By Jennifer Cipollini, CYT

Yoga and Equilateral Muscle Strengthening

Yoga is a great means for improving the strength and tone of muscle tissue. The use of slow movements and balanced poses causes a practitioner to pay attention to often underutilized muscle groups. The use of stretching and oppositional poses also balances the strength of opposing muscle groups. For example, muscles along of the sides of the neck are worked equally to regulate an equivocal tone providing the best support for cervical vertebrae. All is balanced, which is highly important to prevent muscular strains and sprains that often occur due to a lack of alignment. A lack of alignment can cause or aggravate many physical ailments such as headaches, pinched nerves and inhibited circulation.

Yoga and Tissue Repair

In addition to strengthening muscles, Yoga benefits all body tissues by increasing the amount of blood flow to tense areas of the body. Yoga alleviates tension by stretching the muscles, increasing joint mobility and providing valuable relaxation techniques. Muscle tension is reduced with stretching and relaxation techniques which reduce spasms and increase blood flow into the area- this also aides in repair of injured areas of the body by ensuring that cells get essential nutrients, while efficiently eliminating waste products.

Deep breathing exercises central to Yoga add to the benefit by ensuring blood is maximally oxygenated. Since oxygen acts as a power cell to fuel metabolic activities, this increase of oxygenated blood also ensures more foods are converted to useful energy and nutrients. As muscle, joint and organ tissues gain more nutrients and oxygen, vigor increases. This increased vitality is a highly motivating factor to those wishing to practice Yoga. Effective and efficient tissue repair is a sign of youth, as evidenced in all of the anti-aging products on the market! But, instead of working on the surface, Yoga works to repair and maintain the body from the inside out.

Yoga and Disease Prevention

Yoga helps to prevent disease in a multitude of ways. In one way or another, all rituals of Yoga yield this direct result.

Cleansing rituals help to clean toxins accumulated waste matter clogging the body. The Neti pot is used to irrigate sinus cavities, effectively reducing or eliminating allergens and infected mucous secretions. This prevents further body colonization by bacterial or viral infections, and gives the immune system a break by reducing allergic reactions.

Abdominal rolling exercises help clear the colon and ensure effective bowel movements. By removing residual waste matter and improving bowel and digestive functions, Yoga aims to reduce diverticulosis, intestinal infections, and constipation or lack of bowel control.

Breathing exercises add another element of disease prevention to the repertoire of Yoga practice. Various breathing exercises exist, each having a different purpose and effect on the mind and body. Rapid breathing exercises help to rev up the body and mind, raising blood pressure and circulation. For those with low blood pressure or a lack of energy, this exercise can be rejuvenating to the whole person. Persons with high blood pressure will benefit from learning slow, relaxing breathing techniques that can lower stress responses and heart rate. Lastly, alternate nasal breathing helps to clear sinuses and increase the ability to breathe evenly through both nostrils. Learning to maximize equivalent breathing abilities for both nostrils will help to cleanse sinuses and gain the most air intake for freshening cranial sinus cavities. This also prevents the growth of disease in the sinuses and enables better elimination of excess mucous.

Overall, all regulated breathing techniques work to engage the mind for control over the body. This greatly reduces emotional influences on the body. A reduction in our body’s stress response in turn reduces stress manufactured diseases. Any disease can be aided by an increase in the body’s stress response, as this reaction lowers the immune system while causing an increase of circulating cortisol. As cortisol causes inflammation and an increase in abdominal fat storage, the net result of its presence is an increased risk for diabetes, heart ailments, and reduced healing of tissues. We greatly benefit from Yoga’s ability to reduce these risks. Stress responses do have a very realized negative effect on the body.

Nutrition guidelines of Yoga doctrine further aides in the prevention of disease, and ultimately aging. By eliminating animal based foods from the diet, Yogis reduce the influence of nitrogenous wastes in the body. They also eradicate the intake of carcinogens present in smoked, burnt or overcooked meats. Meats in the diet tend to reduce the efficiency of our metabolic systems and cause an increase of risk for digestive diseases- such as gout, gallbladder disease, kidney stones and disease, intestinal parasites and pancreatitis. By eating a more nutrient rich ovo-lacto vegetarian diet, we eat foods from the top of the energy pyramid. These foods are more nutrient rich, providing more energy as captured from the source, the sun. By eating these primary trappers of energy, we reduce the need to eat great volumes of meat that have lost those nutrients and energy through their own digestive processes. Animals, as secondary or tertiary consumers of solar trapped energy foods, are unable to provide our most efficient diet.

The nutrition of Yoga is not all about becoming a vegetarian; it also aims to provide the best diet for a nutrient rich intake with the least stress on the body. As such, certain vegetarian items are omitted. Rajasic foods -spicy foods, fish, alcohol, and other stimulating substances- are eliminated to reduce their negative effects on the body. These foods tend to cause nerve and circulatory disorders, high blood pressure and other digestive complications.

Tamasic foods- rotted, overripe or putrefied foods (meats)- are also eliminated for more obvious reasons. These types of foods have a low nutritional value and cause a heavy feeling which results in low activity or desire.

Sattvic foods are preferred, with the inclusion of milk, butter, nuts, grains with fruits and vegetables. The nutritional content of this food combination provides the best basis for preventing and healing disease. By eliminating meats, our ability to eat the variety of plant based foods needed for adequate nutrition is much more attainable.

Yoga and Balance

Yoga not only forces us to relearn to balance muscles in each area of the body, the whole structure of its activities result in a harmony of mind/ body and mind/body environment. In a material way, the overall balanced physique of a Yoga practitioner ensures better balance in performing all physical actions. Besides the prevention of muscle strain, this balanced body remains more firmly rooted to the ground and effective at avoiding falling, tripping and/or slipping accidents. While this may seem a minor benefit, I have seen a great number of work injuries due to these types of incidents. In addition, the general aging population becomes not only more at risk to these falls as their balance reduces; they are also at most risk of serious injury as a result. Yoga practice restores youthful balance and the strength it requires. One more way Yoga can halt and rewind the aging clock.

Mental balance and an appreciation of the world around us also permit a healthier life. Beyond the appreciation, we become more open to learning and maintaining a youthful mind; more open to those around us for love and support; more open to understanding the needs of our world to help heal the environment and people around us. The health benefits of this mental balance results in reduced risks for Alzheimer’s disease (by working the mind), gaining a more stable and loving environment (by recognizing problems or solutions for our homes and families), and creating a better environment for those around us ( which in turn, will come back to us positively). Yoga provides the balance for mind and body that is needed to traverse our daily lives with efficient, effective and flexible abilities.

Yoga and Differing Abilities

One of the best aspects of Yoga is the many benefits are available to anyone, of nearly any capacity, who is willing and patient. Most forms of exercise require much more effort and ability to get results. With Yoga, all can participate with modifications and props as needed. In addition, some of the best results are noted in the most afflicted. This is the greatest way Yoga is realized as beneficial; its health revenue is accessible to all.

Jennifer Cipollini is a practicing certified Yoga teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in Jeannette, PA

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