Stress and pain How are you? How many times a day do you hear and answer this very question? I am well, how are you? Oh-Kay, you? Been better, been worse.

Have you ever thought of answering honestly: ' just busy' or 'stressed'? And have you wondered about how in today's very Western society we consider busy and stressed the 'norm'?

The thing is, people who react poorly to stress are most likely to react poorly to pain. However, research shows that people who do yoga cope better with stress. More specifically, yoga practitioners had higher pain tolerance and felt less pain compared to other participants who did not do yoga. When subjected to a thumbnail test, fMRIs showed that activity in areas of the brain associated with the pain response (Smith et.al., 2008).

Thus, the study concluded that yogis can regulate their stress, and consequently, their pain responses.