Yoga Treatment for Stress among College Students

Yoga Treatment for Stress among College Students

Emily Scolaro

Lesley University

Spring 2012

Yoga: Theory, Culture and Practice Final Paper

INTRODUCTION

UnitedHealthcare conducted a College Stress and Mental Health Poll in 2008, which “revealed that 80% of college students surveyed said they felt stress in their daily lives” (“UnitedHealthcare Offers Stress Support Network to College Students,” 2009, para. 3).  The stresses associated with college stigmas are no lie.  College students and the life styles they are leading are detrimental.  Individuals often indulge in unhealthy eating, sleeping, and substance abuse to cope with their daily stress.  Perhaps dealing with these stressors in a more holistic way would allow for a healthier lifestyle.  Incorporating more natural ways of problem solving such as Yoga treatment, would provide students with the tools for them to succeed. 

I am a full time college student so I am exposed to stress all of the time.  Individuals say on a daily basis that they are stressed due to schoolwork.  Being a Holistic Psychology student, effective and natural ways of healing are beautiful things in my eyes.  The college environment is a place where students are striving for happiness.  The high energy of optimism or pessimism greatly affects the community and the individuals in the community.  J Anthony Parades elaborates on this popular modern concept, happiness.  He makes associations between individual happiness in relation to community success.  These economic and socioeconomic variables play a big role in individual happiness and what we aspire for.  Through his observations over the years, Parades gathered that the success of a community and the optimism and happiness among people within the community greatly related: “When perceptions of individual futures were compared with perceptions of overall community history, there was a significant association between perceptions of community improvement and optimism for personal futures.”  Parades concludes from his studies: “Attempts to relate individual happiness and life satisfaction to standard socioeconomic variables should be conducted in the context of higher-level understanding of community patterns”(Parades, 2012, p. 5).  Individual happiness and optimism are held to different standards within each community. The wellness of a community greatly associates with the well-being of the individuals within the community.  We see here that community and environment play a big factor in our emotions.  So how do we lower the stressful environment within the college community? 

STRESS

What is Stress?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stress as “a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation” (www.merriam-webster.com, 2012).  John Medina notes Jeansok Kim and David Diamond’s three-part definition of stress.  Part one states that there needs to be some form of “aroused physiological response to the stress.”  Part two states “the stressor must be perceived as aversive.” Part three states that “the person must not feel in control of the stressor” (p.173, 2008).  Medina adds an interesting point about stress, “stress, left alone is neither harmful nor toxic.”(p.182, 2008).  Stress becomes damaging due to the associations we have with it.  Individual’s unique interactions with stress depend on a variety of thing, length, severity, your body, and the interactions between the outside world and our psychological ability to manage (p.182, 2008). So what does stress do to our bodies?  Why is it so harmful?

Effects of Stress

Stress has a variety of effects on the human body.  Within the brain and cognitive functions stress affects the hippocampus, which main purpose is memory.  The declarative memory, which is what we need as students, is related to this (Medina, 2008, p.177-178).  Studies show that “ adults with higher stress levels preform 50% worse on certain cognitive tests than adults with low level stressors” (Medina, 2008, p.178).  It is clear that stressed brain cannot learn and function at the same capacity that non-stressed brain do.  More importantly, however, stress hurts people (Medina, 2008, p. 180).  Stress causes many harmful disorders: insomnia, headaches, and dizziness.  These all need to be addressed early in student’s life in order for them to focus and succeed in the future (“UnitedHealthcare Offers Stress Support Network to College Students,” 2009, para. 3).

Medina describes how now a days “stresses are not measured in moments, but in hours, days, and sometimes months”(p.176, 2008).  He adds that “over the long term, stress ravages part of the immune system, involved in producing antibodies” (p.176, 2008).  These antibodies fight infection.  This draws a connection with college students having a tendency of being sick.  The immune system has many ricks as it breaks down.  One important one to note is the risk for cardio respiratory diseases.  (Parshad, 2004).

            I have seen the physical and mental toll that stress has on students.  I talked with a few college students to truly grasp what they feel around college stress.  One individual told me that her eating habits change when she is stressed which makes her feel even worse in the long run.  Another person said that he usually “procrastinate until the day something is due until [he] actually does it.” He told me that he feels stressed until the assignment is completed.  When I asked these individuals if they have been sick this semester they both responded by saying they have been.  One had a sinus infection that “had not seemed to go away all semester.”  The other person added that she was just getting over bronchitis.  I also asked them about their sleeping habits.  They both told me that they sleep when they can.  “Sleeping is a luxury for college students, I have too much on my mind to get a good nights sleep.”

Student’s connection with Stress

Stress is a unique thing. What are the causing factors of stress among college students? Shannon Ross, Bradley Niebling and Teresa Heckert conducted a Student Stress Survey (SSS) in order to find sources of stress among college students.  The “top 5 sources of stress were; change in sleep habits, vacation/ breaks, change in eating habits, increased work load, and new responsibility” (Ross et al., 1999, para. 3).  It is clear that the inconsistency within college students lives play a big role among stress levels.  Why does it seem that college students have so much stress? Ross, Niebling, and Heckert attempt to answer this:

The continuous evaluation that college students are subjected to, such as weekly tests and papers, is one which is not often seen by non-students (Wright, 1964). The pressure to earn good grades and to earn a degree is very high (Hirsch & Ellis, 1996). Earning high grades is not the only source of stress for college students. Other potential sources of stress include excessive homework, unclear assignments, and uncomfortable classrooms (Kohn & Frazer, 1986). In addition to academic requirements, relations with faculty members and time pressures may also be sources of stress (Sgan-Cohen & Lowental, 1988). Relationships with family and friends, eating and sleeping habits, and loneliness may affect some students adversely (Wright, 1967). (Ross, Niebling, & Heckert, 1999, para. 3)

The way each individual experienced stress may influence their abilities to deal with stressful situations (Ross et al., 1999, para. 3). So how do we cope? We need a plan.  

YOGA

What is Yoga?
            Yoga is hard to define.  We can define it as a spiritual practice in which one can find enlightenment. We can call it a physical practice that one does to get in shape.  Merriam-Webster dictionary defines yoga as “a system of exercises for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being.”  Yoga is “recognized as a form of mind-body medicine” (Parshad, 2004).  Laura Douglass (2007) adds that “American students of yoga undoubtedly chose to describe and think of yoga as a method for improving mental and physical health”(p. 37). 

Yoga’s benefits on Stress

We have seen that an individuals control over the stress factor has powerful influences on the perception of stress (Medina, 2008, p.185).  So the question is, how do we regain that control?  How do we get the ball back in our court in order to feel like we are controlling our emotion levels?  By integrating movement into our daily lives we will be able to reach this goal.  Modern movement and meditation helps individuals reach mental awareness and calmness (Mishlove & Bloch, 2001).  Yoga provides structured body movements.  “The body is healthiest when it is moving” (Zabat-Zinn, J., 1995, p.2). John Kabat Zinn (1995) adds that we use the postures that yoga presents to us as entry into deep levels of awareness and relaxation. 

Meditation in Yoga

“Moving the body in space, mindfully can be profoundly pleasurable, unifying, and mind clearing” (Kabat-Zinn, J., 1995, p. 2).  Through calming the mind we can calm stressors.  “The stressors are only a product of something the ego inherits.  Quieting up the mind opens possibilities to be creative and regain control” (Mishlove & Bloch, 2001).  “The relaxation induced by meditation helps stabilize the autonomic nervous system” which is related to the immune system.  If more college students meditated then less immune systems would be unstable, resulting in less sicknesses among the college communities.

One study that was done on meditation was “designed to determine the effectiveness of a group stress reduction program based on mindfulness meditation for patients with anxiety disorders” (Kabat- Zinn, etal., 1992, p.936). The results of the test proved that mindfulness meditation can “effectively reduce symptoms of anxiety and panic and can help maintain these reductions in patients” (Kabat- Zinn, etal., 1992, p.936).

Yoga, Meditation, and Stress

Meditation can reduce stress levels.  By pairing meditation with yoga postures and you have yourself a great holistic approach to stress reduction.  I talked with some individuals about meditation.  Within the Lesley University community I found that individuals often turn to meditation as a form of therapy.  There is a meditation club who works closely with the yoga club on campus.  It is clear through participant observation that individuals fund that meditation and yoga is something they turn to in times of need.  One student told me “If it wasn’t for meditation [she] would be going crazy.”  Another student told me, “[she] can only really get into a deep meditative state when participating in yoga.”  Individuals expressed to me their concern for their mental health if they had not incorporated meditation into their lives. 

OTHER FACTORS

            We live in a society that stress is not the only subject on hand.  Individuals often experience other psychological problems as a result of stress.  My hypothesis is, if we catch stress in the beginning phases and find a conclusive and holistic way of dealing with it, such as yoga treatment, then a lot of mental disorders would not be so extreme.

CONCLUSION

            Most college students encounter stress in one way or an another.  It is how we deal with those stressors that affect our outcome.  By assessing our bodies and pinpointing reasons and locations of stress, we can lower the amount of stress we face on a daily basis.  Incorporating more natural ways of problem solving such as Yoga treatment, would provide students with the tools for them to succeed. 

How?

Although the Lesley University community has yoga and meditation available many schools do not. In order for this yoga treatment to be put in action school need to advertise yoga and meditation as a way to reduce stress.  What can I do?  I can spread the word and continue to practice yoga as a form of stress relief.  I can lead by example and show that yoga movements, paired with meditative components, can be a beneficial thing for the mind, body and spirit. 

REFERENCES

Douglass, L. (2007). The yoga tradition: How did we get here? A history of yoga in America, 1800 – 1970. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 17, 35-42.

Kabat-Zinn, J., Massion, A. O., Kristeller, J., Peterson, L. G., Fletcher, K. E., Pbert, L., Lenderking, W. R., & Santorelli, S. F. (1992). Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149(7), 936-943.       

Kabat-Zinn, J., (1995). Mindfulness meditation: Movement meditation guide. Nightingale-Conant: Wheeling, IL.

Lee, M. (1997). Phoenix rising yoga therapy: A bridge from body to soul: Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc.

Medina, J. (2008). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. : Seattle, WA: Pear Press. 

Mishlove, J. & Bloch, A. (Directors) & Bloch, A. (Producer). (2001). Spirituality and Psychology, Thinking Allowed, Oakland, CA. Thinking Allowed Productions.

Paredes, J.A. (2012). Happiness anthropology redux. Anthropology News, 53(3), 5-10.

(2012). Parents add to exam stress. Daily News & Analysis, February 23, 2012.

Parshad, O. (2004). Role of yoga in stress management. West Indian Medical Journal, 53(3), 191-194.

Ross, S. E., Niebling, B.C., & Heckert, T. M. (1999). Sources of stress among college students. Project Innovation (Alabama), 33(2).  

Stress. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker

(2009). UnitedHealthcare offers stress support network to college students. Health and Beauty Close-Up, March 27, 2009.

Yoga. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved April 24, 2012, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker