Yoga Classes »
Treat yourself to a drop in class or sign up for out 8 week introductory course. Your mind and body will thank you!
Yoga Teacher Training »
Dr. Bali offers a comprehensive 200 hour yoga teacher training program focusing on the physiological, psychological and philosophical components from a Yoga perspective.
How stress affects us
The stress response has been an important survival mechanism for humans for ages. In the 21st century however, the “fight or flight” response to stressors – a major physiological, emotional and behavioural change or surge that helps one react to a threat – is no longer as adaptive as it once was.
The stress response becomes damaging to one’s health when there are continuous or repeated surges of the hormones, such as adrenaline, that flood one’s system when responding to a threat. When one cannot escape the source of the stress and is forced to endure it, the risk of coronary heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and other problems increases.
Avoiding stress completely is an unrealistic solution for the 21st century. Minimizing the stress response, channelling it, alleviating it and/or reinterpreting the impact of a stressor – namely, different kinds of coping behaviours – are a better approach to dealing with or handling stress.
The body’s natural inclination, after going through a fight or flight reaction, is to relax and return the body to normal activity levels. This relaxation response slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and stress hormone levels, and reduces oxygen consumption.
It is possible to manage one’s stress and consciously set the relaxation response in motion so the body can begin to use its internal intelligence to mobilize and heal itself. The Bali method teaches control of these “involuntary” autonomic responses to increase physical and mental health.
Useful Websites:
Canadian Mental Health Association