Yoga for Stress: Effort and Ease in Yoga and Meditation
- Liquid Yoga
- Feb 7
- 10 min read
A great way to approach your yoga practice to relieve stress- and what it's doing in your brain and body. Read to the end for a yoga sequence you can try at home.
Yoga for Stress
I think it's pretty well known by now that yoga is 'good for' stress and promotes relaxation. But why is it good? And which practices (because there are a LOT) and how should we best approach them to manage stress, feel better and let life flow more?
In this article I will take you through the yogic concept of effort and ease (sthira and sukha in Sanskrit) and how we apply this in yoga and meditation practice to really maximise stress management. I'll also look at how it relates to the nervous system and the vagus nerve, because understanding this relationship for myself gave me some real breakthroughs in feeling calmer and more present both on and off the yoga mat.
Effort and Ease in Yoga- the razor's edge
Yoga is a practice of balance. And no, I don't just mean like tree pose!
There is always a balance to be struck- knowing when it's OK to take your forward fold and when it might be better to sit it out. Knowing when to be disciplined about your practice and when the distractions are in fact real things that need to be dealt with before practice can be worthwhile (the amount of times I've realised, in meditation, that I forgot to send that important message 🫣).
The balance of effort and ease is similar. It was once explained to me as a 'razor's edge'- the finest point of balance, too far in either direction and you risk falling off entirely. Too much effort and practice is difficult, frustrating and even an injury risk (especially for asana). Too much ease and you never get anywhere (and in my case probably end up asleep!). When in balance, you are comfortable enough to do even challenging practices and experience the benefits of yoga.
In the Yoga Sutras (a definitive text on yoga practice written in India around 2000 years ago) the balance between effort and ease is described as "sthira-sukham asanam", translated as 'the postures of yoga should embody effort and ease'. By deliberately striking this balance in our physical practice we may start to also find it in the more subtle parts of the practice, such as our mental, energetic and emotional selves and bring them together to find a state of yoga (aka union).
The Nervous System
Our nervous systems are also a matter of balance. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) constantly balances us between states of activation (also known as sympathetic states) and states of relaxation and rest (known as parasympathetic states). Too much much sympathetic and we're jumpy, stressed, tired, cranky and unable to think straight. Too much parasympathetic and we're unfocused, unmotivated and unproductive. Both, in good balance, are necessary to feel well and get where we want to be in life, and they are deeply connected to our mental, emotional and energetic states.
The Vagus Nerve (latin for wandering, as it connects the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system, spreading throughout the body) is central to regulating the shifts from activation to relaxation as it relays signals both ways between the brain and the rest of the body. When we are highly activated, not only is the mind on high alert but the body will be tense and primed to fight or otherwise escape the situation, and in the opposite direction when we do some exercise our brains will come online more effectively (which is why you can use 'movement snacks' for managing that mid afternoon work slump).
In yoga practice we can (and do) use this bi-directionality between physical, mental, emotional and energetic states by working closely with the vagus nerve. Focused breathing in any type of pranayama, for example, will affect almost the entire length of the vagus nerve from the throat to the abdomen. Chanting or using mantra will additionally stimulate the higher end of the vagus with vibration, or a cat/cow posture practice will provide physical stimulation of the nerve with each part of the movement.
Finding Effort and Ease in your Yoga Practice
When you're stressed, have you ever noticed how hard it is to be less stressed simply because you know that you need to de-stress? Or if you're anything like me, you can get anxious about your anxiety!
The ancient teachers of yoga knew very well that if you try to do something too forcefully, it becomes a self-defeating process. The more we try to force ourselves out of the challenges, the more traction they gain in our consciousness. So the first part of balancing effort and ease in yoga practice is giving yourself permission to be where you are. Whether you have tight hip flexors, a frozen shoulder or racing thoughts, see if you can notice them, allow them, and work your practice from there.
Whenever you hold a yoga posture, you can take a little check in. Where do you need effort to hold the position comfortably? Where might you need to press into the ground more, or engage your glutes or upper arms in order to find a steady posture? In fact, where can you most skilfully apply your effort so that the posture can be more easeful?
I also find it quite helpful to approach this from the other direction. Where do you not need effort or tension in this position? Is there anything you can safely let go of?
As you move through your posture practice like this, checking in and slowly adjusting to find physical balance of effort and ease, you will often find that this balance transfers, via your nervous system, to a sense of greater mental and emotional balance at the end. With time and regular practice, the brain and nervous system become used to moving more into balance between activation and relaxation rather than existing in a chronic state of stress or lethargy.
Effort and Ease in Meditation
Effort and ease in meditation is a lot tricker, as knowing where to apply the effort and when it's too much or counterproductive can feel less intuitive.
I'll admit, balance of effort and ease was a big barrier to mediation for me for a long time.
Thinking that the purpose of mediation was concentration (or dharana, in sanskrit) and to have a clear mind, I immediately put all of my effort into not thinking.
Considering how chatty my mind is (a constant narrative about anything and everything that's happening, if I happen not thinking about something else I'm interested in), I turned out to be surprisingly good at this and could force my mind into silence at will. I did wonder why I wasn't getting a lot of the benefits of mediation, until I realised I was basically doing the mental equivalent of holding a plank for a whole yoga practice.
Noticing where you are and starting from there is just as key as it is for asana. If focusing on your breath is difficult because your thoughts keep pulling you away, see if you can reflect on the quality of your thoughts as you notice you've been distracted by them. What was it that distracted you- something, or nothing really? As you go forward, this approach makes it easier to create space between yourself as the observer and your thoughts, so that you can be absorbed in the meditation (movement of your breath, or sensations in your body) or even use the arising and passing of thoughts themselves as the meditation.
By creating space, you are allowing natural stillness to emerge, creating ease, and changing the frequency of the brain towards the theta state, which transfers relaxation into the emotional, energetic and physical body through the connection of the nervous system (with the vagus nerve at its core).
Effort and Ease with Regular Yoga Practice
You may have already reached this conclusion, but applying effort and ease in yoga practice to balance your nervous system and get the stress-busting benefits is really the application of mindfulness and skilful adjustments. To get to this stage you must also apply effort!
Building a regular yoga practice and attentive inner enquiry takes time and dedication, but be assured you will find more ease in your life and your practice as you continue.
When you're stressed, it can seem like another point of overwhelm to have to carve out an hour or two every week to dedicate to yoga practice. However, the more you can do it, the more you will learn and notice about the state of your nervous system activation and the techniques that really help to relax find calm.
Coming to a regular class or taking a guided meditation such as Yoga Nidra is a great way to set that specific time aside and make space in your life for a bit more ease and a lot less stress. Book a class with me and experience the benefits from the first session!
In the meantime, I've also created you a yoga sequence you can try at home. Let me know what you think when you've tried it.
Yoga Sequence for the Vagus Nerve: Effort & Ease
Time: 20-30mins
Props needed: yoga block or thick book, blanket, a yoga bolster or 2x pillows, cushions.
1) Chanting OM
Sit comfortably on a chair or on the floor, and take a full but easy breath down into your abdomen. As you exhale, chant OM for the full exhale. Repeat this 3-5 times.
2) Child's Pose/ Balasana
Kneeling on your yoga mat, drape your upper body forward so your forehead comes down to the floor or rests on a yoga block. Keep your knees together if you have tight hips, or further apart if you'd like more of a hip stretch. Bear in mind the balance of effort and ease. Your hands can be alongside your body or outstretched in front. Stay here for at least 2 minutes, inhaling fully into the back of your ribs.
3) Tabetop pose
Rise to all fours and find a position that feels really stable. You can move around to test it out. As you inhale, feel your spine extending in both directions from the centre point of your body. As you exhale, feel the breath gathering back into your centre along your spine. Stay here for at least 5 breaths.
4) Cat/Cow pose
From all fours, on your next inhale, sink your belly and at the same time raise your hips and heads of your shoulders. The front of your neck can be long as you come to the top of your inhale.
Then as you exhale, pull your belly back in and press into your hands and knees to arch your spine, especially the upper back. The back of your neck can be long as you come to the bottom of your exhale.
Continue moving to your inhale and exhale for at least another 5 breaths. Focus inwards and follow the movement of your body and the journey of your breath.
5) Downward facing dog/ Ardho Mukha Svanasana
From all fours, press into the heel of your hands and fingertips whilst tucking your toes under. Then press into your hands and toes to hover your knees off the mat for a moment, before continuing to press your hips upwards to find the inverted V shape.
Try to take at least 5 breaths in this posture, but if it's too activating, take Balasana.
Keep pressing your chest back towards your thighs and bring your gaze between your legs. Tuck your tailbone to find length in your lower back.
You can move around in your downwards facing dog, stretching out one leg at a time or flexing more into your chest and upper body, but finally coming to stillness and balance, see if you can keep your breath steady and even.
6) Staff Pose/Chataranga Dandasana
From Ardo Mukha Svanasana, bring the weight of your upper body forward over your hands to plank pose.
Choose how much effort or ease you need in your option as follows:
EITHER
bring your knees down to the mat, then slowly lower your upper body down by bending your elbows and tucking them into your side ribs
OR
keep your whole body straight as you lower down onto your belly from plank by bending your elbows and keeping them tucked into your side ribs.
7) Cobra pose/ Bhujangasana
With your hands underneath the heads of your shoulders, as you slowly inhale peel your shoulders off the mat, stretching your breastbone forwards and activating your core to stay long in your lower back. Exhale and reverse the motion. Take at least 3 more of these movements with your breath.
8) Seated Twist
From your belly, press into your hands to come to all fours, then come to sitting in a comfortable cross legged position on the mat (using a yoga block to sit on and support from cushions or a rolled blanket under the outside of your knees if you'd like to).
Inhale, then as you exhale twist from your navel with your upper body over to your right, bringing your left hand onto your right knee or thigh. Your other hand can go behind you, find the floor with your fingertips or the outside of the opposite hip.
Inhale as you extend your spine. Exhale as you feel into the twist. Keep you breath soft and even, if it feels tight or forced, untwist as required back towards the centre to find a comfortable breath. Take at least 5 breaths, then on an exhale unwind your twist then repeat on the other side.
9) Supported Baddakonasana/ butterfly pose
Seated on the mat, bring your yoga bolster or 2x pillows lengthways behind you. Add an extra blanket or cushions for more height; you will be reclining onto them shortly.
From cross legged, bring the soles of your feet together and take them out to around 1 arm's length from your hips. Place a cushion under each outer thigh for extra support if needed.
Lowering yourself onto your forearms, bring your upper body down onto the support behind you. If it begins to feel uncomfortable, you can always come back onto your arms or sit up with the support of your hands.
Stay here for at least 5 minutes, close your eyes if you feel comfortable to do so. Breathe into your belly, ribs and chest with a light, long, steady breath.
10) Namaskar mudra
When you're ready to come out, gently support yourself back into a cross legged sitting position and bring your hands in together, palms touching and fingers extended against one another. Bring your thumbs into your breastbone and tuck your chin a little. Breathe here for a few breaths, then release.
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