Educational institutions

The Science of Breath: Breathing and Stress

The sympathetic nervous system is often referred to as our “fight-or-flight” system – it gets us out of dangerous situations by pumping in adrenaline and blocking out distractions, so we run away from the bear in the woods. There’s a value to this. We stay alive! We’ve evolved but we still respond the same way. Cortisol – a stress hormone – floods our system at the simplest trigger. The sympathetic nervous system is overused so we use it as a habitual reflex.

The parasympathetic nervous system is the more highly evolved system responsible for feelings of calm, well-being, clear thinking and a broader sense of perspective. The use of certain breathing techniques strengthens the parasympathetic nervous system with the vagus nerve at its core. When this happens the brain is retrained to approach life situations with calm, clarity, increased awareness, and it responds rather than reacts. 

The practice of breathing techniques results in a greater sense of well being and in stressful moments breathing techniques allow us to be more centred in our response. (1)

The Science of Breath: Breathing and Emotions

Barbara Frederickson, a researcher at UNC Chapel Hill, studied vagal tone. She discovered an interesting phenomenon, which she named the Upward Spiral. She found that people who have higher vagal tone tend to be better at regulating their emotions. As vagal tone increases, so does their positive affect (feeling of well-being). As positive emotions increase, so does social connectedness. Then as social connections increased, so does vagal tone. When we practice breathing techniques that increase vagal tone, we trigger a self-perpetuating upward spiral of well being. The breathing techniques taught in our programs support a sustained spiral of growth, health, and happiness. (2) (3)

(1) Brochure “creating a culture of peace” Yes! for schools International Association for human values https://de.scribd.com/document/362147188/Yes-for-Schools-Creating-a-Culture-of-Peace

(2) Fredrickson, B. L. “What good are positive emotions?” Review of General Psychology 2 (1998): 300–319.

(3) http://youthempowermentseminar.org/our-impact/research/

Unmanaged emotional reactions to stress not only lead to behaviour problems in young people, but also create physiological conditions that inhibit learning (McCraty et al 1999(1) (2)). Yet, neither in our homes nor in most of our schools our youth is being educated to cope with the stress and negative emotions they experience constantly.

Art of Educational provides specific programs (like ART Excel and YES!) that combine modern teaching methods with the benefits of yoga and stress reducing exercises. In a friendly and fun atmosphere, children are taught the Golden Keys to Success, which support children’s learning process and strengthen the human values inborn in them. They gain the ability to take the right decisions, overcome nervousness and stage fear with simple techniques as well as handle problems with a smile, instead of a frown.

The courses teach various simple yoga exercises and works with scientifically proven tools such as breathing techniques, the Sudarshan Kriya®, which help to handle fear, anger, sadness and other unpleasant emotions. Meditation, being an important tool to tap the children’s hidden potential, forms an integral part of the program. The techniques can be practiced at home after the course.

(1) http://youthempowermentseminar.org/why-we-do-it/the-need/

(2) McCraty, R, Atkinson, M, Tomasino, D, Goelitz, J, Mayrovitz, HN. “The Impact of an Emotional Self-Management Skills Course on Psychosocial Functioning and Autonomic Recovery to Stress in Middle School Children.”
J Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 34.4 (1993): 246-268.

Research indicates that one of the greatest impediments to learning is stress. Stress can disturb the balance of important chemical messengers in the brain. One of these is the Cortisol hormone. Excess activation of cortisol interferes with neurotransmitter function and makes it difficult to retrieve long-term memories. (Joels & Baram 2009(1) (2)) Research indicates that stress has a negative impact on performance, on our effectiveness not only on focusing on tasks, but also on shifting our attention when necessary. Chronic stress has been shown to decrease students’ concentration, learning ability, test scores and overall academic performance. (Liston et al 2006 (1) (3)).

Stress is a great impediment in the development of children and youth, and is more pronounced with troubled and challenging youth. Specifically those growing up or spending periods of education-acquiring years in institutions like Orphanage homes, Juvenile homes, Observation homes as well as refugees. 

Art of Living Educational, having years of experience in disaster and trauma struck areas world-wide with stress-release programs, has developed the SMART Excel and SMART YES! programs (SMART stands for Stress Management And Rehabilitation Training).

(1) http://youthempowermentseminar.org/why-we-do-it/the-need/

(2) Joëls M, Baram TZ. “The neuro-symphony of stress.” J Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2009)

(3) Liston C, Miller MM, Goldwater DS, Radley JJ, Rocher AB, Hof PR, Morrison JH, McEwen BS. “Stress-induced alterations in prefrontal cortical dendritic morphology predict selective impairments in perceptual attentional set-shifting.” J Neuroscience 26.30 (2006): 7870-4.

Young people face emotional issues such as low self-esteem, depression and anxiety these become a source of great stress.

In a 2014 survey of 25,500 US university students, only 3 of the top 23 concerns are related to academic performance. Top on the concern list are individual and social issues such as anxiety, depression, stress and family relationships.

Without healthy alternatives (such as the YES!+ program for young adults), students often turn to unhealthy strategies to cope with these problems such as smoking, alcohol or drugs. Other signs of stress in kids and young adults are aggression, bullyism, food disorder, cutters, withdrawal from social interaction and in more chronic, engaging in acts of violence.  In fact, research demonstrates that stress plays a negative role in normal social interactions. High levels of stress and anxiety are associated with “self-focus,” (Eysenck 1997 (1) (2)).

(1) McCraty, R, Atkinson, M, Tomasino, D, Goelitz, J, Mayrovitz, HN. “The Impact of an Emotional Self-Management Skills Course on Psychosocial Functioning and Autonomic Recovery to Stress in Middle School Children. ”
J Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 34.4 (1993): 246-268.

(2) Eysenck, MW. “Anxiety and cognition: a unified theory.” Psychology Press Hove: UK, 1997