YOGIC PHYSIOLOGY

By Ramsay Mead, RYT

Yoga embodies the seamless integration of mind, body therapy that has the power to change lives.  Yoga is a fascinating healing art that stems from India and has been in practice for over 5,000 years.  Yoga can offer much needed mind, body connection in today’s fast-paced lifestyle.  My first experience with yoga was a heated room that emphasized hatha yoga with breathing and meditation.  Each pose was held for a slow 10-15 seconds, done twice and flowed into the next series; emphasizing proper zone nostril breathing with movement and posture in the pose to align meridian flow with chakra awareness to gain the proper channel of internal energies.  As I maintain a regular practice of the unification of the mind, body, spirit I became to notice emotional tension melt away and energies shift to elsewhere in my body.  Muscular tension disappeared, sleep patterns deepened and my often crazy world seemed to make more sense.  I witnessed many other practitioners have breakthroughs in class with emotional tears of joy allowing the experience to reveal itself rather than repress or reject the true emotion of what the body is feeling. 

I believe yoga provides an important movement and posture positioning benefit that we lose as we age.  Traditional stretching isolates movements where yoga integrates and brings along a healing shift to establish wholeness and oneness within the way we were designed to flow.

Many postures allow me to place my body into positions that I had not experienced since I was a baby or small child.  Just imagine what this uplifting connection could do to some.  I believe the healing of yoga can mean many different things to all types of people.  Transferring one’s self to a more heightened state to experience the now moment and realign.  Facing life’s experiences can be a tall order for so many.  Regular yoga practice in my opinion is a great place to start.

The science of yoga physiology

Often newcomers to yoga hold their breath, over stretch to force concentration, shake, quiver and lose their balance, but fight on with courage and eventually learn to honor their own edge and learn a little about the physical body in relation to the higher self.  In conjunction with lifestyle balance and the limits for each individual, yoga helps equalize the situation.  What is taking place within the physiology in which we receive the healing powers of the yoga asana (posture)?  During the hold of the asana, the yogic posture restricts blood flow in certain parts of the body for short periods and stimulates circulation upon release because fresh blood rushes back to the affected area along with a heart pumping sensation bringing oxygenated blood to the brain and reenergizing and centering the practitioner with a euphoric feeling.  Along with reestablishing proper meridian flow and bringing healing energies to the glandular system yoga also brings upon an energetic charge.  Energetically, yoga has an impactful effect on the subtle body/emotions which provides an effective approach to break free of being stuck or reoccurring blocked energy.  I have noticed many practitioners become addicted to the practice as they became more relaxed, centered and less concerned about the physical body and material world.  Yoga practice should be carefully selected based on physical limitations, energy levels and, of course, personal preference and instructor connection.