Experiencing Work-Related Stress? Regularly Attending Yoga Sessions Can Alleviate That
Yoga can benefit your performance on the bike, but it can also help alleviate work-related stress, research suggests.
You can start with poses such as down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana), and cat-cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana), which can all double as postride muscle recovery as well.
Increasing your range of motion and flexibility can benefit your performance on the bike, and studies suggest a regular yoga practice can help improve both. But a new research review in the Journal of Occupational Health found it may also alleviate work-related stress.
Researchers reviewed 15 studies that involved 688 healthcare workers total. That population is considered particularly vulnerable to stress right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in need of some intervention that can offer more physical and mental respite. Studies assessed the effects of yoga, massage therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and stretching.
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They found that only massage therapy and yoga were effective, with the latter being the best method. That’s likely because the use of deep breath work in a yoga practice seems to have a major effect on modulation of the autonomic nervous system (which regulates bodily functions such as the heart rate and respiratory rate), the researchers concluded. That brings reductions in heart rate and blood pressure as well as a drop in cortisol, the hormone associated with the stress response.
Another recent study, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, suggests yoga can alleviate stress that results from pandemic restrictions as well. In that research, which looked at about 13,000 participants split into a non-yoga control group and one that did yoga regularly, researchers found those in the control group were more likely to eat unhealthy foods, have poor sleep, and use substances for stress relief.
In a significant contrast, the yoga group had lower levels of anxiety and fear, slept better, ate healthier, and reported more physical activity and endurance.
The connection between these habits and stronger immune function should be highlighted, said Jessica Schatz, R.Y.T., a yoga teacher in Los Angeles whose clients include a number of professional athletes.
“These studies, taken together, show the role that a practice like yoga can provide as a way to deal with a pandemic,” she told Bicycling. “It’s all connected—immunity, sleep, exercise, and stress relief affect each other, and employing a practice that improves all of those can be powerful.”
One important note is that to reap these advantages, your yoga practice must be consistent. Similar to boosting cycling performance by having a training schedule, using yoga as a way to sleep better or mitigate feeling overwhelmed at work should be seen as an ongoing practice, Schatz added.
Even just a few sessions per week can be helpful, and with the amount of yoga available for free on YouTube, it’s not difficult to shop around for teachers and sequences that feel like a good fit, she said.
You can start with poses such as down dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana), and cat-cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana), which can all double as postride muscle recovery as well.
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