New research suggests that yoga directly influences our nervous systems, making us happier and healthier.
Yoga may very well be one of our oldest happiness practices. Archeologists have discovered figure in India that date from 5,000 years ago that represent what appear to be people in yoga postures. More certain is that yoga emerged some 2,500 years ago in Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Northern India as part of Hinduism.
The health benefits of yoga
Yoga is a practice of the mind and body, and it brings about health and happiness benefits through its direct influence on our nervous system.
Central to yoga is bringing awareness to our breath, also known as the “ujjayi pranayama,” the breath of fire. Deep breathing, like the kind cultivated in yoga, activates the vagus nerve, the large branch of nerves that begins at the top of the spinal cord and stimulates activation in the vocal apparatus, muscles that move the head and eyes, heart, respiration, digestive organs, and gut. Elevated vagal tone is good for a host of bodily functions, like digestion and immune function.
Some forms of slow yoga breathing involve contracting the glottis muscles in the throat, which improve the heart’s capacity to efficiently regulate blood pressure, and there’s some evidence that practising yoga can reduce blood pressure
Given these shifts in the cardiovascular and nervous systems, it makes sense that yoga is good for our health. A regular practice can help loosen the muscles and connective tissues around the joints, which in turn can reduce aches and pains. In one recent study 75 rheumatoid arthritis patients were randomly assigned to an eight-week yoga program or a waitlist. Rheumatoid arthritis, a painful condition that involves tender, swollen joints, is estimated to affect each year and cost the health care system. The patients who practised yoga saw significant improvements in their experiences of physical pain, general health, vitality, and mental health, and these reductions in pain lasted nine months after the study ended.
According to other studies, practising yoga can help reduce people’s stress, and depression—perhaps better than traditional medication if you practise daily for over a month. Yoga has also been found to be an effective way to help people overcome addition. In light of these findings, it’s not surprising that regular practitioners of yoga report being happier.
yoga makes us happy
Finally, yoga has been found to increase activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex, brain areas that are associated with empathy, gratitude, and kindness. In other words, practising yoga may help us experience more positive emotions and be more oriented toward others, both of which can create lasting happiness over time.
