Yoga and the Nervous System by: Alison King Tigges

My hope is at this point we all understand the many benefits yoga has on the mind and body.  If not, feel free to read through past blog posts to refresh your memory. But what does not get talked about enough is the effects of yoga on the nervous system!  Truthfully, the longer I teach and practice, the more I appreciate the positive impact yoga and meditation has had on my nervous system.

The nervous system is incredibly complex, but it essentially is what sends messages to our brain.  It’s the huge connector of body and mind. Our central nervous system (CNS) contains the brain and spinal cord.  Our peripheral nervous system (PNS) contains our autonomic nervous system, which has two main parts that we work with daily: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.  The sympathetic nervous system is our gas pedal.  It is responsible for our flight/fight/freeze response.  As we evolved as a species, it is what told us to act when there was danger or a threat.  Our ancestors saw a bear and their sympathetic nervous system kicked on saying “RUN!!”  Thank goodness for this, or we would not have survived as a species.  In modern life, we have less of these dangers day to day.  While there are some instances of danger still, our nervous system is wired to think any little stress is a threat.  Work, relationships, home life, kids, money, you name it.  Our body sees this as a threat and boom, our sympathetic nervous system kicks into overdrive.  This is problematic because we are not meant to be in a sympathetic state this often.  Hello chronic stress! 

Enter the parasympathetic nervous system!  This is the brakes, or the part of our nervous system, that tells us to rest and digest.  It allows our body to relax, our breathing to slow down, our heartrate to settle, our digestion to work….you get the point.  It’s hard to tap into this because we are in a constant state of stress.

Now, enter yoga!  The tools to access our parasympathetic nervous system include yoga poses, breathwork, and meditation.  Slow practices like yin and restorative are extra great for this.  Diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, yoga nidra, you name it…these all help. And, the good news is the more you use these tools, the more easily your body can access this part of your nervous system.  It’s a win/win.

Not sure where to start?  We got you.  This is what we do at OTY day in and day out.  We have a lot of classes on the schedule that help with this.  Plus, we work with breath and meditation in EVERY SINGLE CLASS.  Come for the yoga, stay for the benefits to your nervous system.