If you're looking for a long term solution to stress, go to yoga. By Jackie Durham, education and training consultant, CIMA, and qualified yoga instructor.
How are you coping with the double demands of work and study? Are you struggling just to keep your head above water, never mind achieve a good work-life balance? If so, there are things you can do to help.
Sport and physical activity is generally seen as a good 'stress buster' as it releases endorphins which make us feel good. However, effects can be short lived and quite limited in that many work on the body but not the mind. So sport isn't necessarily the answer to the longer term problem of getting your stress levels under control.
There is a great stress buster that completely calms and occupies the mind and can boost your energy levels while at the same time promoting overall equilibrium and a sense of well being. It's suitable for just about anyone, is cheap, can be practised almost anywhere (even in the office at break time) and can be done for as long or as short a time as you have available. Some say it could even reduce your chances of getting the dreaded common cold.
Unexpected benefits
This remarkable stress buster is ' yoga. The practice of yoga, physical postures, breathing exercises, guided meditations and relaxation, really can deliver all these benefits. Many people begin to feel calmer and more positive almost immediately; and longer term health benefits can be experienced over many years to come. So, although you may take it up to counter the stressful effects of studying, yoga could deliver benefits well after your studies are over.
According to a recent article in Yoga Magazine, there is quite a craze for yoga in the City of London. It quotes several executives who have taken up the practice. David Lewis, a partner in a City corporate finance firm, had been doing it for five weeks. Lewis said: 'I work long hours, fairly flat out all the year round. I have found yoga certainly is relaxing for the brain. It is also good for my posture and taking away the neck aches and back pains. I am noticing my new flexibility and I feel really energised after a session.'
One finance director at a FTSE 350 company also recently took it up. He said: 'I have been getting into yoga as a way of gaining perspective and better health, which then has a beneficial effect on reducing stress levels. I started to feel the benefits very quickly. The first, quite unexpected, thing I noticed was that the associated move to a healthier diet improves my concentration which turns into greater productivity. You don't normally hear about that side of yoga.'
What is yoga?
In an average yoga class you will perform a series of postures that work the spine through its full range of movement, so you will do back bends (energising), forward bends (calming), twists (cleansing/energising), inversions (developing mental strength) plus balances (harmonising) and standing postures (vitalising/strengthening).
Postures will be balanced so that you can develop both strength and flexibility. You will also practise some breathing techniques which can come in really useful if you are stressed, struggling to maintain focus or having trouble sleeping. Most classes finish with a period of relaxation - after all the hard work you'll probably need it. This is meant to be a positive relaxation, a letting-go after a period of intense physical activity, rather than the exhausted collapse you may experience after, say, a game of squash.
Not all postures are suitable for everyone. For example, people with unmedicated high blood pressure would have to avoid inversions (upside down poses) and those with back problems would concentrate on back strengthening postures and would be advised to avoid or modify some of the stronger bends. A good teacher will always advise and guide students so they can participate fully in the class while practising safely.
Yoga classes come in all shapes and sizes (as do the participants) and the best idea is to look for classes that offer you the chance to pay as you go for a few weeks so that you can try different teachers and different styles/schools of yoga until you find one that suits you.
Relevant links
British Wheel of Yoga
Yoga Journal
What do you do to reduce stress? Email velocity@cimaglobal.com.