I am super excited to share with you, that research into the effects of long static holds on fascia (similar to yin yoga) has been found to reduce acute inflammation!
This is music to my ears as I have personally been on a journey with inflammation.
In 2012 I went to a naturopath as my stomach was just awful, I couldn't seem to eat anything without having a reaction. This was gravely affecting everything in my life. The naturopath told me I was riddled with inflammation to the point she could actually feel it when pressing on my stomach. I also learnt that this inflammation had spread throughout my whole lower body to the point just slightly touching my glutes would cause my whole body to jolt. I just assumed I had tight muscles but unfortunately this was what was causing my lower back pain.
So to tackle the inflammation I cut out all wheat from my diet (which I still don't eat as by learning to listen to your body you will find out what certain foods may not agree with you) and continued to do yoga but this was the more yang style which I later found out through self study that it was yin yoga my body needed to recover.
It sure is all about finding the right balance for your body.
After having my daughters in 2013 and 2015, it was then that the magic of yin seeped through my body completely restoring my mind, body and soul.
Even though I personally knew it was yin yoga that had helped repair my body by nourishing my organs, tissues and my whole nervous system, I didn't have any proof to say look yin yoga really does work! There is still so much that we don't know, so to see this research has been conducted truely is a step closer to the many depths we have within this human body.
"Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives". - Shah Rukh Khan
Here is a little bit of information about inflammation and the effects it can have on our body and the ways we can restore our tissues and Organs.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is the body's way of alerting the immune system to heal and repair damaged tissues, as well as protecting us from virus's and bacteria. A small amount is necessary for our health. Unfortunately if the inflammation begins to occur in places where it is not needed, this can lead to chronic inflammation which may cause autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease and several other ailments.
I personally found that the inflammation I was suffering with was caused by continual overstimulation and stress of my nervous system, which caused my body to stay in the fight or flight mode and was truely exhausting!
Other signs of stress to your tissues or your nervous system can be due to lack of movement or an accident or injury.
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous system.
The fight or flight mode is governed by your sympathetic nervous system. The longer that you stay in this sympathetic state, the more likely it will lead to imbalances in your body such as:
Your Organs not functioning at their best.
Increase in stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline.
Decrease in your immune system.
Draining kidneys of vital energy.
Ideally to help reduce stress and inflammation, the state we want to be in is called the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the place where we can switch off the stress hormones and begin to restore balance within our body and internal organs.
Yin yoga is a powerful healing practice that we can use to connect back to our inner self, whilst restoring and revitalising the organs within our body.
One way to focus on revitalising the body is targeting the energy channels - the meridians.
"The body is a self-healing organism, so it's really about clearing things out of the way so the body can heal itself." - Barbara Brennan
Meridians
When the meridian channels are clear and open, energy flows freely and all is well. If these channels get distrupted, blockages can occur leading to the Organs not functioning to the best of their ability and imbalance could then arise.
By holding a yin yoga pose associated with a meridian line, we can begin to allow the energy to flow freely again restoring our health. This is similar to acupuncture but without the needles!
There are 6 lower body meridians that are affected more frequently in a yin yoga practice.
Meridian Signs of imbalance
The Liver Meridian Low back pain, abdominal pain, anger or irritation
The Gall Bladder Meridian Headache, blurred vision, pains along the side body
The Kidney Meridian Frequent urination, weakness in lower limbs, anxiety.
The Urinary Bladder Meridian Backaches, headaches, inability to urinate
The Spleen Meridian Stomach problems, flatulence and bloating
The Stomach Meridian Bloating, vomiting, mental problems
As you can see there is so much depth we can go into about meridians and how they respond within our body.
For the next 3 blogs I will be going into more detail about 2 meridians at a time and some yin poses you can use to release blockages, restoring vitality to your Organs.
I am really looking forward to being able to share this knowledge with you as I am so passionate about bringing some ease into your life.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you have any questions you would like me to answer please feel free to contact me at amy@believeyoga.com.au.
I would love to hear from you!
Sending loving kindness,
Amy. x
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