Archive for Yoga
Exercise and inflammation
Posted by: | CommentsThe relationship between exercise and coronary heart disease has been the subject of continued medical research. CHD as an inflammatory manifestation is also an accepted connection. A study has now made the connection between exercise and inflammation, although I don’t think that there is a cause and effect relationship between the two variables. Researchers from the University of Illinois examined parasympathetic and sympathetic activity on C-reactive protein (which is an indicator of inflammation) — by investigating heart-rate recovery after exercise. The sympathetic nervous system gets activated during exercise, while the parasympathetic system slows the body down when the exercise is finished.
So here’s how exercise could be helpful in managing inflammation:
“(When) you’re exercising, your sympathetic nervous system will be on, increasing your heart rate, your respiration, etc. Once you stop … the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to get everything back down to baseline levels. The quicker the individuals were able to get back to their resting heart rate after a strenuous exercise test was inversely related to their CRP. (Individuals) who had better parasympathetic tone had lower levels of inflammation.” said Victoria Vieira, the study’s primary author and designer.
As we all know, the parasympathetic response is activated/trained by such mind-body pursuits as yoga (either in asana or pranayama practice), chi gung, meditation, and heart rate variability training.
What this study shows is that “traditional” exercise (assuming it’s not excessive) can help modulate inflammation by training the “relaxation response.”
In the ideal world, when you are trying to achieve optimal healthy weight, I would argue that combining both types of physical activity would be the best option. This means doing strength training, cardio, and yoga.
Yoga and back health
Posted by: | CommentsHow yoga can help and prevent chronic and occasional back pain (from Loren Fishman MD, Cure Back Pain with Yoga):
1. Yoga stretches muscles to reduce spasm and increase flexibility
2. It strengthens muscles and bones (both isotonically [i.e., with movement of a joint, and through the use of one's own body weight] and isometrically [i.e., without movement of the joints]).
3. Increases range of motion, by: (a) enlarging the joint capsule and promoting joint lubrication, (b) gently stretching the ligaments, and (c) lengthening shortened and tense muscles.
4. Sharpening focus.
5. Heightening self awareness. A better understanding of the way your own body works – what it can or cannot do – is the first line of defense against back pain. One of the most important lessons I learned from my first yoga teacher (Denise Thibault) is that yoga acts as a gauge of one’s physical and mental condition.
6. Producing calm. The regular practice of physical process of yoga (both the postures [asanas] and breathing [pranayama] results in creating a mind that is calm and steady.
Yoga is both a preventive and healing practice that uses the body to manage the mind, simultaneously using the mind to restore the body back into a state of strength, balance and symmetry.
Breathing exercise: Buteyko vs Yoga
Posted by: | CommentsI find it interesting that the supposed benefits of the Buteyko technique, achieved through “shallow breathing” (and even the “control pause”) methods of breath training are contained both in the asana and pranayama repertoire of yoga. For example, in Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) and Halasana (plough pose), the effect of the Jalandara Bandha (chin lock) is not only the excitation of the parasympathetic system (which results in the relaxation response) but also in creating a shallower breathing pattern resulting from the geometry of the two poses.
There is no clear, overwhelming scientific evidence supporting Buteyko’s methods to make it a mainstream method. (There are a few studies that have some effect on asthma therapeutics, but all in all are not that impressive.) However, what’s interesting is that when one views asana (and pranayama) from a Buteyko perspective (i.e., the optimization of the CO2 and oxygen balance), one can easily see that this is already “part of the curriculum” of yogic training — something that has been going on for several thousand years. Now all of a sudden, khumbaka (breath retention), is all the rage?
I think caution must be observed. Pranayama is usually taught under close supervision by an experienced teacher. The risk of neurological (and psychological) damage of careless pranayama practice without the foundation a solid asana practice, has been drilled in my head throughout the Iyengar teacher training program. Buteyko practice (as a breathing methodology) is by definition, manipulation of prana. So I would not underestimate the possible long-term effects (of a do-it-yourself approach) to managing the body’s energy system.
All I can say is, be careful!
Weight loss and stress
Posted by: | CommentsThe parasympathetic system (PNS) is responsible for the body’s “relaxation response,” the system that brings the body back in balance after the sympathetic nervous system’s response (from a stress stimuli) has passed. When the organism is constantly under stress, the autonomic system becomes used to sympathetic excitation. Most of us respond by using food as a stress management mechanism. This is the most common reason for weight gain.
With the practice of yoga or other mind-body approaches such as tai-chi or chi-kung, one is able to relax through the focused excitation of the PNS. By balancing the “mix” between the sympathetic and parasympathetic system, one is able to control the body’s physiological response to the environment at the cellular and chemical level. Practice, physiology, and “state of mind” affecting and shaping each other.
