“Yoga practice creates conditions for the body’s innate ability to restore itself. It rejuvenates, supports resilience by giving us an opportunity to recover before our next experience of stress, and prepares us for wise action. This is vitally important for people experiencing ongoing, cumulative and recurrent stress or trauma. It supports feeling safe in stillness and increases alert awareness without hyper-vigilance. Learning safety in stillness is important for people who are in a continual state of high alert, constantly navigating danger, and always looking for an escape route. As we learn to navigate being safe through stillness, we are less likely to act out when we are under stress. Rather than acting on impulse, pausing first enables us to see with more clarity and make more deliberate and life-enhancing choices, both on and off our yoga mats."
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Dr. Gail Parker, "Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma"
Potential Health Benefits
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Muscles are stretched (increases anti-inflammatory prostaglandin hormones) and massaged (relaxes them)
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Circulation is improved, systematically, to various parts of the body
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Increased lymph flow to various parts of the body
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Lowered blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate
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Rebalancing of sympathetic (alarm) and parasympathetic (relaxation) nervous systems
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Decreased stress hormones epinephrine (adrenaline = alarm) and cortisol (decreases immunity)
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Increased relaxation hormones endorphins (natural pain killers), serotonin (tranquility), melatonin (sleep), dopamine (joy), oxytocin (bonding)
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Greater balancing of right-left brain activity
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Increased size of prefrontal cortex and gray matter within the brain
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Challenged epigenetics (you’re not stuck with your genes)
Sandra Amrita McLanahan, M.D.
“The Health Benefits of Yoga”
"The entire practice, from the very first pose to the very last one, is designed to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the involuntary nervous system that supports rest and recovery. Breath is used to focus awareness and attention throughout the practice. In this practice we are actually working with the nervous system to evoke the relaxation response. We are not working with the traumatic event; we are working with the nervous system.”
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Dr. Gail Parker
“Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma”
