YOGA

Paula Grollan, a yoga instructor at the YMCA, brought the benefits of the exercise to Bainbridge when nobody else offered it.

Namaste!” A Hindi term associated and used within yoga workouts, means “Greetings to you.” This gesture shows signs of respect and greetings of peace, increasing the flow of mind, body, and spirit as you complete your workout and continue on to your day. The workout, and yoga as a practice, promotes flexibility, strength, endurance, self-awareness, mental relaxation and so much more, with many physical, mental, and even spiritual changes occurring throughout the day and lifetime following a yoga experience.

The process of yoga, a mind-body exercise involving muscular activity (as it applies to strength, balance, and flexibility), breath, and focus, consists of: various movements and poses (such as, down dog, warrior pose, child’s pose, and more), balance-enhancing postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation. Yoga originated in India thousands of years ago, and its first philosophy and practice is found in the classic text, Yoga Sutras, and described by Patanjali. This text, acknowledged as the “authoritative text on yoga,” utilizes 196 sutras to discuss the components of yoga: meditation, conscious breathing, lifestyle, visualization, and more. Other disciplines in yoga stem from Patanjali’s “eight limbs,” comprising ethical principles for living with purpose and meaning (Int J Yoga, 2011).

Though yoga definitely presents as a means for self-awareness and self-development and originated from a spiritual sense, research sheds light on numerous benefits physiologically, pertaining to multiple systems of the human body, as briefly described below:

Nervous System: Significantly reduced intrinsic neuro hormonal activity is a result of yoga practice, ultimately contributing to lower stress hormones found in the body (including grater secretion of cortisol in the urine). Reduced flight-or-flight activity of the nervous system ultimately results in lower heart rate and increase in breath volume. Yoga also improves many aspects of brain activity (Suri, et al., 2016).

Cardiac System: Yoga has shown effectiveness in the treatment of hypertension. Decreased oxygen consumption, heart rate, and diastolic blood pressure contribute to significantly reduced prevalence of heart disease and myocardial infarction. “Yoga helped in regression of coronary lesions, improving myocardial perfusion and symptomatic improvement in Angiographically proven coronary artery disease patients.” (Suri, et al. 2016)

Respiratory System: One study showed reduced bronchial constriction in a group of yoga participants with exerciseinduced Asthma. A study showing the effect of yoga on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) produced significant improvements in vital capacity, maximal inspiratory pressure, and maximal expiratory pressure, thus improving the overall quality of life for these individuals. (Suri, et al., 2016)

Musculoskeletal System: Yoga involves the coordination of different muscle groups and synergistic and antagonistic muscles responsible for movement, thus increasing strength, stamina, stability, endurance, flexibility, and enhanced neuromuscular control. Such improvements help prevent chronic disease of the musculoskeletal system, such as Osteoporosis, and contribute to an increase in performance and work capacity (Suri, et al., 2016).

Further explanations and effects on other systems (reproductive, endocrine, etc.) can be found in the article: Exploring the Physiological Effects of Yoga: A State of the Art Review, written in the International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health.

Paula Grollan, a current yoga instructor at the YMCA in Bainbridge, first found yoga while working in HR and administration for a local college. She knew of a professor who offered yoga instruction and participated in some of her classes. She has always loved fitness and physical activity as a recreational runner, and loved the therapeutic aspects of yoga. Her passion for serving others led her to pursue a career in physical therapy as a physical therapy assistant, where she soon realized the positive effect of movement and exercise on the human body, pertaining to both prehabilitative and rehabilitative purposes. She began studying the effects of therapeutic yoga and found great benefit in healing and restoration for those suffering from injuries, work-related physical stress, etc. She then went on to pursue a yoga-instructor certification from a 200-hour, in-person course in Tallahassee, with observation in multiple settings offering various forms of yoga. As she experienced the continued benefits of the yoga practice, she knew that she wanted to bring this form of fitness to the Bainbridge community, who at the time, did not offer such services. She found her home at the YMCA, and now teaches both Vinyasa yoga (a “flow-type” yoga where you move fluidly from one move to the other, on and off the mat) and a personally-developed chair yoga class (great for beginners and those who struggle to get on and off the ground). “I find it very rewarding to bring it to people who otherwise could not perform the yoga I bring to the afternoon classes.” She also explained that chair yoga provides a good foundation for those that are new to yoga to learn the moves in a more stabilized way.

Yoga, which originated thousands of years ago in India as a spiritual practice, was developed with the idea to discover your mind, body, spirit, and overall self. The technique has since experienced westernization with a greater focus on pose and strength, and less on the spiritual aspect; however true physiological, psychological, and spiritual benefits stem from a combination of all three of these practices within a yoga workout. The word “yoga” originates from a Sanskrit root “yuj”, meaning, “yoke”, “join”, or “union”. During yoga of all types, participants are encouraged to find their “mind-body connection” in every move and in every breath. Paula encourages participants with this - “Don’t worry about what the pose looks like. You want to bring the pose to your body. Modify according to your body, as part of yoga is to learn your own body. It’s a journey. Your body will change over time, and just don’t give up!”

Finally, Paula closed her story and summarized her love for and experience with yoga with this statement: “everything else just fades away. And that’s the beauty of yoga. It helps you set aside all the chatter of everything going on in the world and in your life. Come into class, get on your mat, and bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the cool air going in, and the warm air going out. Feel the sensations of your breath.. you pay attention to those little subtleties of your body, and everything just fades away.” Join Paula at the YMCA Tuesday mornings from 9:30-10:30 for chair yoga, and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 4:00-5:00 for afternoon yoga.