Standing on My Own Two Feet - The Mountain Pose

If you have practised this pose, you know there is more to standing than meets the eye – toes spread, firm thigh muscles drawn inwards, kneecaps lifted, tail bone lengthened, pubis tilted towards navel, shoulder blades pressed together, then widened, sternum lifted, chest open, neck lengthened, chin parallel to the floor, tongue relaxed and  remember to take deep breaths. Rather more complicated than the head stand when you come to look at it!

I have known this posture for years – one of many asanas on the list, easily outranked by more interestingly looking ones. A week ago I have decided to give it a chance. I found out I prefer the feet apart version for its stability and feeling of strength.

Some of my thigh muscles felt a little stiff for a couple of days. Having got past that, I started to notice my core is feeling a little stronger - it seems a little easier to maintain a good posture while standing, walking and sitting. I found myself pulling my shoulders back and downwards when walking - the memory of tadasana echoing outside my yoga sessions. Which could help me a little with my sitting posture too - that bad habit of slouching and tensing my shoulders when sitting at my desk that I've been battling for years. Big hopes! Tadasana has joined my list of must-do poses and I will be back with an update on the sitting posture problem in a couple of months time.

It's Official – Yoga is Good for You

A new piece of research by a group of scientists at the University of Oslo has proved that practising yoga has immediate effects on our immune cells.

The scientists compared the effects of a two hour yoga session with those of a nature walk and listening to relaxing music. The yoga practice consisted of postures, breathing an meditation.

The scientists isolated a group of immune cells called Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from the subjects' blood taken before and after the sessions. The nature walk and music session changed the expression of 38 genes in these  immune cells. The yoga sessions produced changes in 111 genes - “a significantly greater effect” compared with the control regimen, say the researchers. These changes were very rapid - within two hours of practice!

Images of a Lymphocyte and Monocyte - two types of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells. With thanks to Wikipedia and Science Photo Library for the royalty free images.

 

It's amazing to think that our experiences and changes in our environment - psychological, social, and cultural - effectively change our bodies at molecular level. This is a new science called psychosocial genomics and it casts a new light on the importance of the life choices we make.  And gives a whole new significance to what happens on that yoga mat!