YOGAREVELATION
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ANATOMY
ANATOMY
The benefits of yoga from a physical perspective are unlimited and profound as you practice on a consistent basis.
Due to the deep, conscious breathing that is integrated within the practice, each cell of your being is properly nourished with oxygen with the deep inhalations. The complete exhalations release toxins from your body. Many people breathe shallowly and do not inhale as much oxygen as the body truly needs. After the oxygen enters your lungs, the first organ to get the initial source of oxygen is the heart. The heart then gives what is left to the rest of the body. Your brain has been determined to need 20% of the oxygen you inhale in order to properly function. If breathing is never done as it was designed, the body and mind will suffer the consequences as you age.
The muscles of your body need to be lengthened and moved in various arrangements in order to maintain flexibility. Lengthening the muscles allows the fibers to absorb more oxygen; lengthening and creating space in your spine eases lower back pain. The lengthening of the hamstrings relaxes the muscles that also cause lower back pain. As we age, we tend to become more sedentary and as a result, the muscles slowly atrophy and shrink. The shrinking of the muscles is what causes one to become hunched back or even shorter as they age. When you actively work your muscles and lengthen them in yoga poses, they make your muscles and bones work together as a team. You actually slow down the aging process of the body! You continue to feel younger as you practice because you are actually sending the message to your cells to regenerate.
The poses of yoga not only work the exterior appearance of the body by becoming more flexible and stronger, but also the internal organs of your body. All the poses of yoga, in conjunction with the breathing, have an impact on specific organs depending on the pose. Key organs that benefit are the heart, the thyroid gland, the kidneys, and the liver. Of course, I could list every single organ; however, for brevity’s sake, I am mentioning some of the key ones to be aware of.
The heart is opened and made more flexible with moves that open the chest.
This enables it to take in more oxygen and give more out. The thyroid helps control your metabolism, hormones, and energy levels. Various moves enable it to function better for you. The kidneys and liver help to eliminate toxins and waste from the body. By the certain poses that massage them or lengthen them, you are able to remove more toxins from your body. A good analogy for some of the twists that are done in yoga is to think of the body as a sponge. When you do a twist, you are wringing out what is not needed. When you come back to your original position, you have just cleaned out a space in your body. Freshly, oxygenated blood takes the place and continues to do its miraculous work. It is highly recommended to drink a couple of glasses of water after a yoga class in order to assist in the prompt elimination of the toxins that have been squeezed out of the organs.
Yoga is not simply an exercise for the physical body. It truly extends much deeper than you can imagine until you experience it. However, you start on the physical level and will delve deeper with consistent practice.
