GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
The circulatory system, or cardiovascular system, is the body's main transport system. It consists of the heart, blood vessels and the blood. The heart pumps the blood around the whole body through the vessels. It is a closed circulatory system, which means blood moves in a continuous loop with no start or finishing point. The blood carries oxygen, nutrients, hormones, carbon dioxide and waste products to and from all the cells of the body. This transaction takes place in the capillaries. There are two main divisions of the circulatory system – the pulmonary, which delivers deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs and oxygenated blood back and the heart; and the systemic, which delivers oxygenated blood from the heart to the whole body and deoxygenated blood back to the heart. If you were to follow a full loop, starting at the lungs it would be – lungs, heart, body, heart, lungs. Arteries are responsible for carrying the oxygenated blood around the body, while veins are responsible for returning the deoxygenated blood back to the heart. The circulatory system also plays an important role with the immune response by helping fight infection and regulating body temperature. When there is good housekeeping the body is well serviced and works more efficiently.
When we inhale we decrease pressure in the thoracic region, not only does this drive air into the lungs but this increase of pressure also draws blood back to the heart, this is called venous return. So, although we often talk about the calming benefits of the exhale, the inhale also has its benefits when it comes to increasing blood flow and all the benefits that come with a circulatory system that performs well. We can use this principle to help the circulatory system by increasing our inhale in a pranayama practice or by focusing on the breath as part of our yoga practice.
HOW YOGA CAN HELP
Similar to the lymphatic system, the circulatory system can be assisted by our yoga practice. We can produce an increase in heart rate and an increase in blood circulation by creating internal pressure, muscle contractions and an increased demand for oxygen. The flowing movement in yoga creates a demand for oxygen in the cells which increases heart rate. Standing poses which require muscle contractions in the big muscles of the legs also require extra oxygen and increase heart rate. Twists and backbends create internal pressure and help move blood around the areas being pressed and squeezed. The claves are considered the second heart, so poses that recruit the calves help move blood from the lower extremities. Inversions can also help by flipping the effects of gravity and giving the heart a little helping hand. As mentioned above we can also focus on the breath and encourage venous return , especially with an extended inhale.
EXPLORING THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence gives you the opportunity to work with your circulatory system with flowing movement, standing poses, twists, backbends and calf work. The first row warms up the spine, core, hips and calves. Row two and three are your two standing flows. Press firmly into the ground to wake up all the muscles of the legs to help get your heart pumping. You can repeat these two flows twice if you have time. The first time you move through it slowly and the second time you can move a bit faster to get a cardio effect. There is a four pose mini flow on the third row which flips your from the front of the mat to the back of the mat. The cool down includes a final twist and abdominal compression in the reverse table top to cosmic egg flow. You can take a regular savasana or you can add a bolster under your hips to get the benefits of a gentle inversion.
ALIGNMENT CUES
Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:
Use the breath guide in the sequence to help you link breath with movement in the flow. Inhale is indicated with a ‘+’, exhale is a ‘-”.
If there are specific poses that you would like to stay longer in, give yourself three deep breaths in those poses, and pick up the next pose with the allocated inhale or exhale as indicated by the sequence.
For a longer practice add in a Sun Salutations at the start of each mini flow or repeat each mini flow.
To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.
Ruth Delahunty Yogaru