THE MIND, BODY, SPIRIT, AND THE PHYSIOLOGY

Abstract

Yoga originates from ancient India, and is the practice of the mind, body, and spirit. It may appear to be just a relaxing activity but in fact it can be helpful with things such as blood pressure, joint problems, cardiovascular health, and even cognition! There are a range of different diets, breathing techniques, and physical activities specifically done in yoga that can have an impact on the current and future physiological states of a person. Yoga, as it should be properly practiced, is an adequate topic for exercise physiology because it covers many essential systems of the body. The diet portion pertains to the digestive system, and the meditation will let us examine the nervous system as yoga can affect cognition or even the anatomy of the brain. Another important aspect of yoga is the breathing technique, which can affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Similarly, while the exercises and stretches may also influence the cardiovascular system, they will have a greater effecton the skeletal and muscular systems. This paper is a literature review of what fellow researchers have discovered in the lab about such aspects of yoga and exercise in general. My intent is to compare and contrast the experiments that found beneficial results with those that did not, and decide which are more valuable to answer our topic of question: What are the benefits of yoga?