Back during the early days of quarantine I was having a socially distanced walk and talk with my friend Lee when she made a surprisingly astute observation about yogis. She said, “Every time I talk to someone who really has a practice they are glowing.”
This is astute because it calls to attention that there is a difference between attending a few yoga classes and actually having yoga in the heart and mind.
“But what is that glow? Is it liminal?” I asked, because I am privately obsessed with the borderlands between layers of reality.
“No,” said Lee, “It is physical, like when you see a pregnant woman glow. There is life there.”
There are three components of “the glow” that come to mind for me.
1. Ojas, an allegorical vital sap that lubricates the function of the nervous system.
2. Sattva, the quality of mental clarity that characterizes spiritual life in traditional yoga philosophy.
3. Vyana Vayu, also known as the Aura, or, among modern anatomists and physiologists, as the electromagnetic field of the heart.
“The glow” is widely recognized in the colloquial vernacular. A cursory Google search reveals several yoga teachers, centers, and businesses marketing based upon it. But what is a yoga glow? Why is it important? Where does it come from? As a traditional yoga teacher and a bit of a hippie, I think that the old school Sanskrit answers to these questions are fascinating, but the mainstream modern physiological explanation is important to me too. Lee does not come from a yoga background, so I thought it might be fun to ask her.
In her own words:
“If you're looking for a more scientific explanation of the advantages of yoga, consider this: Other than improving circulation and the flow of oxygen, which benefits every cell in the body, yoga is one of the best tools for calming the nervous system. In our modern world, and especially at this moment in time, many of us are coping with an activated sympathetic nervous system, which is our "fight or flight" mode. The practice of yoga helps to control our nervous system responses via the release of cortisol, an adrenal hormone, and this may be the biggest favor we can do for ourselves.” “Why? Because our bodies were simply not designed to handle the ongoing release of cortisol. Chronically high cortisol elevates our blood glucose levels and increases our insulin secretions (which, over time, will promote insulin resistance). It also reduces certain thyroid hormone levels, compromising our metabolism because the thyroid controls the rate at which cells burn fuel for energy. Further, excess cortisol suppresses specific antibodies that play a role in digestive immune function, therefore promoting an imbalanced microbiome, potential food sensitivities, leaky gut and infections -- the latter which can induce even more cortisol. Excess cortisol can also lead to insomnia, perpetuating more hormonal imbalances throughout the body (through a variety of other mechanisms), and the continuation of this unrelenting cycle. Sometimes this cycle is given the generic term "inflammation." Whatever it's called -- inflammation or an impaired metabolism or chronic stress -- it is the underpinning of chronic illness. Our bodies are constantly working to achieve homeostasis and heal from whatever stressors come at us, but all of our systems (immune system, digestive system, nervous system, detoxification system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal structure) are fully interconnected, and so true health and healing is derived from getting to the root of the assaults -- in most cases it is chronic stress and excess cortisol -- and re-balancing from there.”
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