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Why yoga works—simply
Ancient yogis knew the benefits that came with regular yoga practice. Today, advancements in technology enable scientists to show precisely how these ancient practices work to benefit the mind and body. Yogis have been passing on the teachings of yoga for nearly 5,000 years.
Most simply, using proper breathing, especially during asana practice, enables the average person to develop the breathing apparatus and strengthen the vital life force. Once that begins, everything else flows from it. Why yoga works is really that simple. Any time you lie on the mat and breathe, the benefits of yoga begin.
There is a saying in yoga that when we control the breath, we control the life force, and when you think about that, it's really true.
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Everything starts with the breath
There are many kinds and levels of yoga students, but often when someone is new to yoga, the first thing they have to become comfortable with is full (and proper) yogic breathing. Students sometimes seem afraid almost to take a full, three-part, yogic breath, as if breathing fully might somehow suffocate them. Yet, in this physical form we know on earth, breath is the essence of life—in that when we take the first breath, we are born, when we take the last breath, life (as we know it) stops.
Because the workhorse for the breath is the lungs, there are many things done in yoga to exercise the lungs so that the breath, or vital life force, is strengthened.
Getting comfortable
So the all important first step in yoga is to become comfortable with the breath. For some this is more difficult than others. For some, it is an adjustment to remember to always breathe in and out through the nose which was designed to filter and distribute air entering the body. While there are instances when it is good to exhale through the mouth (as sometimes with vigorous exertion), all yogic breathing described here is done through the nostrils.
Expanding the lungs
Full abdominal breathing and three-part yogic breathing then become the building blocks of the rest of asana practice, which is generally referred to as “yoga” by most of us Westerners (though yoga actually includes so much more than the asanas, or exercises). Doing asana practice without coordinating full and proper breathing is like driving a car without transmission fluid—don’t. Taking the time to get comfortable with the breath before moving on is an essential first step.
Exercising the breath
Once the fundamental breathing techniques are learned (breathing in and out through the nose, full abdominal breathing, three-part yogic breathing) then exercising and controlling the breath through kapalabhati breathing, a diaphragmatic exercise, and anuloma viloma, also known as alternate nostril breathing, are valuable yoga practices that drive the breathing machinery of the body to cleanse and balance the blood, organs and systems. (Note: Certain medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, require modifications of these breathing techniques. Be sure to check with your doctor.)
Breathing mechanics
By learning (and practicing) the full three-part yogic breath we increase oxygenation of the blood at the same time as cleansing toxins and carbons from the blood. View here.
Briefly, strengthened and expanded breathing impacts all the other systems. It cleanses and oxygenates the blood, which feeds all the organs and tissues, resulting in stronger bones, healthier circulatory and digestive systems, a cleaner lymph system, balanced endocrine and central nervous systems. And with more oxygen, the brain also benefits.
So, isn’t that what breathing does in general? Well, yes, but by exercising this function fully and properly and keeping it trained, we are less likely to succumb to the weaknesses that lead to illness and disease.
Within the lungs there are alveoli, delicate sacs resembling little pockets of grapes that are wrapped with capillaries taking blood to and from the heart. On a day-to-day basis, most people don’t fully fill and expand these little pockets. With age some of these collapse, leading to COPD and other respiratory or systemic diseases. It is within these precious little grape-like sacs that blood gases are exchanged—oxygen stored in the sacs is exchanged with carbons extracted from blood through capillaries surrounding the sacs, returning cleaned, oxygenated blood to the heart to be pumped into the blood stream.
In addition to this most important respiration process, special breathing exercises help to keep the diaphragm muscle strengthened, the connective tissues of the ribcage and thoracic cavity expanded and flexible. The lungs store oxygen, so the more oxygen storage you develop, the more that will be available to clean and feed the blood. Asana practice in conjunction with yogic breathing helps stimulate cell rejuvenation in all the organs through mindful, gentle manipulation. Beyond this, yogic breathing also helps to balance the central nervous system, and yogis believe the ethereal body as well.
KIS-Keeping it simple
The more/better you breathe, the more/better you will be, and this is what yoga does better than anything—teach us how to breathe more and better. This essentially is why yoga works and where the healings from yoga begin.
I often think of yoga like a well that is there for all who come to drink from it, a well that never runs dry, always there to refresh and restore, turning no one who visits away thirsty.
from the divinty within me to the divinity within you, namaste
—Saraswati
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Special Note: The 10 Minutes of Stress Relief CD from Yoga2You is perfect for helping you to connect, or reconnect, with the breath. Simple and effective, yet it only takes 10 Minutes! For more information click here:
Or Download (Downloads are Green!) the Digital Bonus Edition or Single: The first track is an easy-to-follow, guided relaxation process for the body and the mind with peaceful nature sounds in the background. At the end of 10 minutes, you are gently brought out of the relaxation so that you can keep going with your day, feeling refreshed and renewed.
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