How yoga improves your health - part 2

Lowers your blood pressure: Two studies of people with high blood pressure, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, compared the effects of Savasana / Corpse Pose with simply lying on a sofa. After three months, Savasana was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number) & a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) & the higher the initial blood pressure, the bigger the drop.

Regulates your adrenal glands: Yoga lowers cortisol levels. Adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function, however if cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain. Additionally, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call “food-seeking behaviour” (eating when you’re upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories & distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain & the risk of diabetes & heart attack.

Makes you happier: One study found that a consistent yoga practice improved depression and led to a significant increase in serotonin levels & a decrease in the levels of monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters) & cortisol. Another found that the left prefrontal cortex showed heightened activity in meditators, a finding that has been correlated with greater levels of happiness & better immune function. More dramatic left-sided activation was found in dedicated, long-term practitioners.

Builds a healthy lifestyle: Move more, eat less is associated with weight loss. Yoga can help on both fronts. A regular practice gets you moving and burns calories & the spiritual & emotional dimensions of your practice may encourage you to address any eating & weight problems on a deeper level. Yoga may also inspire you to become a more conscious eater. One of the benefits of yoga is how the practices resonate through other areas of your life.

Lowers blood sugar: Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and boosts HDL (“good”) cholesterol. In people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol & adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, & improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, & you decrease your risk of severe diabetic complications.

Helps your focus: An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, & even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems & acquire & recall information better, probably because they’re less distracted by their thoughts, which can play over & over like an endless tape loop.

Relaxes your system: Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath, & focus on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. The latter is calming & restorative; it lowers breathing & heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines and reproductive organs, the relaxation response.

Improves your balance: Regularly practicing yoga increases proprioception (feeling what your body is doing & where it is in space) & improves balance. People with bad posture or dysfunctional movement patterns usually have poor proprioception, which has been linked to knee & back pain. Better balance could mean fewer accidents, postures like Tree Pose can make us feel less wobbly on & off the mat.

Maintains your nervous system: Some advanced yogis can control their bodies in extraordinary ways, many of which are mediated by the nervous system. Scientists have monitored yogis who could induce unusual heart rhythms, generate specific brain-wave patterns, & using a meditation technique, raise the temperature of their hands by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. If they can use yoga to do that, perhaps you could learn to improve blood flow to your pelvis if you’re trying to get pregnant or induce relaxation when you’re having trouble falling asleep.