Yoga exercises - the yoga asanas - have a long history, going back thousands of years. They have been developed and refined over this incredibly long time to provide comprehensive benefits for our entire system of wellbeing.
Often first and foremost for us, as we start taking yoga classes, are the benefits to our strength and flexibility. Yoga works all the muscles of the body, often from a broad range of different directions and with combinations of a broad variety of different muscle groups being worked together. Muscles are thoroughly strengthened and also lengthened. A problem with some weight bearing, strengthening exercises, is that they work by contracting the muscles, which builds strength, but can also create tightness in the body. Yoga strengthens and lengthens muscles, creating both strength and a freely flexible body. Recent research is revealing how these exercises also work to increase bone density, helping to strengthen bones and reverse osteoporosis.
But the benefits designed-in to yoga asanas don’t end there. Our health is not just about physical strength and flexibility. The organs of our body need to be functioning well too – we need strong lungs, a healthy heart and a hearty digestive system, for example. The yoga exercises put together for you in class will systematically massage and tone the muscles of your internal organs, helping to improve and strengthen their functioning, improving overall health in your body.
In many yoga classes, but especially in Rajadhiraja Yoga, the type of yoga I teach, the yoga asanas include breathwork and poses specifically designed to tone and regulate the endocrine system. This is the glandular system of the body, including the pituitary gland, thyroid and parathyroid glands, thymus, adrenal glands, the pancreas and ovaries, for example. Secretions from these glands are responsible for our metabolism, for the energy levels in our body, for emotional regulation and for the management of growth and development, among other things. Every system, organ, tissue and cell is guided in its functioning by hormones. Imbalances of hormones can lead to disease or sensations of unease in the body. Yoga works to keep these in balance, offering practical steps towards greatly improved health and wellbeing at both a physical and an emotional level.
Yoga is also fantastic for our state of mind. The meditative moves, coupled with all those benefits to the systems of our body, bring a deep sense of calm. But again, a specific aspect of yoga practice has been designed-in to the moves to bring about wellbeing for our mind and emotions – and that is breathwork. Research studies are bringing huge amounts of understanding now to how breathwork and mental states are closely correlated, with deep and extended breaths known to calm the nervous system, settling anxiety and other difficult emotions. Fundamental to yoga is the way it works with our breath. Yoga asanas work to open and expand our lung capacity, they relax the body and improve our posture, allowing a deeper and fuller breath. All moves are taken in time to a slow and steady breath, the whole class being filled with gentle yet powerful breathwork practices, calming and regulating the nervous system from the first moment of the class right to the end and beyond.
Simply put, regular yoga practice leaves us feeling fantastic. It is a complete system of health and wellbeing and when I meet someone new to yoga, I cannot recommend it enough. If you’re a yoga regular, you’ll know that wonderful feeling at the end of class already. If you’re new to yoga, do find a class and give it a go!
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