Cells in relationship to yoga

Anatomy and physiology of cells.
The human body is made of cells, which form organs, tissues and fluid.
A cell is the smallest unit of matter that can live independently and reproduce itself. Cells exist in all shapes and sizes. A group of cells forms a tissue. Blood for example, is a liquid tissue made of several different type of cells.

What a cells does is reproduced on a larger scale throughout the body and throughout human life: breathing, digesting, excreting, reproducing, sensing, growing, moving and dying.

For example one of the main functions of cells is respiration. This is the controlled absorption of oxygen that combines with nutrients in an oxidative reaction, which produces energy. An other important function is anabolism, which is the chemical activity involved in the process of making new products like usually proteins, for growth and repair. The chemical reaction, which occur inside the cells are called metabolism.

Cells are leaving structures that constantly move and change. When a cell goes wrong, if it is not replaced or repaired, the body goes wrong. Therefore it’s important to understand how cells are able to respond to stimuli like the ones, which the yoga practice can generate.

What happens to cells when we practice yoga?
When a person practices yoga, there are several changes in physiology. Effects of yoga practices have an integral physiological component at the molecular level, which is initiated immediately during practice and may form the basis for the long-term stable effects. Yoga may be even more effective than traditional exercise in inducing health benefits through changes on the genetic level.

When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of yoga postures, you increase the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

Yoga boosts levels of haemoglobin and red blood cells, which allows for more oxygen to reach the body cells, enhancing their function and it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers.

A well-rounded nervous system is what enables one to remain level headed in stressful situations. Neurons are the cells that make up this system, with fibrous hairs attached to the cell membrane which enables each cell to transmit impulses to nerves. The asanas in yoga are what cleanses these cells, which in turn allow the nervous system to react carefully to stress.

After yoga there is an improvement in the lipid levels due to increased hepatic lipase and lipoprotein lipase at cellular level, which affects the metabolism of lipoprotein and thus increase uptake of triglycerides by adipose tissues.

The abdominal stretching during the yoga exercise, rejuvenates and regenerates the pancreas cells, which may increase utilisation and metabolism of glucose in peripheral tissues, liver, and adipose tissues through enzymatic process.