Yoga and the New Scientific Revolution

As we speak a revolution is brewing. The last bastions of the Western scientific approach to health are being broken down. Descartes' error has been fully realised and science at its most cutting edge is proving what the yogis and others have known for millenia. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind - this can be for positive benefits to health and happiness (or negative).

In fact, neuroscientists, psychoneurobiologists and psychoneuroimmunobiologists alike have found that our body-mind system (particularly our beliefs) can actually switch genes on and off. This new field of 'epigenetics' - external factors that 'activate' our genes - is rapidly gaining momentum as the hottest new revolution in health and happiness.

Don't get me wrong: like any new breakthrough in thinking - paradigm shift - there will be people with a vested interest in holding it back. New thinking, new 'technologies' take about 15-20 years to hit 'mainstream' (take NLP for example!!). But the realisation of what epigenetics can offer human health and happiness is coming; and yoga is there already. When you do yoga you are your own 'epigenetic laboratory'!

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

And as the Buddha said:“What we think, we become.”

Neurolinguistic programming (NLP), a mental technology for re-patterning mind, has taught us that the 'components of existence' all interact to create consciousness - our thoughts and beliefs influence our attitudes and emotions which impact our behaviour and actions. But this also works in reverse: our behaviour affects our mind. This is why the postures of yoga can powerfully affect the quality of our mind (our thoughts and even our beliefs). Likewise the belief and behaviour system of yoga in the eight limbs of yoga (yamas, niyamas etc) can affect the body. For example, bramycharya - the yogic concept of moderation - can mean that we stop continually striving for more material or intellectual 'wealth' and have a better quality of life and therefore experience less stress in our bodies.

Now, however, there is scientific proof that our mind can directly affect our cellular structure and turn genes on or off. Our genes are not our destiny. We can control our biological fate! This means that through learning the yogic techniques that make our minds more peaceful (meditation, yoga nidra), we can avoid early death and illness through the likes of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Yoga asanas serve to work in the opposite direction. The asanas work deep into the fascia, the deep connective tissue of our bodies which connect the very nucleii of our cells to the outer skin on our bodies. The nadis that the yogis talk of, the 72,000 channels through which our prana flows (chi and meridians in tai chi and TCM) have been proven to be part of this fascial network. Tiny microscopic tubules, called Bongham ducts, have been found throughout the body: in blood vessels, major organs etc. And these tubules are thought to be the 'high speed broadband' of the body - perhaps this helps Damasio to explain the concept of body consciousness (and perhaps the body is the unconscious mind).

So yoga, by working on the mind, and also by its deep work on the body and the energy meridians (especially in teachers who combine yoga with meridian or acupressure work), can affect the genetic code and language of our bodies to ensure that we live longer, healthier and happier lives. The scientists are finally beginning to catch up with the yogis: though it is likely to take another 20+ years to find all the 'proof'. So I strongly advise you to keep working in your own laboratory - that of your body - with the instrument of yoga and reap the benefits now!

Further Reading

1. The Genie in your Genes - Dawson Church
2. The Psychobiology of Gene Expression - Ernest Rossi
3. The Psychobiology of Stress
4. The Feeling of What Happens - Antonio Damasio

Exhalation - The Secret of Relaxation

Relaxation is literally about letting go and this needs to happen on three levels for us to fully relax: on the physical, emotional and mental levels. Once we achieve this the benefits of relaxation are immense and include:

• more energy
• less 'dis-ease' and illness
• fewer aches and pains
• stronger immune system
• more resilient/able to cope with stress
• calmer and more confident
• happier, more content and more fulfilled

People often want to relax to move away from feeling on edge, tired, exhausted, but developing the ability to relax on each of these levels means that we can use relaxation as a route to achieving our goals in life such as performing at our best under pressure, being more creative, being a better leader.

But how funny is it that when you tell someone to 'relax' or 'chill out' - perhaps because they look very stressed - they have no clue as to how to do this. Good coaches or yoga teachers never tell someone to 'relax', if they knew how to do this they wouldn't be in class! Instead we show them techniques and behaviours they can use to achieve this for themselves.

The secret to relaxation is letting go. Letting go of tension, letting go of effort. At every level - physical, emotional and mental - this can be achieved through the breath. Specifically through the exhalation. The exhalation is used in yoga asana work to move deeper into a posture or for the more strenuous postures: deep forward bends, strong backbends, twists are all moved into on the out breath. Somehow the body is more 'forgiving' on the exhalation; stretches are allowed more and are somehow facilitated.

The exhalation is a letting go because, unlike the inhalation, the out breath does not require muscular effort, simply a letting go of effort. So the intercostals, scalenes, trapezius etc - the key muscles of respiration - simply relax to allow the rib cage to relax. And the diaphragm, the king of respiration muscles, lets go of its hold on the lumbar spine and relaxes upwards and the air leaves the body through the natural process of letting go.

The exhalation is passive: it requires no effort. It is simply a surrender to gravity.

We can use the exhalation to relax and release in the body, which will help the mind to relax. As the body can relax into strong stretches on the exhalation, so the exhalation can be used to release tension in the body. The breath is the bridge between the body and mind: as the body releases so follows the mind.

In addition, by prolonging the exhalation we can activate the parasympathetic nervous system (the relaxation response) by enhancing vagal nerve activity. This slows the heart rate and increases heart rate variability (HRV) thereby calming and relaxing the whole body-mind system.

The opposite of relaxation is anxiety and worry. And the most amazing thing about the exhalation is that it can be used to reduce and even eliminate anxiety. It is the best technique for anxiety disorders.