The Physiology of Yoga

Some yoga textbooks cite the stretch reflex as responsible for limiting muscle extensibility, but experimental evidence has shown stretch reflexes to activate during very rapid and short stretches of muscles in a midrange position, producing a muscle contraction of short duration

The next layer, called trabecular bone, is softer and less dense but still makes a significant contribution to the strength of the bone.

Another requirement is adequate mechanical loading to induce remodeling.

Being rigid structures, bones maintain the form of the body and protect internal organs. But they also create the framework for movement. All voluntary movement, including all movement performed in a yoga practice, happens at joints, which is where two bones articulate. And the loading that occurs during asana practice and other weight-bearing acti

Per yogic scriptures, the practice of yoga reminds us that not only are our mind and body connected, but

hip flexors (the agonist) to create hip flexion as well as the hamstrings (the antagonist) to lengthen.

Fascia is, instead, an interconnected web that binds everything together (figure 1.6), and so, fascia researchers argue, it should be considered as one whole system rather than individual parts.

with that of the universal consciousness. The eight limbs of yoga described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra are ethical principles regarding our relationship to others and the world around us (yama), internal disciplines (niyama), the physical practices of posture (asana), breathing exercises (pranayama), withdrawal of the senses (pratyahara), concentrat

Physiology can essentially be thought of as the science of life. It is the branch of biology that aims to understand the mechanisms of living things, from the basis of cell function to the integrated behavior of the whole body and the influence of the external environment.