Yoga and Stress – General Adaptation Syndrome

Yoga and stress, as a subject of research has undergone rather intense study over the past few decades.



Western medical science refers to the body's reaction to stress as General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), to which there are 3 stages to GAS.

The first stage of General Adaptation Syndrome is called Alarm Reaction. In this stage, one’s body releases adrenaline plus an assortment of other psychological mechanisms. This is done to combat the stress and retain control.



This is also referred to as the fight or flight response. Signs and symptoms of this include tense muscles, faster heart beats, increases rate of breathing and perspiration, dilation of eyes, clenching in the stomach.. Once you get rid of the cause of the stress your body will return to normal.

General Adaptation Syndrome enters the second stage, if the cause of stress is not got rid of.



This is called Resistance or Adaptation. This is your body's response to long term protection. In this stage, the body produces more hormones which increase blood sugar levels. This is done to sustain energy and raise blood pressure. If this adaptation phase goes on for long, without periods of relaxation and rest to counter the stress response, victims may suffer from fatigue, lapse of concentration, bad temper and laziness. This happens as the effort to sustain arousal slides into negative stress.

The third stage of General Adaptation Syndrome is referred to as Exhaustion. In the Exhaustion stage of GAS, the body will have exhausted its reserves of physical energy and immunity. Now the mind, body as well as emotional resources start to suffer a great deal. The victim’s body undergoes what is called adrenal exhaustion. Blood sugar levels fall as the adrenals get depleted. This leads to lowered stress tolerance, more mental and physical exhaustion, poor health and, finally, collapse.

Yoga is extremely good for handling General Adaptation Syndrome resulting from stress. Yoga therapy has gentle Yoga poses, relaxation, breathing exercises, meditation, cleansing kriyas and Mudras. The complete Pranayama can be done sitting at one’s desk, in an automobile or elsewhere when one begins to feel stressed out. Meditation helps quieten down the mind teaches you to relax and gives you a fast and short mental vacation whenever required. And practice of 3 – 4 Yoga poses, on a daily basis, will definitely help ease entwined mental muscles.