress levels showed improvement. (2)
A comprehensive review of publications studying yoga-based stress management examined 35 unique studies, with 25 showing a decrease in anxiety after starting a yoga-based healthcare program. Out of the 35 studies, 14 marked physiological measurements for tracking stress reductions. This review showed an excellent start to link stress reduction to yoga directly. (3)
There is an extensive collection of data supporting yoga and stress reduction. Research is starting to demonstrate what we already know from experience - that yoga-based stress management is a powerful tool to work alongside modern medicine in the health care setting.
Every teacher that wishes to serve clients in need of stress management for their health should begin to consider pursuing advanced yoga teacher training with a focus in healthcare training.
Advanced Yoga Teacher Training - Teaching Stress Reduction with Yoga
How do we incorporate the nervous system, stress, and yoga into teaching yoga that improves relaxation and peace? There are several tools available to yoga teachers that can be learned with Advanced YTT.
Yoga combines several stress reduction techniques with the physical practices of asana and pranayama. Additionally, yoga encourages compassion, reflection, self-love, and service to others.
When teaching yoga, knowing your students and their learning styles is the best place to start. Many students prefer a challenging asana routine, while others need a dimly lit room to restore. Once you have preferences for movement, you can address breathing, kindness, and non-judgment.
There are dozens of layers to unpeel when working as a yoga teacher in a health care setting. Advanced teacher training can hone your skills about anatomy, the nervous system, physiology, and how ancient yoga traditions all work together. Perhaps you would like to dive into a concentrated course or start your education towards becoming a Yoga Therapist. You have possibilities.
Learn More About Integrating Yoga with Healthcare at Prema Yoga Institute – Online Training Now Available!
If you’re curious to learn more about integrating yoga with health care, reach out to us at Prema Yoga Institute. In fact, we’d love to invite you to enroll in our online courses. Our Advanced YTT has healthcare in mind, for example, our Yoga in Healthcare includes meditation and mindfulness teaching skills, that empower yoga teachers to interface more effectively with doctors and health care professionals.
Visit Prema Yoga Institute to learn more about our training, which is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022! Courses count as CE Credits with Yoga Alliance OR towards your RYT500 at Prema Yoga Institute.
Prema Yoga Institute is longer limited to New York City and is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022. PYI is an IAYT-accredited program based in New York city with a certified Yoga Alliance RYS300, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
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(1) Katuri, K. K., Dasari, A. B., Kurapati, S., Vinnakota, N. R., Bollepalli, A. C., & Dhulipalla, R. (2016). Association of Yoga practice and serum cortisol levels in chronic periodontitis patients with stress-related anxiety and depression. Journal of International Society of Preventive & Community Dentistry. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4784068/.
(2)Rocha KK, Ribeiro AM, Rocha KC, Sousa MB, Albuquerque FS, Ribeiro S, Silva RH. Improvement in physiological and psychological parameters after 6 months of yoga practice. Conscious Cogn. 2012 Jun;21(2):843-50. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.014. Epub 2012 Feb 17. PMID: 22342535.
(3) Li AW, Goldsmith CA. The effects of yoga on anxiety and stress. Altern Med Rev. 2012;17(1):21-35.
