How To Lower Cortisol Naturally: Why Your Stress Alarm Stays On, And What Switches It Off

How to lower cortisol: the short answer

If you want to know how to lower cortisol, start with why it is high. Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone, and it is meant to rise and fall. When stress runs for weeks, the alarm never quite switches off, and that is when high cortisol symptoms show up: broken sleep, a racing mind, tight shoulders and a short fuse.

You can lower cortisol naturally by teaching the body to find its brake. Yoga is one of the best tested ways to do it. Here is the article in short form:

• Cortisol is useful in short bursts, harmful when it never drops.
• A review of 42 studies linked yoga with lower cortisol.
• In one German study, cortisol fell after a single Iyengar class.
• The long out-breath is the body’s brake pedal.
• Supported, restful poses settle the body more than lying down.
• Once a week worked as well as twice in a Berlin trial.

A quick word on Iyengar yoga. Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is the style we teach at Flametree, in Darwin and live online.

Why does my cortisol stay high?

Because the stress does not end. Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford professor of biology and neurology, called his well-known book on stress Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. A zebra running from a lion has a short, sharp stress. Once it escapes, the stress is over. Within minutes it is grazing again.

Ours often runs for weeks. A worry about money, a difficult job, caring for someone who is ill. The alarm never quite switches off, and cortisol stays up with it.

Mr Iyengar made the same point in Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. “Stress can motivate an individual to develop creativity and to strive for achievement. This is positive stress.” The other kind, he wrote, “can lead to ill health, depression, and inertia”.

What are the signs of high cortisol?

Most people notice the effects before they ever hear the word. Long stress keeps the heart a little faster, the muscles a little tighter and the mind a little busier. Sleep gets lighter and more broken. Then a poor night makes the next day’s stress harder to carry.

The body keeps the score in other ways too. In a 2002 study, the US psychologist Gregory Miller looked at 50 parents, half of them caring for a child with cancer. The worried parents’ immune cells had stopped “listening” to cortisol, which normally tells the immune system to calm down. Long stress had changed how their bodies worked.

Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try. The research on it, below, is strong.

Does yoga lower cortisol?

Yes, on the best evidence we have. A 2017 review of 42 studies, in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology (the science of hormones and the nervous system), compared yoga with other active programmes. Yoga poses were linked with lower cortisol in the evening and on waking, lower blood pressure through the day, and a slower resting heart rate.

Iyengar yoga has been tested directly. In Essen, Germany, in 2005, distressed women did three months of Iyengar classes. Their stress, anxiety, tiredness and low mood all dropped markedly, and their cortisol fell after a single evening class.

It shows up in men too. In a Brazilian trial, healthy young men who had never done yoga did six months of yoga or six months of ordinary exercise. The yoga group had lower cortisol, less stress and anxiety, and better memory. The exercise group did not show the same gains.

How do you lower cortisol naturally with the breath?

Make the out-breath long. Your nervous system has two sides: an accelerator, “fight or flight”, and a brake, “rest and digest”. Each breath in speeds the heart a little. Each breath out slows it. A longer out-breath holds the brake down for longer.

Mr Iyengar taught this long before any trial. “The proper rhythmic pattern of slow, deep breathing soothes the nerves, and checks emotional excitement,” he said. His daughter Geeta Iyengar put it in one line in her classes: slow, soft, quiet exhalation, “so the brain cells quieten.”

Breathing on its own works too. A 2023 review of 12 trials, with 785 adults, found breath practice lowered stress.

Why does rest in yoga work better than lying on the couch?

Because the body is shown how to let go, rather than told. In an Iyengar class, the busy part comes first. Standing poses use up nervous energy. Then come supported poses, on bolsters and blankets, that let the body settle more deeply than rest alone.

Many years ago my partner Peter died of cancer. It was a very sad time, and I was lucky that I already did yoga. I used one of Mr Iyengar’s ideas, a soft head wrap across the forehead and eyes, in restorative poses and pranayama (breathing practice). It “helped me quietly reflect, get clarity about what happened, find a new peace, re-order my life, and have the courage to move forward.”

Students commonly tell us they sleep especially well after a restorative class. That is known from practice; research has not yet tested the supported inversions directly.

How long does it take to lower cortisol with yoga?

Many people feel calmer after one class, and the Essen study measured lower cortisol after a single evening session. Lasting change takes regular practice. The trials used one to three classes a week for two to three months.

In a Berlin trial of 72 stressed women, three months of Iyengar yoga gave less stress, less anxiety and less low mood than waiting. Once a week worked as well as twice, partly because the twice-a-week group found it harder to keep coming. Coming regularly matters more than any single class.

My partner Stuart, who teaches at Flametree too, started a new job and was told on his first day that the man before him had died of a heart attack. The workplace turned out to be deeply toxic. Through all of it he kept up his yoga and his breath meditation, morning after morning. In his words, pranayama left him “calmer, and less grumpy”.

Where can I learn to lower cortisol in Darwin?

To lower cortisol in Darwin, come to class at Flametree’s Woolner or Coolalinga studio, or join live online from anywhere in Australia. Any beginner class works on the brake. Our pranayama, gentle and restorative classes are especially good for stress and sleep, and so is the build-up, when heat and humidity make everyone more wound up.

See also Yoga For Stress Management, How To Calm Your Nervous System and What Is Restorative Yoga?

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to lower cortisol?

Slow your breathing and make the out-breath longer than the in-breath. Each breath out slows the heart a little, so a long one holds the body’s brake down. In a German study, distressed women’s cortisol fell after a single evening Iyengar yoga class.

What are the most common high cortisol symptoms?

Broken or light sleep, a racing mind, tight muscles, irritability and feeling wired but tired are common signs of long stress. Each of them can be turned down by finding the body’s brake.

Can you lower cortisol naturally without medication?

For everyday stress, often yes. A 2017 review of 42 studies linked yoga poses with lower cortisol in the evening and on waking, lower blood pressure and a slower resting heart rate. Breath practice on its own lowered stress in a 2023 review of 12 trials.

Is restorative yoga good for high cortisol?

It suits it well. Supported poses on bolsters and blankets let the body settle more deeply than ordinary rest. In an Iyengar class they usually follow standing poses, which use up nervous energy first, then the quiet work begins.

How often should I do yoga to lower stress hormones?

Regularly, more than often. In a Berlin trial of 72 stressed women, once a week of Iyengar yoga worked as well as twice a week over three months. Most trials used one to three classes a week for two to three months.

Does exercise lower cortisol as well as yoga does?

Not always. In a Brazilian trial, young men who did six months of yoga had lower cortisol, less stress and better memory, while men doing ordinary exercise did not show the same gains. The calming work in yoga seems to matter.

Why does cortisol affect sleep?

To fall asleep, the body has to shift into rest and digest. Long stress keeps the accelerator down, so the heart stays faster and the mind busier, and sleep is lighter. Poor sleep then makes the next day’s stress harder to carry.

Where can I do yoga to lower cortisol in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner and Coolalinga in Darwin and live online across Australia. Any beginner class works on the body’s brake, and the pranayama, gentle and restorative classes are especially good for stress and sleep.

Where to next

• New to yoga, or coming back? Start with our half price 10 class pass with 2 classes free, in Darwin or live online.
• For a workplace, team or group: book private yoga classes for groups, online, at a Flametree studio or at your venue.
• Want to see class times first? Look at the beginner timetable.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and live online. This article is general information, not medical advice. Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try.

Sources: Pascoe MC, Thompson DR and Ski CF, Yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction and stress-related physiological measures: a meta-analysis (42 studies), Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2017; Michalsen A and colleagues, Iyengar yoga for distressed women, Medical Science Monitor, 2005; Michalsen A and colleagues, 72 distressed women, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012; Miller GE and colleagues, parents of children with cancer, Health Psychology, 2002; Fincham GW and colleagues, breathwork and stress (12 trials), Scientific Reports, 2023; Robert Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers; BKS Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. Further reading: Pascoe and colleagues, 2017. Full references are in the Cutting Stress With Yoga ebook.