The brain, nervous system and endocrine system all work together to move the body. The brain commands the action, the nervous system carries the message and the endocrine system is responsible for the long-term body maintenance using glands and hormones. The practice of yoga incorporates the tools of breath awareness, meditation and asanas (poses) to keep the body systems fluid and balanced.
Background
Through the pathways of the spine and peripheral nervous system, the autonomic nervous system controls the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. Factors like stress, tension and anxiety start the sympathetic nervous system, increasing the heart beat, which pumps blood quickly throughout the body, and the body readies for "fight, fight, or freeze." This in turn stimulates one of the glands of the endocrine system, at the top of the kidneys, to heighten your muscle power using the hormone adrenaline.
Considerations
Not enough sleep, stress about your financial situation, a feeling of instability, poor nutrition--any of these factors magnified in the mind rev up the sympathetic nervous system. When we aren't able to release the tension created throughout the body, eventually, holding the body in a constant state of strain becomes habitual. Yoga focuses on connecting breath and movement to still the mind long enough to release it from the grip of stress. The spine, the highway of information that distributes the body's messages, is elongated to allow for a full flow of energy propelled by the nose breathing used in yoga.
Function
Ujjayi in Sanskrit means "to conquer" or "to be victorious." Ujjayi breathing is used during most yoga flow classes. Each inhale and exhale is drawn and released through the nose. The practice of Ujjayi breathing involves narrowing the throat passage slightly and allowing the diaphragm to wholly descend and pump full breaths throughout the body. This slow breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system to bring body balance from strain to calm.
Asana Benefits
The asanas open, twist, strengthen and wring out the body. Adrenaline is a needed hormone that navigates our safety in the world--the "flight, fight, or freeze" sense is a survival instinct that keeps us alive and away from danger. Moving from yoga posture to yoga posture, you can learn to distinguish perceived dangers from real dangers because you have found possibilities on your yoga mat in the space between each breath. Yoga postures open the mind and body awareness and teach you to learn a new way. You realize through your yoga practice that you can't control the external, but you can breathe through the difficulty and become aware of your reactions to situations.
Examples
Each yoga posture speaks to the anatomical make-up of the body and a yoga practice links different poses to balance and stretch the entire body, which in turn affects the endocrine system. There are poses that stimulate the pituitary and pineal glands, according to YogaJournal.com. The pituitary gland is known as the "master gland" because it produces hormones that power other endocrine glands, while the pineal gland excretes the melatonin hormone that regulates sleep patterns. The pituitary is responsible for growth hormones, stimulating the thyroid gland and adrenal gland, but the pituitary also releases endorphins that soothe the nervous system and decrease feelings of pain.
There are many different poses that influence the endocrine system. For example, salamba sirsasana or supported headstand, activates the pituitary and pineal glands. It is a yoga inversion posture where the body is balanced on the forearms and crown of the head. Other yoga postures stimulate the thyroid and prostate glands. For example, paripurna navasana, or full boat pose, is a seated core-strengthening posture that stimulates the thyroid, prostate glands, kidneys, and intestines, according to YogaJournal.com. Setu bandha sarvangasana, or bridge pose, is a heart-opening posture according to Hema Sundaram, an integrative physician in Washington, D.C, that stimulates the thymus gland that is "the immune system's frontline."
Before doing any advanced poses, you should check with your doctor or an experienced yoga instructor.
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