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Do you frequently get ill? Are you tired, stressed and feeling rundown? Perhaps it’s time to discover the healing properties of yoga.
Our modern, urban lifestyle means we’re constantly exposed to pollutants, germs, toxins, stress, crowds of people and unfamiliar environments. Many women also frequently juggle so many responsibilities that they never get a chance to relax, breathe, and take proper care of their mental and physical wellbeing – a dangerous situation, especially as winter approaches.
To stay healthy and strong, your immune system needs as much protection as it can get. While a healthy diet, sleep and cardiovascular exercise are all a necessary part of keeping your body’s natural defence mechanism strong, yoga can give it that extra little boost.
You may think that yoga is just about breathing, stretching and relaxation but there’s a lot more to it. Research shows that practising yoga and focusing on certain yoga postures, in particular, can protect you against disease.
What exactly is yoga?
The term “yoga” literally translates to “unity of the body, mind and soul”. Yoga is a comprehensive form of exercise that involves the entire body and which encourages mental focus, deep breathing and relaxation.
Yoga is physical, mental and spiritual, and aims to transform the outer and inner being. It’s an internal practice that teaches us to look within to silence the chatter of the mind and to de-stress.
According to a review article by Catherine Woodyard from the University of Mississippi, published in the International Journal of Yoga, in 2011, “One of the main goals of yoga is to achieve tranquility of the mind and create a sense of well-being, feelings of relaxation, improved self-confidence, improved efficiency, increased attentiveness, lowered irritability and an optimistic outlook on life. The practice of yoga generates balanced energy, which is vital to the function of the immune system.”
How does yoga boost immunity?
Practising yoga aids the immune system in several ways, according to Fulvio Grandin, Director of Yoga Zone in Cape Town. These include:
• Stimulating the physiological systems directly linked to the immune system, i.e. the digestive, circulatory, endocrine and nervous systems.
• Detoxifying and oxygenating the body and increasing the circulation of lymphatic fluid. This fluid moves through the body, collecting bacteria and viruses, and filtering them through the lymph nodes.
• Stimulating and balancing the body’s biochemistry through the thymus gland, and thyroid glands.
• Stimulating various acupressure points throughout the body, which helps to evict viruses, release stress, stimulate digestion and activate the metabolic system.
• Reducing stress and fatigue, two factors that compromise the immune system.
• Assisting digestion, which improves the utilisation of nutrients and the release of toxins.
A case in point
Ulrike Lamprecht, yoga teacher and proud mother of four, can attest to the many benefits of yoga, particularly noting the strong sense of discipline it adds to her life, as well as the stress-reducing and immune-boosting benefits. “I manage to do more than the average non-yogi, as I’m more focused and calm after doing my routine,” Ulrike says. “Plus, I don’t get sick – even when everyone around me falls ill. Yoga really strengthens your immune system.”
Many yogis also use the exercise to clear the mind, balance their emotions and give their mood a lift. Annie de Beer, a mother of three, says that yoga helps her to de-stress, calling it her “me time”. “When you’re a working mom, it can sometimes be hard to find time in the day to think or just be,” Annie says. “Yoga allows for this. I honestly think it should be prescribed for moms!”
A simple yoga routine
Convinced to make yoga part of your weekly routine? It’s always best to work with a qualified instructor. That said, Fulvio Grandin suggests you try this simple routine at home:
Pose | How to do it | Immune-boosting benefits |
Downward Dog
| Flatten your palms shoulder-width apart at the front of the mat. Straighten your arms, pressing into the palms. Lift your hips,
straightening your legs towards the back of the mat and keeping the feet apart. Create a triangle shape from hands to hips (in the air),
and from feet to hips. Take long, deep breaths through your nose and soften the neck, jaw and tongue.
| This very simple, but effective foundation posture promotes circulation, clears the sinuses, and helps to move white blood cells through
the body. It also decompresses the spine and lengthens the torso as an opening routine for the rest of your yoga session.
|
Cat and Cow Breathing
| From Downward Dog, come onto your hands and knees (hands below shoulders, knees below hips). Breathe deeply through your nose.
On the inhale breath, lift and expand the front chest up and forward, elongate your throat, draw your shoulders back, and curve your middle spine downwards as you tuck in your tailbone.
On a strong exhale, tuck your chin to your throat, pull in your belly, and arch your spine upwards (like an angry cat), rolling your shoulders forward and down to compress the front chest.
| This is a great yoga sequence that helps to improve circulation and clear congestion in the bronchial region and sinuses. It also simulates digestion and, through muscular contraction and extension, pumps blood and lymphatic fluid through the thoracic muscle groups. At the same time, it increases cardio-vascular fitness and helps stimulate the kidneys, while relieving stress from the neck and shoulder area, and extending the lumbar spine region. |
Savasana | Return to Downward Dog and activate a deeper stretch through the back and down the legs. Pull the muscles in around the
navel, and breathe deeply and slowly.
| |
Boat Pose
| Bend your knees together towards your chest, feet off the floor, and lift your chest up, so that you’re balanced on your sit bones with
your torso at a diagonal.
| This pose stimulates the thymus gland by opening up the chest, thus activating the release and flow of white blood cells. It also develops core strength, aids digestion as well as the elimination of toxins. |
Bridge Pose
| From Boat Pose, slowly lower the feet, keeping knees bent and feet hip-distance apart. Slowly uncurl the spine onto the floor and, when the head reaches the ground, relax completely as you exhale. On an inhale, press into your feet and raise the hips and lower back off the mat. Interlace fingers underneath you. Shift from side to side to get comfortable, and breathe deeply. | This is a deep, but gentle backward bend. It opens and expands the chest area, releases tension in the back, hips and shoulders, and helps the emotions “unwind”. Maintain this for a few moments while you allow the breathing to settle and become softer. |
Savasana | Close your yoga sequence by gently returning to Savasana for 1 to 2 minutes while you absorb the good feeling. |
References:
- Woodyard C. Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life. Int J Yoga [serial online] 2011 [cited 2014 Aug 13];4:49-54. Available from: http://www.ijoy.org.in/text.asp?2011/4/2/49/85485
