Wired and Tired
This week's question comes from a yoga student about my favorite subject: Our nervous system.
Dear Yoga Therapist,
Lately I feel like I'm stuck in overdrive. My mind races the second I wake up, I clench my jaw all day without noticing, and even when I finally sit down to rest, my body doesn't seem to get the memo — my heart's still going, my shoulders are still up by my ears. I've heard yoga is supposed to help with this "nervous system" stuff, but most classes I've tried just feel like another workout to push through. Is there something I'm missing? Can yoga actually change how wired I feel, or is that just marketing?
— Wired and Tired
Dear Wired,
We should start a club! Many people are walking around with low grade activation that we never really have a chance to discharge. Long term chronic stress primes our nervous system to be on guard all the time. What you described is exactly what that looks like. We have deadlines, bright screens, traffic, economic worries, and family. On top of that, we never got around to finishing that one project and haven’t prioritized our own wellbeing in a while. Does this sound like you too? Feeling wired is a totally normal response to an incredibly over-stimulating way of life.
I would guess that you know this already. It sounds like you came to yoga seeking some relief, and then when you get to a yoga class, it’s HARD!!!!! Backbends, forward folds, too many lefts and rights to keep up with. Now they are asking you to breathe well while you do it. What did he say? That wasn’t English. How is this helpful?! I am sure I am doing this all wrong. I'm going to fart. Please, don’t let it be loud. Suddenly, it's over and we are laying down. The next day brings the same sore muscles as leg day at the gym, and it’s back to the races. The screens, the notifications, blaring horns.
If you are a regular reader of this column, you might be guessing at what I am going to say next. There are many types of yoga classes that aim at different results. There are gentle practices that feel to many like exactly what we think relaxation should feel like. Easier postures, lots of support, slower transitions. Please feel free to check these out. I actually want to talk about something that happens in vigorous practice though and offer a reframe that might make those long, sweaty, sometimes complicated classes a bit more useful for you.
All those Sun Salutations, the “one more round, I promise,” all the parts that challenge you, are not to help you get better at doing yoga poses. It's a rehearsal. This is a tool. I love finding small ways to practice bigger things. I often call for students to pick the low hanging fruit. Get practiced at doing a pull up in the gym before trying a pull up from the ledge of a cliff. In this case what we are practicing is letting the nervous system come down. We know where the gas pedal is. Our nervous system gets used to it. We almost forget what it feels like to down shift. This vigorous yoga might serve as a road map back to safety. That is… if we take the pause.
Try this: Next time you are in class, let yourself take several opportunities to pause. You don’t have to try to keep up with everyone. Let your heart rate come down. Let the breath slow. Pause until you can move with coordinated breath. This gives your nervous system a chance to safely feel activation and return to rest. If we do this often enough, when we find ourselves activated after a long, stressful day, our body will know what to do when it recognizes safety.
That part about moving with the breath is crucial. There are tons of studies (I have one linked here for youhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36871835/) that show a slower breath is linked directly with a more robust nervous system that can move easily between engagement and rest. Our breath responds to the nervous system automatically. The same is true the other way as well. Our nervous system will respond to the way we are breathing. If I can breathe as though I am relaxed, my nervous system will reflect that. We train that by challenging our ability to breathe deeply. When we lose the coordination of breath with movement, that is our internal cue for a pause.
Yoga classes that offer this type of work are designed like a curve. The beginning gives us a chance to warm the body and prime the breath for movement, then it builds, and finally it leaves you in a sweet rest. All the way up, and all the way down on purpose with nothing bad happening in between. Prioritize rest several times within a class and your body will begin to seek out this shift and know where to find it.
You are doing great. Keep it up... Actually, on second thought, don’t.
Your Yoga Therapist
Ronny
As always, if you are experiencing new or worsening pain, please consult with your physician or a qualified healthcare provider before beginning or continuing any movement practice. Yoga therapy is a wonderful complement to medical care — but it is not a substitute for it.
Birdee G, Nelson K, Wallston K, Nian H, Diedrich A, Paranjape S, Abraham R, Gamboa A. Slow breathing for reducing stress: The effect of extending exhale. Complement Ther Med. 2023 May;73:102937. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2023.102937. Epub 2023 Mar 5. PMID: 36871835; PMCID: PMC10395759.