Beneath The Yoga Mat: The Hormones of Yoga Explained.
The Science Behind Yoga and How to Elevate Your Well-Being
We’ve always known exercise is good for us but back in the day it was all about nutrition and aesthetics - looking a certain way, being “beach ready”. The focus was mostly on physical health. Nowadays the truth goes a little deeper, like, deeper on a cellular level.
Today, we have an abundance of wellness and fitness offerings to tempt and tone us. Traditional workouts have become a lot more fun by incorporating a multitude of modalities and techniques. We’re more aware of the importance of variety in both style and pace. Not to forget the realisation that physical exercise contributes to good mental and emotional well-being, too. (Simply mind-blowing!).
When you break it down, movement is the key ingredient to creating change; moving your body, shaking things up, shrugging things off, and doing things differently.
The problem is, knowing something is good for us often isn’t enough.
My journey of reconnecting with my body through movement and mindfulness.
Have you ever felt disconnected from yourself, like your mind and body are operating on separate planes, with thoughts racing at warp speed while your physical being lags behind? In our fast-paced, modern lives, it's all too easy to become distracted, to lose touch with how we truly feel, and to become detached from the present moment experience.
According to WHO (World Health Organisation), the definition of health is:
’Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.
Eating well, getting enough sleep, being active and staying mobile are probably the most common factors you consider when contemplating your health. However, cultivating a healthy lifestyle must also support our spiritual and emotional well-being.
As ancient as Yoga is, it still tops the list as a way of living to achieve optimum physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
After years of being deeply disconnected from myself and how I was feeling on a bodily level I started practicing yoga and mindfulness regularly, to reconnect with my body. Little did I know, how profoundly these practices would impact me. Helping transform not only my physical body but the physiological experience within my body, relieving it of disease, easing anxiety, improving focus, cultivating a sense of self-compassion and appreciation (previously completely alien concepts to me), improving my sleep, and enabling me to respond to everyday stress differently.
You see, studies have shown that yoga can reduce inflammation, maintain autonomic balance, and also has a role in maintaining the neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in your brain). Yoga plays a role in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, the peripheral nervous system including GABA (a neurotransmitter known for producing a calming effect), limbic system activity, and endocrine responses.
Let’s simplify the science, shall we?
How yoga influences the brain and supports hormonal health
The impact of yoga on the endocrine system.
The endocrine system influences almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies. It is a system or network of glands (e.g. hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, pancreas, and gonads) and these glands produce hormones, the body’s chemical messengers! They carry information and instructions from one set of cells to another.
The term “endocrine” refers to the process of specific stimuli causing the release of hormones from the glands into the bloodstream.
The various hormonal systems in the body function in synchronicity and regulate each other. Even in an ever-changing environment (body temperature, illness, everyday stress, etc.), these systems are designed to work together to maintain healthy hormone function. However, in a world that celebrates the hustle and where life can push at such a pace, we are often forced to live in ways that are not sustainable, and this is when things can feel out of whack.
Now to quickly touch on rest because there's a little more to it than meets the (tired) eye. There are 7 different forms of rest relating to seven factors of our health and well-being: Physical, mental, emotional, social, sensory, creative and spiritual.
We can consider each of these individually or holistically, either way, they work together to support our physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health.
Other words and terms you could use for rest would be, “time for myself”, “clearing my head”, “blocking out time in my diary”, “down-time”, “doing something outside of work”, “spending time with loved ones”, “doing something I’ve always wanted to do”.
It could also mean, taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon, or getting an early night when you’re rundown.
Our bodies are inherently equipped to handle stress, designed to navigate through it with resilience. Unfortunately, the ability to cope with stress is something we frequently need to rediscover and teach our bodies anew, reinforcing our natural capacity to manage and overcome it.
Yoga positively influences your nervous system and endocrine system by regulating your body, impacting the release of feel-good hormones, reducing cortisol, and helping you become more aware of your body and innate needs.
So, what is stress and why do we experience it?
Stress is the ‘high-alert’ energy that moves through your body when you sense danger or excitement. It gets you out of bed in the morning and helps you meet your deadline at work. It can feel hectic, irrational, and overwhelming. Although stress is an everyday process your body is designed to flow in and out of, it doesn’t mean it’s a pleasant experience!
Stress is often experienced as a rush.
You’ll experience stress differently too; as anticipation or motivation when you’re going on holiday, or an incredible opportunity has just landed in your lap! It’s still a bit jittery but this is the healthy kind of stress, the beneficial kind, and it’s called eustress.
Eu-stress is a good kind of energy - it helps you build emotional resilience, and body-confidence and teaches you to ‘embrace your wobbles’. Eustress energy is the one we play with most when we exercise or come to our yoga mat.
As you move your body, depending on the intensity of the exercise, several important chemical messengers called neurotransmitters are released throughout your nervous system. This is why I use the phrase “movement is medicine”. Yoga can be enjoyed as a dynamic form of movement (like my morning classes), or a gentle and restorative practice (my evening sessions).
Yoga releases feel-good hormones whilst decreasing cortisol levels helping you feel less stressed.
Yoga releases chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins whilst decreasing cortisol levels helping you feel less stressed and improving your mood. This is why yoga is so beneficial for relieving symptoms of anxiety, reducing depressive symptoms, and helping us cope better with everyday stresses.
Depression and I are old friends, I first experienced it at the age of 12, and I guess that’s what led me to teach and study the impact of yoga on the brain many years later. Through my thirties, yoga became the remedy for the restlessness, ill-health, and deeply-rooted anxiety I felt in my body and I only wish I had access to it all those years ago.
The role yoga plays in releasing endorphins and dopamine
Perhaps the most common neurotransmitters people think of related to exercise are endorphins. Endorphins block pain and increase sensations of pleasure, and exercise certainly increases your endorphin levels.
Another exercise-related neurotransmitter with an important role in your brain is dopamine.
Dopamine impacts how you feel pleasure and is responsible for other processes in your body, such as regulating heart rate, sleep cycles, mood, attention, motivation, working memory, learning, and pain processing. Yoga enhances this natural dopamine release through mindful stretches and breath-work.
The secret to feeling good is truly feeling good, in body and mind. This is where somatic practices like, breath-work, mindfulness and yoga can help you feel grounded, regulated and connected to your body.
Slow mindful movements like in our yoga practice encourage a deeper sense of awareness and help cultivate confidence, compassion, and emotional resilience. Being aware of one’s body as you move through space, within poses and sequences, often connected to your breath, and learning to listen to the feedback from the body as you move.
Vinyasa flow and more dynamic sequences help focus your busy mind, encouraging mindfulness and promoting neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of your brain and nervous system to change their activity in response to internal or external stimuli. Playing a huge role in learning new skills, activities, and languages. Yoga stretches your brain as well as your muscles!
Reconnecting with your body through yoga and somatic movement
Your body picks up on your environment and that is both external and internal!
The good news is, we can send messages to our brain from our body to change our stress levels, mood, and thoughts…
By learning to listen to my body and make sense of the signals it was giving me I had a deeper sense of understanding and appreciation for myself and what I was going through. I was able to notice the physical and cellular challenges within my body and make the changes I needed to.
Through stretching, breathing, relaxation, and movement. Movement and mindfulness become the solution to everyday stresses, a way to escape and reconnect.
Here are three (simple) techniques to support you in reconnecting with your body when you feel disconnected, unsettled, or overwhelmed.
Swaying / Shaking
Swaying simulates the soothing rocking motion of a caregiver and is very calming. Shaking stimulates, invigorates, and “cleans” every cell in the body. Both are good ways of releasing tension and letting go of the need to be “doing”. You could take a few moments to gently sway from right to left, breathing in as you sway right and out as you sway left. Perhaps dancing to a playlist is more your thing, or you could go to a class, or “Shake It Off” Taylor-style in your bedroom!
Moving slowly with the breath
Moving slowly through space with guided awareness of movement, and the support and stability of your foundations, allows your body to slow down and create new pathways between the body and mind. You could try Qi Gong, Tai Chi, yoga or mindful walking.
Challenge & calm
Placing your body under good stress – EUSTRESS – in a safe space such as challenging poses focused on strength, stability, and balance followed by periods of rest, builds resilience and trains your body to recover from crisis quicker. The gym is a good example of where you access this positive stress energy, or when you're on a run, in your morning yoga or pilates class.
I share yoga with everyday, busy people to support their daily ups and downs.
Movement stimulates the cells, supports the natural release of hormones, and impacts mood. Yoga plays a role in the regulation and healthy function of the entire nervous system and its responses.
Finding a style of yoga you enjoy can be a challenge as can finding the right space to practice. The style of yoga I share invites curiosity, awareness and playfulness. Gently guiding you through movements to develop strength and mobility, and helping calm and soothe your body and mind.
My motto is “Embrace Your Wobbles”. Whether that be your physical wobbles or your emotional ones in daily life I encourage you to meet yourself where you are that day rather than where you think you should be.
The nature of my sessions depends on the class you choose and how your body may be feeling but rest assured every session will leave you feeling rested, recharged and rejuvenated – it’s guilt-free self-care!
Our online community is a space to reconnect, rest, and regulate your body from the comfort of your home. If you're ready to lean into something different to make yourself feel your best, be less stressed and regulate your body why not join us online? Live-streamed from the comfort of your living room or the mat-shaped space by your bed!
If a membership isn’t your thing, “drop-in” for a one-off session for FREE with the code OCTFLOW to get a feel for things, or sign-up for the monthly membership from £29 to discover the benefits for yourself!
Big love,
Becki