Does Your Immune System Need A Boost?
With the onset of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) I have been thinking a lot about the health of my immune system and those of my students, friends and family.
So, what is the immune system?
It is a complex, delicately balanced infrastructure that is unique for every single one of us. We each have a personal defense system that comes to our rescue at the first sign of an alien invader, like a harmful virus, fungus, pesticides, parasites or pathogen.
The lymphatic system is the foundation of a good immune response. This system includes vessels, nodes, glands and organs. The nodes create powerful antibodies. Lymph fluid carries these white blood cells around the body where they are needed. It also transports other cells that engulf foreign particles like harmful bacteria and debri. The lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump, like the heart. Instead, muscular movement, breathing, gravity and massage move the fluid.
What depresses the immune system?
There are many things that can depress the immune system. Some are not in our control. Some are very much in our control. One of the biggest culprits to lowered immunity is stress, because it effects the production interferon, your bodies natural antiviral agent. Other ways our immune system gets lowered are a lifestyle without rest, or on the flip side, a sedentary lifestyle. Frequent, moderate exercise combined with stress-reduction is an important part of a healthy, immune boosting lifestyle.
Does your immune system need a boost?
This is a quiz that was developed over many years by Dr. Linda Page, Ph. D. If you answer yes to more than three of these questions, your immune system is probably slow-moving or under-active.
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Whether or not you got three or more positive answers on the quiz here are some yogic tools you can use to improve your immune system. Please also refer to my blog on how to increase your prana Prana: Get in Touch With Your Life Force . There are many yoga tools you can use. Here are some recommendations from Nina Zolotow, Editor in Chief of the Accessible Yoga blog and co-author of Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being.
1. Meditation. Yogic meditation triggers the Relaxation Response through your focus on an object of meditation. As repeatedly move your attention to your internal or neutral object of meditation and away from external worries or concerns, you’re signaling to your nervous system that you’re safe. Your nervous system responds by switching to the Rest and Digest state. Options include both seated and reclined meditation, with a mental focus of the breath or other physical sensations, mantra or sound, and visual imagery.
2. Breath Practices. Simple breath awareness triggers the Relaxation Response by providing a mental focus. Pranayama, on the other hand, directly affects your nervous system by changing your heart rate. Practices that slow your breath or lengthen your exhalation quiet your nervous system. (On the other hand, practices where you lengthen your inhalation stimulate your nervous system and practices where you make your inhalations and exhalations the same length are really more “balancing” than calming.
3. Restorative Yoga. These modern yoga poses provides deep physical relaxation by supporting and relaxing your body, and can trigger the Relaxation Response if you practice them with a mental focus. The mental focus is important because as in meditation it signals to your nervous system that you’re safe. Classic examples are Reclined Cobbler’s pose and Supported Child’s pose.
4. Supported Inversions. These modern yoga poses use gravity to trigger the Relaxation Response through the mechanisms that control your blood pressure. You don’t need a mental focus (although you can use one); as long as you are warm, quiet, and comfortable in the pose, all you have to do is let pose work its magic.
5. Savasana. In both classic and supported forms, this pose provides deep physical relaxation for your body and can trigger the relaxation response if you practice it with a mental focus.
Savasana is an ancient yoga pose. Based on what I’ve read about the original practice, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Savasana is a reclining form of meditation. To practice Savasana properly, however, you must actually do the work of meditating while you are in the pose (and make sure you don’t fall asleep). If you don’t actually meditate while in Savasana, then, well, you are simply relaxing. But that's okay, too, if that is what you are after.
6. Focused Relaxation. These guided relaxation practices, which include basic body scans and visualization practices, as well as formal practices like yoga nidra, allow you to achieve both physical relaxation and reduce stress levels by guiding you through a deep physical relaxation experience and providing mental imagery that harnesses you to the present.
Focused relaxation practices are specifically designed as relaxation techniques, and as such do not replace meditation or pranayama in a balanced yoga practice. This is true of any form of Savasana in which an external voice is providing instructions and/or imagery for you.
How to Practice Yoga for Stress Management
How Often to Practice. If you are going through a stressful period, I suggest practicing at least a short stress management session for about 20 minutes every single day, if possible. Right now, I myself, at the minimum, am practicing 20 minutes of meditation and 20 minutes of Legs Up the Wall pose every day. What you practice for your short stress management sessions could be any of the relaxation practices you prefer or that work in your particular circumstances: seated or reclined meditation, calming breath practices, one or two restorative and/or supported inverted poses, or a guided relaxation program. And because exercise is important for reducing stress, you should aim for doing an active asana practice (or another type of exercise, such as walking) around three to four days a week.
How Long to Practice. For a short stress management session, I suggest a length of 20 minutes per day, but you can actually divide this session up and practice part of your session in the morning and part later in the day. For example, you could you could meditate for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening or meditate in the morning and do a restorative pose at the end of the day.
What to Practice. For days when you want to do a full-length active practice in addition to your stress management, practice any sequence of active poses that you like either in the daytime or early evening but not just before bed. (Active poses, especially standing poses and backbends, can be very stimulating so it’s best to avoid them just before going to sleep as they can cause insomnia.) Generally, if you’re combining active poses and stress management practices, it makes sense to include the active poses at the beginning of your sequence, although if you’re fatigued you can start with a resting pose and ease into the more active poses. But always quiet down after the active poses with a stress management practice. For days when you just need a short stress management session, choose any single or combination of stress management practices that work for you in your particular circumstances.
Static Poses. These poses are good for grounding you when you’re feeling anxious or flighty and for tiring yourself out a bit when you’re feeling hyper. Standing poses, such as Warrior 2 and Triangle pose, are particularly effect for this. But a balanced practice that includes poses from every category will engage your body and mind, and release physical tension from your body. Practice mindfully for best results
Dynamic Poses. These poses are good for releasing held tension in your body, engaging your body and mind, and mildly energizing yourself when stress makes you feel fatigued. Be careful, however, not to practice (or breathe) too quickly, as this can over-stimulate you. Practice mindfully for best results
Supported Inverted Poses. For many people, supported inverted poses are so effective for calming the nervous system and quieting the mind that even just one 15-minute session of Legs Up the Wall pose can turn the day around. And if these poses work well for you, during your active practice days, always include one or more near the end of your practice (before Savasana or meditation). Choose poses that you can hold for extended periods of time and use appropriate propping to ensure you’ll be comfortable. Warming up for these poses with active or reclining poses that stretch your legs and open your shoulders may help you be less fidgety.
Restorative Poses. If stress is making you feel exhausted and depleted, you can put together an entire asana practice from restorative poses or even practice a single pose on its own. And if you are doing a more active practice and you enjoy restorative poses, include one or two at the end of your practice. Choose poses that you can hold for extended periods of time so you can relax, completely and use appropriate propping to ensure you’ll be entirely comfortable.
Focused Relaxation. Guided relaxation, meditation, calming breath practices, and Savasana with a mental focus are practices that you can do on their own or include in an active practice. Although these are good practices to end your practice with, you can also use them to start a practice as a way to center yourself. Choose the techniques that work best for you and your particular circumstances. And make sure to use seated or reclined positions that you can hold for extended periods of time so you can relax completely, and use appropriate propping to ensure you’ll be entirely comfortable.