Читать книгу Look 15 Years Younger: The 15-Minute-a-Day Yoga Plan - Barbara Currie - Страница 15

One of the main reasons for our survival as a species is our incredible ‘fight or flight’ response to sudden danger.

Putting it simply, in ancient times if a wild animal suddenly started to chase our Stone Age ancestor (let’s call him Fred), his body would react in the following way to the danger: His mind would fill with fear, adrenaline would be secreted, his blood sugar would go up, the blood supply to his muscles would increase, his muscles would tense, the blood-clotting mechanism would kick in, enabling his body to heal faster in case of injury, his breathing would become rapid and shallow, his brain would become hyper-alert, his digestion would be suppressed (his body knowing this is no time for a sandwich), his sexual desire would be suppressed (not the time to make love), his blood vessels would tighten to enable blood to flow through them faster and his blood pressure would increase, his immune system would be suppressed (this is no time to worry about a virus), more oxygen would be consumed and more carbon dioxide would be expelled. Fred is then programmed to look and be alert for more danger. In normal times, a huge percentage of cellular energy goes into building new cells, but during the fight-or-flight response energy is poured into the muscles, with the result that eventually tissue breakdown can occur.

This reaction is brilliant if Fred has to run or fight. Fred – and all of us – need this reaction to sudden danger as it gives us the incredible extra power and energy we need to react in an emergency, e.g. saving someone from drowning.

Nowadays, thank goodness, sudden danger is relatively rare, but the body’s reaction to a stressful event continues. And whereas we all have to be grateful to it for our survival as a species, now this reaction can be the cause of major health problems due to the modernday overload of mental stress.

Doctors now realize that very many diseases are caused by stress. The problem is the body still reacts in this same way to the normal stresses of everyday life. For example, if you are late for a big meeting, you burn the dinner at an important dinner party, the dry cleaners ruin your best suit, you car won’t start or your son fails his final exams (the list is endless and is quite simply called ‘life’), you react with the physical changes listed above. This stress reaction, if not balanced by periods of relaxation, can now start to weaken the body and may give rise to such things as menstrual problems, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, gastric ulcer, lower disease resistance, frequent headaches, cancer and heart attack, and makes us look and feel much older than our years.

Unless we make a conscious effort to control our stress levels, it is easy to let the stress response take hold. This is why yoga does us so much good and helps us live comfortably and easily in today’s high-pressure world.

Yoga’s wonderful stretches release the chronic tension that is held within your body. By deep breathing in every posture you stimulate life-giving oxygen to every cell. The act of slow, deep breathing also calms your mind and aids deep relaxation. By concentrating on the balancing movements you take your mind off its troubles, allowing it to calm and feel peaceful. Relaxing at the end of yoga practice allows the stresses of the day to gently float away, and frequent practice of meditation brings inner peace. As a result, the mind becomes clearer and calmer, muscular tension decreases, the secretion of adrenaline is lowered and breathing slows down. The heart rate slows, blood pressure normalizes and the blood-clotting mechanism is gently reduced, sweating gently ceases and the body becomes cooled and calmed, and digestion and the immune system are relaxed and restored to normal.

This relaxation has a most wonderful effect on your looks, as the tension around the arteries relaxes; the blood flow to the skin is restored, giving the skin back its beautiful healthy glow. Blood flow to the hair follicles is increased due to tension release, so improving the condition of the hair, frown lines are smoothed and you both look and feel wonderful, radiant and much younger.

Our greatest experiences are our quietest moments.

NIETZSCHE (1844–1900)