Julie Schoen - Super Immunity Yoga: How To Use Yoga For Improved Health and Wellness By Boosting Immunity (Just Do Yoga Book 6)

Over 60 million people in the United States alone will catch a nasty cold or the flu virus. And while washing your hands and avoiding overcrowded, under-ventilated areas are helpful, there is more you can be doing to ensure that you stay healthy year-round. Your health and well-being depend on your lymphatic systems ability to function properly. Part of the circulatory system, the lymphatic system is very different from the cardiovascular because of its inability to pump itself, which means it depends on you to make it work. There are many components that come into play in order for your lymphatic system to work effectively and keep you healthy; its like a team where everything must work together.

The job of the lymphatic system is to clean up your body, meaning cleaning up disorganized cells and pathogens that have entered. How well this system does its job is directly correlated to your ability to fight off illnesses, such as the flu and the common cold. Lymph fluid, which is like the blood that runs through veins but specific to the lymphatic system, is clear and colorless. Much thinner than blood, your lymph flows at a slow place and under low pressure. This fluid is formed all over the body by various tissues. After it is formed it is carried from the extremities (like your hands and feet) to your core by small vessels.

The lymphatic system is also comprised of nodes and ducts, which are strategically located throughout your body at convenient stations in the neck and throat area, the armpit, behind the elbow, the groin area, and behind the knees. These stations are where the bad stuff (such as the flu virus) gets destroyed. But in order for the body to get the trash out, it must drain out of the lymphatic system and into the blood stream via ducts located on the left side of the chest and just below the collarbones. If the lymph system doesnt drain, it doesnt work and the harmful viruses, bacteria, etc. get stuck in your body and you get sick.

Its important to note that the lymphatic system is also aided by the liver and spleen, which help to cleanse the lymph fluid and then eliminate it through digestion, lungs, and the skin. This means that keeping your internal organs healthy and your skin vibrant and lively is another key element to having a super strong immune system. In fact, your skin is one of the primary defenses you have against illnesses brought into your body by intruders.

Logically it makes sense that the better your lymphatic system works then the better your immune system functions, which means that your risk of getting sick is dramatically lowered. When your lymphatic system is limping, it cannot fight pathogens as well because it gets bogged down from its inability to drain, making you susceptible to illnesses. The question, then, is, how do we make the lymphatic system run better?

It seems like every day someone has discovered a new benefit of yoga. All of these incredible claims start to make a person skeptical, which leads to them actually discarding a lot of the information they hear, writing it off as more yogi mumbo-jumbo. And while some of the claims might be stretching the capabilities of the practice to their limit, many are not unfounded whatsoever.

Its important to remember that yoga has been around for thousands of years while it may seem trendy in many parts of the world, there is nothing new or experimental about it. The poses (asanas) and practices of yoga have been perfected for centuries by people who have devoted their entire lives to it. So although modern medicine might still have some catching up to do in order to explain how all of it works, there is actually more understanding and history behind the mechanics of yoga than there is in what is deemed traditional anatomy and healing in the Western world.

Much of the practice that is associated with yoga can seem unnecessary or strange to someone who doesnt understand how the body, its systems and components, work. But each pose, every chant, the precise position of hands and feet, have been carefully researched and tested by ancient yogis to develop a practice that kept the body, mind, and spirit healthy. And they did so not by starting out and looking in, as is done in modern medicine, but instead they worked from the inside out. What they came up with is an effective, holistic approach to health that works to improve the actual systems of the body rather than simply treating the outward symptoms.

Once you understand how the lymphatic system works, mainly that in order for it to function it needs to be pumped so it can drain and, most importantly, that it cannot pump itself, you begin to see how yoga can be effective in boosting immunity. Mimicking how the blood in the cardiovascular system is pumped through contraction and expansion of the veins, the movements in yoga function as a physical pump for the lymph, expanding and contracting key parts of the body to help get the fluid flowing.

The more you move, especially expanding and contracting the areas of your body that contain lymph nodes at the lymph stations, the better your system flows and the better your immunity.

Additionally, yoga is amazing for supporting the functioning of the lymphatic system by stretching the skin and keeping it vibrant and elastic. The skin is one of the primary organs associated with lymph drainage. If it is rigid and tight, lymph has a harder time moving and draining, which can lead to you getting sick. Lack of movement, stress, fear, anger, and other negative emotions all contribute to tight skin. Yoga is a great remedy for all of these.

The more relaxed, happy, and active you are the better your immunity. And what better for this than yoga?