Mounika

Ponakala

Effects of Yoga on the Relationship between the Central and Peripheral Nervous
Systems

Yoga has been practiced since ancient times under the assumption that it
provides various health benefits and strengthens the connections between mind and
body. Yogis have lived long and healthy lives by performing certain breathing exercises
that had no real scientific backing until recently. Since its entrance into mainstream
western culture, yoga has been touted as having many health benefits, from aiding in
weight loss to helping manage stress to lowering blood pressure. Recently, however,
one of the main areas of research relating to yoga is concerned with changes in the
nervous system due to prolonged practice of yoga. As it focuses on breathing, yoga
automatically makes some impacts in various parts of the body be immediately
delivering more oxygen and removing more waste [Woodyard, 2011].
The recent studies are more focused with yogas long-term effects in terms of
lowering stress on the body. According to one study, a possible theory for yogas
benefits on the nervous system is that increased stimulus of the Vagus nerve corrects
under activity of the peripheral nervous system. This also corrects the activity of GABA
and can reduce allosteric pressure. [Streeter, 2011].
The primary research in this study is a comparison between yoga practitioners
and non-practitioners while monitoring certain brain activity and neurotransmitter
levels in individuals with depression, PTSD or other disorders related to allostatic
overload [Tyagi, 2014]. Another study attempts to prove that yoga is instrumental in
improving executive function by attenuating stress levels.

Granath J, Ingvarsson S, von Thiele U, Lundberg U. Stress management: A randomized
study of cognitive behavioural therapy and yoga. Cogn Behav Ther. 2006;35:310

Gothe, N. P., Kramer, A. F., & McAuley, E. (2014). The effects of an 8-week Hathayoga
intervention on executive function in older adults. Journals of GerontologySeries A:
Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 69(9), 11091116.

Javnbakht M, Hejazi Kenari R, Ghasemi M. Effects of yoga on depression and anxiety of
women. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2009;15:1024.

Muralikrishnan K, Balakrishnan B, Balasubramanian K, Visnegarawla F. Measurement of
the effect of Isha Yoga on cardiac autonomic nervous system using short-term heart rate
variability. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. 2012;3(2):91-96.
doi:10.4103/0975-9476.96528.

Tyagi A, Cohen M, Reece J, Telles S. An explorative study of metabolic responses to
mental stress and yoga practices in yoga practitioners, non-yoga practitioners and
individuals with metabolic syndrome. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
2014;14:445. doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-445.

Woodyard C. Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality
of life. Int J Yoga. 2011;4:4954