Yoga boosts the immune system

Tripod headstand, Garuda legs

Immune boosting yoga
Sadly amidst all the concerns over Covid-19, many people are missing attending their usual classes or fitness sessions whether it's football, swimming, dance or yoga.

Exercise of all sorts is important for humans - we need to move our body to stay healthy both physically and mentally. Movement also makes us feel better in ourselves, it releases endorphins, chemicals that trigger positive feelings in the brain, lowers stress levels and anxiety, especially if that exercise comes with built-in breath practice and mindfulness/meditation techniques - as with yoga. So remember to keep up exercise and especially yoga if you can’t get outside for other exercise for whatever reason during this time.

Any yoga? 
Tias Little of Prajna yoga, who I was training with in London just before the crisis struck, has sequences of floor-based sliding, gliding and rocking movements which create a pulsation throughout the tissues of our bodies, plumping up fluids, keeping us hydrated and improving the function of the organs. Importantly, they also stimulate the network of lymph vessels which lie under the skin, encouraging them to work harder, finding new paths, which helps lymphatic drainage. This is a vital part of our immune system, helping us to fight off viruses as well as bacteria that enter the body.

You can also do self-massage techniques, and rolling around on tennis balls. Sliding, gliding movements help to improve the elasticity of the fascia too, which in turn helps to develop and sustain neural plasticity improving our brain function. Slow, rhythmic movements calm the nervous system and support deep relaxation in the body's tissues, promoting resilience and health.

It can also be a form of meditation.

Whether it's moving or walking meditation, chanting or sitting quietly concentrating on breathing, meditation can have a positive affect on your mindset and thus, your health. Harvard University researchers used MRI scans to show how meditation positively affected and changed the brain activity and have found that meditation can change brain regions that are specifically linked with depression.

I asked my son to take a pic of me in a headstand ;)
Tias-style, using a block behind the head 

Strong, grounding poses
For all-round health we need both the gentle, contemplative side of yoga and some strong grounding poses.

When there was a viral outbreak in Pune, India, some years ago, the Iyengar Institute based there was closed and sent students a sheet of yoga practices to boost their immune system to keep them going at home. These are mostly inversions, Adho Mukha Svanasana, downward facing dog to you, Prasarita Padottanasana, a wide legged forward fold, backbends over a chair, lying with legs up the wall, and importantly, headstand and a long-held shoulderstand with variations. More of the same was recommended in the evening with headstand, shoulderstand and settabandasana (bridge pose), all propped, and Savasana – rest.

Of course for most of these, you would need to have an established yoga practice or have a teacher guide you through them, which I'd recommend :)

Tias Little sent out his Prajna students a list of asanas which also had a big emphasis on inversions... Why?

Tias explains that inversions rest and revitalise the body, stimulating the lungs to perform better and improve circulation. Shoulderstand "the mother of all poses" is nourishing for the throat and chest area. Placing the head below the heart is tonic for lymph vessels in the upper body, irrigating lymph through lymph nodes in throat, tongue and jaw region. An inversion could equally be a dog pose, ideally with the head resting on a block.

David Coulter, in his excellent book, Anatomy Of Hatha Yoga, says if you can remain in headstand or an inverted posture for 3-5 minutes, blood will drain quicker to the heart from the lower extremities, abdominal and pelvic organs, but also tissue fluids will flow more effectively into the veins and lymph channels, which will create a healthier exchange of nutrients and wastes between cells and capillaries. Sivanada, the yoga guru, was known for calling the headstand "a panacea - cure-all for all diseases".

*Remember inversions of any kind are not suitable for everyone, Pregnant women, those with high blood pressure and certain eye problems included, so check with your teacher or doctor before you go upside down.

Twists are also important to revitalise the spinal column and they are energising, which will help beat lethargic tendencies. Back bends lift the spirits, and they don’t need to be huge ones. Apart from bridge pose, you could lie down over a rolled blanket or rolled towel placed behind the heart area, which will also boost your lymphatic flow and energy levels, and counter the tendency to hunch forward over keyboards and other technology.

So whatever you do, keep up your yoga, even though you can only do it in your home! Obviously as social animals, humans also like to interact with each other or they can suffer from feelings of isolation. I guess that’s where social media comes in and the lurry of online yoga and other exercise sessions being offered (including by me!) see Online Classes

Iyengar's immune boosting routine

Stoking the inner fire

Winter brings out the inner animal in many of us... I'm thinking grizzly bear. Not that we are (all) grouchy and irritable, though some of us get a little spiky when it's cold, but generally, that wish to hibernate, withdraw from the cold and just retreat inside, whether that's to the safety of the sofa, duvet, or pulling up our shoulders and huddling inwards in our personal space. When I look around at my students I see that last one so clearly and feel it in their tense upper back and neck muscles.

Tempting as it is to cuddle up in your cosy home when you get in from work, or stay in bed in the mornings, come stoke the inner fire (or agni) at a yoga class and you will walk out warmer, taller, more energetic and confident... and in fact more resistant to those winter bugs!  

Skeptical?
Using breath work and postures can stimulate the third chakra (or energy point), the solar plexus, which is our personal powerhouse and seat of confidence. While creating heat in the belly improves the digestion, which in turn strengthens the immune system.

Most of us humans (and bears probably) hold far too much tension in the belly — both physical and emotional, and releasing that can help not just with warming and energising the body but if you can release tension in the belly, your digestion improves and you can boost your immune system. In the Ayurveda system, a warm belly means a healthy gut and immune system and having a cold sluggish belly creates health problems.

Stimulating the prana, or energy in the belly, improves our moods, lifting anxiety, and depression. As one of my favourite yoga teachers, Bo Forbes, a clinical psychologist who mixes yoga with psychotherapy, explains in her courses, the "belly brain" or our enteric nervous system, holds 75% of our immunity. The system creates hormones, such as serotonin, which work to balance our moods. Most of us have noticed how being anxious, tense or upset, can cause stomach upsets and change our relationship with food, which in turn affects our health... 

So, where do we start? Put your hands on your belly. 
It is always good to start with some deep belly breathing, feeling the belly move into the hands on the inhale and soften towards the spine on the exhale. You can lie on your belly with a yoga brick lengthwise from just above the pubic bone to the lower belly, or over a folded blanket to focus your efforts. The light pressure increases the stimulation and gives greater feedback.* One you have got into an easy rhythm, you can add a gently mulha bandha, gently engaging the pelvic floor muscles (see my last post) and gently drawing in and up with the lower abdominal muscles, to activate uddiyana bandha.*

*Do not do this if you are pregnant or if it is the first few days of your monthly bleed, ladies. Stick with gentle breathing into the hands, and if there is a baby inside your belly, visualising the little bean and sending and receiving warm thoughts through your fingers and breath.

And, while your hands are on your belly, give yourself a belly massage. You can do this sitting up with a tall spine or lying on your back with your knees bent (still in bed is fine if you haven't made it out of the blankets yet!)
Gently massage the belly in circular movements moving clockwise to follow the direction on the large intestine. Belly massage is comforting, warming and great for wind and constipation, for babes and kids too. You can do this after your morning shower or bath using oil, too, and make it part of your morning ritual.

Let's hot things up — add breath of fire
Inhale through the nose and as you exhale strongly through the nose, draw the belly in and up, release on the inhalation. In breathe of fire you are trying to keep the inhale and the exhale even but short, so best avoided if you are asthmatic or suffer from breathing difficulties. As always, start very gently and slowly, and as you become more comfortable, increase the speed a little, keeping the same amount of power on inhale and exhale. Once you find your rhythm, you should be able to keep going for a few minutes without tension. Always observe your body and stop if you become breathless or your shoulders hunch! You can also add breathe of fire in dog pose during your sun salutations or posture practice. Breathe of fire is also known as bhastrika or breath of bellows, so the intention is to fan the inner heat, activating the navel centre.

Heating postures
Sun salutations are warming and energising, though some of you may want to start with gentle floor-based stretches on your back to ease tight psoas, hamstrings or lower back, and it's always good to add in a few rolling cats — on all fours — before you begin salutations, to ease the body into the day.

You can also add in heating breathwork during your asana practice (the postures).

Rolling cat
In Marjariasana, or cat posture, as you arch your spine towards the ceiling on your exhale, draw the lower belly in and up to stimulate uddiyana bandha (the body's upward lock) and draw the tailbone down. Sit back on your heels into child pose at the end of the exhalation, then draw your chest forward between your hands almost coming to cobra, on the inhalation — keep the belly lifted so you don't drop into the lower back! 

To take it further, arch the spine to the ceiling as you exhale, then at the end of the exhalation, draw the lower belly in and up to activate uddiyana bandha, and "on empty" tuck the toes under and lift the hips into downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana). Your belly will disappear like an inverted bowl. When you need to inhale, come back to all fours and lengthen the spine (without dropping the belly!) Repeat 2 or 3 times.

Add in lunges — stepping forward with the right foot first, again to follow the workings of the digestive system, and add twists, remember to keep the spine long, with crown of the head reaching away from the tailbone, as you twist.

Boat pose with breath of fire 
Finally, as my ashtangis and vinyasa students know well, I love Navasana, the boat pose. You may want to sit to the front of a flat foam block if you have a pronounced coccyx or a bony bum! Engage your pelvic floor and stomach muscles and lengthen the back as you bend your knees and lift the feet and legs from the floor. Lift your chest and reach your arms out in front of you. Hold for a few breaths if you can. Keep your knees bent (and perhaps toes on the floor) if you have a weak core or if you feel it in your back. If you are fine, straighten your legs. And, if you want to really get the heat going, add in breath of fire here. No slouching, soft jaw and relaxed forehead, please. 

Breath and mudra
Finally, one of the mudras (symbolic hand positions) associated with restoring harmony in the inner powerhouse that is the manipura chakra is matangi mudra. To do it, sit with a long spine, bring your hands together and interlace the fingers, except the middle fingers. Extend the two middle fingers to touch. Hold your hands by your navel with the fingers pointing away from you, as you breathe in and out perhaps visualising the inner fire that you have created, burning brightly within. 

Matangi mudra - draw you hands towards your belly
as you breathe deeply into the belly

Warmer now?