

The Science behind Yoga

By UPLIFT on Wednesday January 18th, 2017


Discover how Science is proving the benefits of Yoga


Modern-day science confirms that the practice of yoga has tangible physical health benefits that include improved brain function and denser bones, as well as immune health, improved nervous system functioning and strength. Over 36 million Americans practice yoga and enjoy the benefits of a stronger body, calm mind, increased happiness and reduced stress.

science-behind-yoga_yantra-brainScience has proven the health benefits of yoga

Yoga is a science, and not a vague dreamy drifting or imagining. It is an applied science, a systematised collection of laws applied to bring about a definite end. It takes up the laws of psychology, applicable to the unfolding of the whole consciousness of man on every plane, in every world, and applies those rationally in a particular case. This rational application of the laws of unfolding consciousness acts exactly on the same principles that you see applied around you every day in other departments of science.” – Annie Wood Besant

Yoga instructor and physician, Dr Loren Fishman uses yoga in his medical practice to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and others. In an interview with LiveScience he said many recent studies show the amazing effects yoga has on the brain, central nervous system and immune system.


Yoga can positively affect the neuroplasticity of the brain, helping it heal itself

The Science behind Yoga and Stress

The neuroscience behind Yoga can help explain why regular Yoga is so effective in reducing stress and creating balance in the body. It can also help you deepen your Yoga practice and increase focus on elements that you might otherwise overlook. Dr. Mithu Storoni, a medical doctor, neuroscientist, and yoga teacher, explains the fundamental principles of the Science behind Yoga and Stress.


Alt text hereBy turning off our stress response, we trigger the relaxation response in the brain

Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.  ― B.K.S. Iyengar



Alt text hereForward bends can trigger the relaxation signal in the brain

Yoga alters the chemical structure of your brain

Yoga involves the mindful and controlled entry into a pose- or asana- holding the pose in stillness, and then a controlled release. Dr Storoni says that as you go through this workout, it takes strong prefrontal cortex activity to maintain your concentration and stillness. “As you hold a posture, your prefrontal cortex is countering the raised sympathetic signal as it keeps you focused. This is how you train your mind to keep your stress signal under control. As your mind learns how to do this, you get better at doing this even outside of the yoga room. Eventually, with practice, you will be able to maintain self-control in most stressful settings”.

Yoga boosts brain chemicals that promote a sense of wellbeing. it increases the levels of the brain chemicals like GABA, serotonin, and dopamine, the happy chemicals responsible for feelings of relaxation and contentment. These neurotransmitters are targeted by the drugs for medicating mood, such as anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Yet yoga has long been shown to successfully reduce and heal anxiety and depression.

Alt text hereYoga boosts brain chemicals that promote a sense of wellbeing

Yoga balances the Emotions

Yoga stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for calming us down. Activating the parasympathetic nervous system, starts the process of restoration and healing in the body. Blood is directed toward endocrine glands, digestive organs, and lymphatic circulation. Blood pressure and the heart rate are lowered, nutrients in food can be absorbed more easily and toxins are released from the body due to enhanced circulation.

Dr. Tiffany Field, a leading authority on touch, Director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, shows how yoga has wonderful benefits on anxiety and depression, pain, cardiovascular, autoimmune and immune conditions and on pregnancy and has written a book collating a variety of research on the benefits of yoga.


Alt text hereDoing yoga can help to balance your emotions

Yoga Therapist, Dr Farzhana Siraj  says yoga is a great curative tool. “We need to create space in the body and the mind. The most important scientific principle on which the whole philosophy of yoga rests, is prana with space. Just as in the mind you need to flush out thoughts to create space, it is similar in the body. We are stretching out the body and creating that much needed space. Even two plants can’t grow if you jam them together. They also need space. So what about the cells? We need to give this intercellular space. When space is there, prana flows. Where there is prana there is wellness.”

Yoga as a tool for healing trauma

Yoga is increasingly being used as a tool to heal trauma and has successfully been used with PTSD. Psychologist, Richard Miller, the founder of iRest, a synthesis of modern day psychology and the thousand year old practice of Yoga Nidra, delivers classes of iRest to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). “These are severely injured and often profoundly depressed veterans who are receiving treatment as inpatients for six to nine months or more….We know that one of the effects of PTSD is that it leaves people to feel disconnected from themselves and from the world around them. During Yoga Nidra, these folks start to feel reconnected to themselves and the world around them and experience the feeling of finally coming home from the war, to themselves, their families, and daily life.”

Alt text hereMore and more army veterans are turning to yoga to help heal from PTSD

Yoga teacher Dominica Dawning works with refugees. She says the thinking that’s really missing in psychology is the body. “In my work with refugees, torture and trauma survivors, the body becomes an even bigger part because of the experiences they’ve had, often associated with physical injury, torture and violence. As well as the strong effects on the nervous system, yoga really helps with this and a lot of the really early stuff we do is around pranayama and breathing and introducing the breath as the life force and this thing that can really bring some relief. You can see immediate physical changes, they sit up taller, they are more relaxed, more animated, pay better attention, without being drawn back to these memories of the past.”

Yoga is the fastest growing movement of our time.  In four years, the number of people practicing yoga in the US has nearly doubled.

More people than ever across all age groups are realising the benefits of yoga, from stress relief to flexibility to overall well-being. Yoga is a thriving, growing industry. – Carin Gorrell, Editor in chief of Yoga Journal.

Yoga is so popular and fundamental to so many people’s lives and wellbeing, that there is now an annual World Yoga Day which is recognised by the United Nations. The potent day of the solstice, June 21, marks the day of celebration for this remarkable ancient practice that enhances the lives of so many across the globe.

Alt text hereWorld Yoga Day 2015 in India

UPLIFT has put together an extraordinary movie celebrating and marking the journey of yoga, from its ancient roots in India, to its globalisation and acceptance by modern science as a cutting edge tool for physical health. The Science behind Yoga film is a scientific exploration into the healing benefits of yoga, featuring interviews with leading scientists, doctors and renowned yoga teachers. This free film is part of a unique online event, the Yoga Day Summit, where you can listen to Indian sages and saints, contemporary yoga masters, scientists and wellness experts as they explore the life changing path of yoga. Featured presenters include: Pujya Swamiji Chitanand Saraswati, Seane Corne, Shiva Rae, Janet Stone, Sharon Gannon, Kia Miller, Tommy Rosen, Ana Forest, Radhanath Swami, Danny Paradise, Saul David Rae and many more.

Yoga teacher, Vedic Healer and Ayurvedic expert, Laura Plumb says Yoga is first and foremost, a science. “Yoga is the first and most important of the Vedic sciences. It is the science of self realisation. All of the other Vedic sciences like Ayurveda which is the science of health and wellness, support this primary science. It is a divine science and a cosmic science. A science that understands how the world operates and how we can operate within the world. It is for not just health and wellness but for a real sense of who we are and why we’re alive.”

Yoga Therapy

More and more mainstream medical practices are using yoga therapy, as growing research shows how it aids recovery, especially from stress-induced conditions, and improves overall health and vitality. The field of Yoga Therapy is rapidly growing and hospitals are beginning to open integrated health care departments, adding yoga therapeutics as part of their complementary approaches to health care. In recent years it has made news for the huge benefits that children with autism and special needs are experiencing, through yoga therapy. It is being used to treat a broad range of physical ailments, with great success and is quickly growing as a complementary modality alongside other treatments.

Yoga crosses all barriers, it is accessible to and practised by the aged, teens and children, Hollywood stars,  in corporate settings, nature retreats, enormous festivals, from Bali to Goa and is truly a global phenomenon. Who wouldn’t want greater happiness, peace of mind, mental clarity, vitality, physical health, creativity, purpose, spiritual connection, confidence and strength? Anyone can practise yoga and instantly feel the benefits, both physical and mental, but also emotional and spiritual.

Find out more by watching our New Film, ‘The Science Behind Yoga’ for FREE HERE


How do you feel about this article? Join the conversation.


Azriel ReShel

Writer, Yoga Teacher & Healing Facilitator



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