Yoga for Maintaining Homeostasis, Yoga Poses for General Health
Homeostasis is the name given to the balanced/optimum state of the parameters of the internal human body necessary for its healthy and longer existence. The body is programmed to resist any change internally triggered by changes in the external factors.
Homeostasis works at lower levels, cellular level, which ultimately adds up to maintaining the overall homeostasis of the whole body. Each cell has to maintain a different chemical environment within than the surrounding elements, this adds up for maintaining local homeostasis at the tissue level, which leads to the homeostasis at the organ level, ultimately stabilizing the life sustaining environment of the whole body.
The endocrine system ( hormonal system) and the nervous system are key to controlling the homeostasis of the human body. The moment an external factor causes any disruption of the homeostasis within any system of the body, the nervous system informs the corresponding center in the brain for it to take the corrective action in order to restore the lost balance (homeostasis). The brain accomplishes this by commanding the related endocrine glands to release the related chemicals ( hormones) which will again balance the internal environment.
Using the same mechanism the body maintains the internal temperature at a constant level irrespective of the temperature changes in the external environment. The inability of the body to restore homeostasis in any system leads to disease of that system.
Homeostasis & prevention of disease through Yoga therapy
How yoga affects homeostasis in the body? In general benefits of yoga and meditation on general health are very profound and far reaching. A number of yoga asanas and Yoga exercises are available which benefit by effectively restoring the homeostatic balance in the body. Yoga asanas, pranayamas, mudras and yoga kriyas affect homeostasis in the body by stimulating the endocrine glands to release adequate amounts of respective hormones at the required sites. Diabetes is a result of inadequate release of insulin hormone from the cells of the pancreas. People suffering from it must educate themselves on diabetes and yoga as its cure. All the yoga twists, forward bends, and lateral stretches work to churn up the abdominal region which stimulates the pancreas enough to release the required amounts of insulin into the bloodstream.
Practicing balance improving yoga asana, with a proper understanding of and guidelines to do the asana right way, strengthens the overall nervous system as these yoga poses push the nerves to their extreme limit for them to stabilize the muscles they are connected to, in order to maintain the required balance.
The set of yoga asanas and other techniques presented here has been specifically found to benefit in maintaining the homeostasis of all the systems of the body. This sequence of yoga poses when practiced regularly acts as a effective yoga therapy for gaining a number of health benefits.
Yoga Therapy- Homeostasis and disease prevention