Practising yoga not only helps in managing stress but can also boost immunity by enhancing mind-body awareness, says Sat Bir Singh Khalsa
Yoga has proved to be instrumental in the improvement of immune function. One clear mechanism for this efficacy has been the evolution of the new field of psychoneuroimmunology, which has provided very strong evidence for the role of psychological state on the immune system. While chronic stress and negative mood states such as anger, anxiety and depression have a significant effect in compromising immune function; many research studies have shown that yoga practices are an effective stress management strategy.
Another way that yoga may enhance our immune function indirectly is by enhancing mind-body awareness. It improves healthy behaviors such as getting adequate sleep, exercise and nutrition, which are contributors to proper immune functioning. Whether yoga works by some mechanism to directly stimulate immune function apart from the indirect pathways is yet to be determined.
Given its positive potential, there is a high possibility that yoga practices can act as preventive techniques against infectious diseases, and more specifically, of respiratory-related infectious diseases such as upper respiratory tract infections (URTI’s). With outbreaks and pandemics of coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19, which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from infectious disease internationally, yoga can extend a helping hand.
A well-known ancient ancillary yoga practice called jala neti kriya, referred to as nasal saline irrigation (NSI), involves flushing of the nasal passages with a salt water solution using a neti pot. It has been recognised within Western medicine since the late 1800’s as an effective therapy for treatment of nasal and sinus congestion due to allergens or URTI’s. It is hypothesised to function by thinning mucous, improving mucociliary clearance, decreasing edema, and reducing antigens in the nasal and sinus cavities and thereby enhancing the nasal mucosa’s ability to resist the effects of infectious agents, inflammatory mediators and irritants. NSIs are now commonly prescribed in everyday clinical practice as a URTI treatment.
Taken together, the research on potential efficacy of contemplative mind-body interventions on prevention of URTI’s is encouraging. Along with enhancement of immune function by removing the inhibitory effect of mood impairment and stress on the immune system; yoga and meditation practices have a direct effect in enhancing hygienic preventive behaviors. Though the latter is a valuable indirect strategy, application of jala neti could be considered to be a direct-acting preventive behavioral strategy for URTI’s. Though there are more researches going on to prove the direct impact of yoga on mind, body and soul, time will prove the positive impact of yoga on healthy individuals as well as more susceptible population such as the elderly.
The writer is PhD, Director of Research, Kundalini Yoga Research Institute & Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School