Five of Yoga’s Heart Benefits (Heart Health)

Leave a Comment / Anatomy, Cardiovascular System, health, Organ Systems, yoga benefits

5 of Yoga’s Heart Benefits

Yoga’s Heart benefits are rather robust, ranging from increased circulatory function to decreased heart rate, to reduced cortisol levels in the bloodstream. Considering modern western yoga’s intensity, I think it is quite obvious that the longer duration vinyasa classes can have aerobic component to them.

Cardio-vascular disease affects more than 1 in 3 Americans, making it the most deadly disease in the United States. 600,000 Americans die of heart disease every year. Coronary Artery disease is the most deadly disease in the world.

Breathing through the nose helps to strengthen heart tissue, bronchial tubes, lung tissue, and the valves of the heart. Check out my previous article on breathing through the nose.

1. Cortisol (Stress) Regulation

“Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is produced and released by the adrenal gland and functions as a component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response to stress. Hatha yoga promotes physical relaxation by decreasing activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which lowers heart rate and increases breath volume. We believe this in turn has a positive effect on the HPA axis,” said Curtis. (PsychCentral) Studies differ in talking about the role of yoga in regulating cortisol, but all agree that it helps with the regulation of stress hormones. It also helps in the way that stress is perceived having drastic effects on how stress is processed by the body. Yoga essentially helps these circulatory functions to achieve higher levels of function by increasing flow.

“Cortisol and the stress response have known deleterious effects on the immune system. High levels of perceived stress and increases in cortisol have been found to lengthen wound-healing time in healthy, male adults.”

2. Lower Blood Pressure

“Elevated blood pressure is a powerful predictor of congestive heart failure and other Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) outcomes” (Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research). Plaque builds up in the walls of arteries and makes it harder for blood to flow. Yoga helps to relieve this by increasing circulatory function through purifying the blood stream through oxygenation, which also helps with metabolism. Hypertension is one of the leading causes of stroke, which yoga has been clinically shown to reduce.

“Yogic practices significantly reduced systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and orthostatic tolerance.”

3. Improved Circulation

Circulation of hormones and various chemical messengers throughout the body is necessary for new tissue growth, tissue repair, and anti-inflammatory disease prevention. Myokines are excreted during muscle contractions, which could be a major reason why the increased duration of stretches is so beneficial for healing. During yoga, joints are used in full range of motion and articulation helping to soak them in new oxygen, blood, and nutrients, assisting with osteoporosis and arthritis.

“Yoga increases blood flow and levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells which allows for more oxygen to reach the body cells, enhancing their function.”

4. Lowering Cholesterol

Yoga helps to control cholesterol and hypertension. The relationship between the growth of plaque within arteries is still being explore in conjunction with yogic exercises, but several clinical studies have shown that yogic exercises reduce the speed at which the plaque builds-up, a process known as atherosclerosis.

5. Improved Heart Rate Variability

“There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress flexibly.” One of yoga’s heart benefits is the ability to perceive stress differently. This affects the entire hormone system, including the stress response system. We are continuing to learn more about how yoga benefits our bodies in this way.

5 of the Best Foods for Heart Health

Salmon
Blueberries
Dark Chocolate
Citrus
Broccoli, Spinach, and Kale

Quotes about Yoga’s Heart Benefits

American Heart Association

“The more energy you put into it, the more you’re going to get out of it,” she said. “After 12 weeks, you may see a dramatic increase in exercise functionality, and blood pressure and cholesterol levels may decrease.”

American Osteopathic Association

“Between lowering blood pressure, increasing circulation, and lowering bad cholesterol, it’s no wonder that yoga helps to lower a person’s risk of heart disease.”

MedicineNet

“Your heart beats approximately 60-80 times per minute at rest.
100,000 times a day.
more than 30 million times per year.
and about 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime!”

References:

http://www.ijcep.org/article.asp?issn=2348-8093;year=2016;volume=3;issue=2;spage=57;epage=58;aulast=Pal
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/743504/
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0066-782X2009000600008&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en
https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/38/2/332/299270/Effect-of-respiratory-rate-on-the-relationships
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3978938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3415184/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573542/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939525/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3193654/
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000085
https://bmccomplementalternmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12906-016-1286-7
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2225411017300172
http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/health-conditions-library/general-health/Pages/yoga.aspx
http://www.medicinenet.com/aerobic_exercise/article.htm
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/PhysicalActivity/Yoga-and-Heart-Health_UCM_434966_Article.jsp#.WYDdWf_yvq0

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The Anatomy of Nose Breathing

1 Comment / Anatomy, breathing, health, Respiratory System, yoga, yoga benefits

Why is Nose Breathing Important?

Nose breathing is the most essential part of yoga. It is also poorly understood in modern culture. Breathing through the nose is physiologically much different than breathing through the mouth; there is far more space in your nasal cavity than in your mouth to start. There is also a filtration system in the nose that doesn’t exist in the throat. You can see this on the right; the tongue takes up the vast majority of the space in the mouth and the nasal passageway is very small at certain points. The mouth actually makes for a more narrow and less effective breathing passageway, especially when you consider the benefits of the pressure system that exists in the nasal cavity. Your body craves breathing through the nose, especially while you sleep! Human breaths are more powerful through the nose.

There are studies that have shown all kinds of benefits of breathing through the nose; it is even considered the proper method for breathing by the scientific community. “[Nose breathing] increases circulation, blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, slows the breathing rate and improves overall lung volumes ” Swift, Campbell, McKown 1988 Oronasal obstruction, lung volumes, and arterial oxygenation.

Breathing through the nostrils has also been proven to improve brain function; opposite nostril breathing stimulates the opposite hemisphere of cortex and the nervous passageways in the cortex (ie left nostril breathing is associated with stimulating right brain activity).

There is also significant research being done on the relationship between the prefrontal cortex and the passageways to the lungs. It is being shown that there are major correlations between ADHD and sleep disorders and breathing habitually through the mouth. Information beyond the clinical applications for sleep apnea where hard to find; obviously the health need ($$) for assistance with sleep apnea is somewhat sizable, therefore there is more research done around it. However, it has been proven that alternate nostril breathing affects the brain’s physiology; there are some extremely close relationships between specific portions of the brain and the respiratory pathways, especially in the hindbrain (medulla and pons).

There is an ever-increasing body of research on the relationship between sleep apnea, asthma, and on the negative effects of breathing habitually through the mouth. Nose breathing is more protective and efficient at fueling the human body’s need for oxygen; however, the passageway is relatively easily obstructed. The mouth has been shown to be more efficient at releasing carbon dioxide quickly than the nose, although exhaling through the nose has notable benefits for the mucus membrane and cilia of the nose. Let’s explore how the nose is a powerful filtration system for the lungs.

Filtration Systems

When I was 25 I visited Beijing with some of my friends from the time that I studied abroad in Paris. While I was there, I noticed myself continually nose breathing due to the large particles in the air. I was fairly deep into my yoga practice so I was used to breathing through my nose for long periods of time, but I instinctively understood that breathing through my nose would help to filter the air and keep the large bronchitis and cancer causing particles out of my trachea and mouth.

“The nose serves as the only means of bringing warm humidified air into the lungs. It is the primary organ nose breathing for filtering out particles in inspired air, and it also serves to provide first-line immunological defense by bringing inspired air in contact with mucous-coated membranes that contain immunoglobulin A (IgA).”

The nose assists in stimulating the immune system. The changes in pressure stimulate the physiological processes associated with the maintenance of the mucus membrane and help to retain oxygen in the lungs. It also provides humidity and heat for the air entering the lungs, as well as increased filtration from the cilia and small hairs that line the nose. In the picture above, you can see the olfactory(smell) nerves and the organization of blood vessels within the nasal cavity. Overall, it is a good idea to concentrate on breathing through the nose, whether sleeping, awake, or even during milder forms of exercise.

Why is this important for yoga?

This information helps to explain a large portion of why yoga is so beneficial for the body. Breathing intensively through the nose for one to two hours creates space for the habit of constantly breathing through the nose. This is probably the biggest reason that in clinical studies, sleep quality of subjects who practice yoga is higher. Breathing’s relationship to the functioning of the brain is also interesting; some studies have shown that yawning helps to cool the brain, but the act of yawning is probably far more complex than that simple generalization.

Questions?

How does nasal breathing affect the hippocampus and memory?

How does nose breathing affect the hypothalamus and the regulation of your emotions through the endocrine system?

What parts of the brain does yawning cool?

What portions of the cortex received the greatest benefit from breathing through the nose? How about the mouth?

These questions, at least as far as I can tell, science has yet to answer. But we do have clinical evidence that yoga positively affects mood disorders, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and there are a lot of very positive findings between yoga and cardiovascular health, while simply nasal breathing is proven to positively affect the heart and lung tissue. It is probably just a matter of time before we discover more of the benefits of yoga and of nose breathing.

Don’t be a mouth breather! 🙂

References:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/874771-overview
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1398-9995.1999.tb04402.x/asset/j.1398-9995.1999.tb04402.x.pdf;jsessionid=AECDFA5F44190494D5E7B315E7A6FEB2.f01t03?v=1&t=ilmeorkg&s=c4bc17315db2cd2d969feca8ad933515fa409e02&systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+unavailable+for+up+to+3+hours+on+Saturday+19th+March+2016+from++11%3A00-14%3A00+GMT+%2F+07%3A00-10%3A00+EDT+%2F+19%3A00-22%3A00+SGT+for+essential+maintenance.++Apologies+for+the+inconvenience.
http://care.american-rhinologic.org/nasal_physiology
http://medind.nic.in/iad/t05/i4/iadt05i4p251.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8063359
http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/toc/2013/12040
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2005.11.711

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Yoga's Primary Benefits_autonomic_nervous_sytstem

Yoga’s Primary Benefits: Control of the Autonomic Nervous System

Leave a Comment / Anatomy, health, Science, yoga, yoga benefits, yoga practice

Yoga’s Primary Benefits

Honestly, yoga’s primary benefits are still unknown. Our science isn’t good enough yet. Not really. Science is just starting to catch up to the power of some of the world’s most ancient healing traditions and are learning their meaning in a whole new light. Yoga’s primary benefit is certainly related to the functioning of the central and peripheral nervous systems, but how is something that has yet to be explained. The Ujjayi breathing technique, or breathing slowly through the nose is almost certainly related to yoga’s primary benefits; how is something that we have yet to learn. The Western world is slowly learning that the Eastern traditions, medicines, healing techniques, and ritualistic traditions are grounded in some serious observational science, even if it isn’t quantifiable and measurable by current methodologies and technologies. Even if the causes aren’t completely explained. This is happening in Acupuncture, herbology, nutrition, Ayurveda, and even Yoga is one particular field where we are learning a lot about how beneficial something as simple as breath control can be. The human body is more complex than we can currently understand; we are continually learning more about the human ecosystem that is what we define as our body.

Yoga is one particular tradition that reaches very far back in civilization, but our scientific knowledge about how yoga can help the body to heal is fairly rudimentary. We know from clinical studies that yoga helps with sleep duration and quality of sleep, we also know that it helps with anxiety, depression, and stress. But yoga in our modern society mostly means exercise, something that is vastly under-rated in American culture and in our society; 66% of Americans are overweight.

Yoga almost certainly has benefits to the endocrine system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the heart, and the digestive system, but many of these benefits have yet to be measured. Even our understanding of the functioning of the respiratory system is still somewhat archaic, especially in terms of the lungs interacting with the heart, especially in the paradigm of disease. We have a lot to learn, but another, even more powerful benefit that we are learning about is the control one gains over the nervous system.

Yoga and the Nervous System

The nervous system is the central source of energy for your body; the electricity in your body is the fundamental source of energy for your body and therefore your consciousness to exist. The electricity that runs down your spine and into your peripheral nervous system, or the legs, torso, arms, organs, and every other part of your body is a continually firing process that continues from before birth and ends with our final breath. This is what allows us to be alive and is the fuel for our internal fire, passion, love, and existence.

This nervous system that we have evolved into over billions of years is extremely adaptive; different aspects of it have partitioned and specialized; we have a parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system and a sympathetic part; a conscious part of the nervous system and an unconscious part of the nervous system.

Yoga and Stress Regulation

The parasympathetic autonomic system is largely outside of conscious control and regulates most of the “background activities” of the body, such as digestion, sexual activity and arousal, urination, etc. The sympathetic nervous system allows us to control our fight or flight response or panic responses. Yoga allows us to tap into both of these systems and influence their activities and awareness breeds control, making awareness of the proprioception of the nervous system a primary benefit as well. That’s why balancing in yoga is such an important part of the practice.

One of yoga’s greatest benefits that is also a byproduct of meditation is alleviation of tension from the muscles, cortisol from the bloodstream (stress hormone), and slowing down of the heart and therefore circulatory system. Control over the nervous system helps us to do this because it allows everything else to slow down as a result of slowing the mind, and allowing the body to reach equilibrium and decompress. This can help us to fully relax in preparation for strenuous activity and the two can balance each other out really nicely because of yoga’s benefit to slowing the nervous systems.

I’ve done yoga in airports, on airplane bathrooms, in buses, in random hotel rooms, in airplanes, in cars, in RV’s, while camping, after long days of strenuous activity, etc and I will always use it to keep my circulatory system “feeling good” while traveling. The benefits of yoga for the body are undeniable and we are just starting to learn about the real consequences of this powerful, healthy, spiritual, and enlightening practice.

sources:

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Endocrine System – The Body’s Way of Talking

1 Comment / Anatomy, endocrine system, health, Neuroscience, Organ Systems, Science, yoga, yoga benefits

Endocrine System: Chemical Communication

The endocrine system refers to a collection of glands that secrete hormones into the circulatory system to target a distant organ with chemical messages. These tend to be slower processes, such as growth, menstrual cycles, or circadian rhythms, but also refer to procedures for dealing with stress and the environment. The notable endocrine glands are:

the pituitary gland – about the size of a pea, this gland protrudes at the base of the hypothalamus, there are two lobes in humans that regulate growth, blood pressure, pregnancy and childbirth, breast milk production, sex organ functioning, thyroid gland function, metabolism, osmolarity and water balance, temperature regulation, pain relief and sleeping patterns (but this is mostly the responsibility of the pineal gland. This is the seat of control of the mind over the entire body, hormonally speaking.
the pineal gland – The gland produces melatonin to regulate sleep cycles and circadian rhythm and the hormone is very sensitive to light. Descartes viewed the gland as the gateway between the body, mind, and soul and considered it to be the third eye. When children become teenagers, production becomes delayed leading to later sleeping and waking times.
the pancreas – largely regulates the digestive and lymphatic systems, secreting insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, pancreatic peptide, and assists in digestion by secreting pancreatic which is a blend of digestive enzymes
ovaries, testes – ovaries release: estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and unfertilized eggs; testicles release sperm and androgen (steroid hormones, primarily testosterone)
thyroid gland – one of the largest endocrine glands with two lobes around the trachea, below the thyroid cartilage also known as the Adam’s apple. It controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and uses other hormones. It does this by producing hormones that regulate growth and rate of function of other systems. Hormonal output of the thyroid gland is controlled by thyroid stimulating hormone produced by the anterior pituitary lobe, which itself is regulated by thyrotropin-releasing hormone produced by the hypothalamus
parathyroid gland – Humans usually have four, located on the back of the thyroid gland that produce parathyroid hormone and calcitonin. Together, these hormones regulate bone physiology including calcium levels and phosphate levels and reabsorption levels via the kidneys, so that the levels of these chemicals are optimal for the nervous and muscular systems to function
hypothalamus – a small portion of the brain located just above the brain stem with specialized cells to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. All vertebrate brains have a hypothalamus, which produce neurohormones that stimulate the secretion of pituitary hormones, controlling body temperature, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, different processes of the autonomic nervous system.
gastrointestinal tract – releases hormones to help regulate the digestive process, including gastrin, secretin, cholecystokinin, and ghrelin
adrenal glands – endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys, responsible for stress hormones cortisol and corticosteroids, and also catacholamines, like adrenaline and noradrenaline. These cells also produce androgens to assist the body in dealing with stress, and the glands activate both the nervous and endocrine systems to work react to stress.

These glandular organs together make up the endocrine system, which sends chemical messages throughout the body, similar to the nervous system, however, the effects and mechanisms of the system are very different in their processes.

Glands? What are those?

The word gland is used for any organ that is used to excrete hormones for release into the bloodstream or into cavities inside of the body or to its outer surface. There are also two types of glands to be aware of: endocrine and exocrine; the latter uses ducts and bodily cavities for transport while the former uses the circulatory system for transport.

The exocrine system is a collection of glands that operates differently than the endocrine system, but is extremely useful to the body. The exocrine system uses three different methods of excretion:

Merocrine glands – cells excrete their substances by exocytosis (cellular waste removal by containing the waste,then releasing it

outside of the cell): i.e. pancreatic acinar cells

Apocrine glands – cells that excrete by concentrating their waste, then cutting of a bud of the cell with the waste

Holocrine glands – The entire cell disintegrates to release its substance

It is easiest to understand the exocrine system by how it functions: it comprises sweat glands, salivary glands, mammary glands, and the liver. Together, the exocrine and endocrine systems work all of the glands of the body to remove waste.

Endocrine System Bodily Operations

The endocrine system operates differently from the exocrine system, in that it works via the circulatory system. Many organs have secondary endocrine functions in addition to their primary roles in the body. Endocrine organs usually signal themselves in groups and in certain orders, referred to as an axis. The Greek words ἐνδο- endo-, inside or interior and κρίνειν krinein, to separate or distinguish are useful for understanding what the endocrine system does. It is essentially specializing specific organs to work in unison for specific bodily functions, including growing, sleeping, and the most basic of physiological needs, such as hunger and urination. In unison with the nervous system, this is how the body communicates internally.

I will go into more detail in later articles about the particular neuroreceptors and hormones that the body uses for specific functions. Keep in mind that many are still unclassified and have properties that have not yet been observed and measured. The science of endocrinology and neurology have vast horizons to cover before we truly understand how these systems interrelate and function to produce conscious thought. But here are some great graphics of the known hormones and their organs of origin, thanks wikipedia!

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yoga benefits

5 of Yoga’s Heart Benefits

1. Cortisol (Stress) Regulation

2. Lower Blood Pressure

3. Improved Circulation

4. Lowering Cholesterol

5. Improved Heart Rate Variability

5 of the Best Foods for Heart Health

Quotes about Yoga’s Heart Benefits

“Between lowering blood pressure, increasing circulation, and lowering bad cholesterol, it’s no wonder that yoga helps to lower a person’s risk of heart disease.”

References:

Why is Nose Breathing Important?

Filtration Systems

Why is this important for yoga?

Yoga’s Primary Benefits

Yoga and the Nervous System

Yoga and Stress Regulation

Endocrine System: Chemical Communication

Glands? What are those?

Endocrine System Bodily Operations

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