Life for mankind has never been easy. But the present times are certainly more challenging. Not because of environmental demands only. It is the human aspirations to reach the sky that makes the feet leave the ground. With the mind going wayward, peace eludes humanity as it chases a mirage, thus facing unbearable stress in the process. Stress, thus, is a concomitant of modern life. More appropriately lifestyle. The type A and Type B personality hypothesis which categorises people into these two classes (the former making people impatient and stress prone, while the latter less ambitious and calm), has now become redundant. The very temperament of the society has changed and there are only the Type A people today — ambitious, edgy and always running short of time. Given this lifestyle, it is only natural that stress has come to impact human life in a big way. Interestingly, most people are not aware of it and by the time they realise what is wrong, it is already late. While the World Health Organisation has termed “Burnout” as an outcome of excessive workplace stress, the fact is that “Burnout” like symptoms can be found in persons having nothing to do with the conventional workplace. From housewives to students to even those who have long left the workplace after a reasonably long innings, all face stress. The observation of the World Hypertension Day last month warns that in the next five years the number of adult population living with high blood pressure is expected to grow to a mind-boggling 1.56 billion. Even if there are reasons to doubt these statistics, the fact remains that the health of the world is not in good shape. What do we need to do? No easy answers, but given the fact that stress is the cause, yoga seems to be a probable antidote. Yoga and health have now proven positive links, despite questions on the medicinal effects of this traditional form of Indian exercise regime. At least yoga can go a long way in preventing ill effects of stress related problems of both the body and the mind. Individuals differ in their stress tolerance limits. Thus, for some individuals low to moderate stress can prove to be harmful, whereas for some even high stress levels may not have the expected impact. It is this stress tolerance limit of individuals that can be called the Stress Resilience Index. Stress affects all and the only way out is to adopt effective coping mechanism that can help withstand the pressures of stress. Yoga can be an effective way of coping with stress because it can provide mental and physical strength needed for coping. With simple yogic postures carried out as a daily regimen for even half an hour, an individual can raise his stress resilience. The advantage of yoga is that it catalyses the secretion of good hormones in the blood while inhibiting the harmful ones. Since the harmful effects of stress largely result from the raised cortisol levels for continuous period, Yoga can be a useful means to regulate this. It helps in balancing the mind-body chemistry which is losing its equilibrium. Certainly, you cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on within.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com