YOGA Its Impact on Postural Health

Modern lifestyle brimming with enhanced technology has elevated our sedentary life. This has led to lack of exercise, wrong postural habits both in work and daily routine. This has been causative factors for specific clinical conditions of postural abnormalities. Yoga plays a vital role in checking and rectifying hese defects.

As a science of right living, Yoga is intended to be incorporated into our daily life. It works on all aspects of a person; the physical, mental emotional and spiritual. In the 21st century the science of yoga has been the object of admiration and investigation by many scientists, representing physiology, medical research and given a ray of hope for suffering humanity.

Applications of Yogic practice are an ideal antidote to the postural defects. They are helpful in stabilizing the psycho-physiological mechanism to encourage positive health. By which one can lead healthy and happy life to increase productivity, efficiency and endurance.

Posture
Posture may be defined as an attitude, assumed by the body either with support during muscular activity or by means of coordinated action of several muscles working together, to maintain stability and to form an essential basis for any movement.

Efficient Posture
An efficient posture is one that fulfils the purpose of specific activity in the most economic way for which it serves as a background. It involves no unnecessary amount of muscular efforts for its maintenance and adjustment.
Development of efficient posture would be quite natural provided the inherent mechanisms are healthy and intact with an adequate muscle tone.

Poor Posture and Development of Posture Development
The posture which leads to reprehensible circulation of blood and lymph leading to chronic congestions and stagnation of waste products in certain regions, which have toxic effect on the body are called as ‘wrong posture’ or postural defects.

Nature of Wrong Posture
The development of wrong posture leads to a improper system of neuro-muscular and neuro-glandular reactions.
Chronic congestion and improper neuromuscular reactions are interdependent. Thus a disturbance in the rhythm of vasodilatation and vasoconstriction would give rise to circulatory disturbances, general localized nerves, muscles and glands are deprived of good blood supply, which would fail in reacting adequately thus giving rise to chain of reactions of disturbances leading to disease.
The degree of muscle tone and its distribution are regulated to a large extent by postural reflexes. Abnormal postural reflexes cause disturbance to tonic rhythm.

Common Implications of Postural Defects
Neck ache and back pain.
Disc degeneration or slip disc.
Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI).
Chronic Fatigue Syndromes.
Breathlessness

Application of Yoga for Treating Implication of Postural Defects Yogasanas
It is impossible to work actively in life with an unhealthy body and mind. The fundamental requirement is the healthiest possible mind and body. The ancient sages realized this thousands of years ago and for this reason developed the system of asanas.

Yogasanas have potential therapeutic role in achieving and maintaining postural health. These are helpful to address specific areas of muscular imbalance contributing to improved postural integrity and musculoskeletal health in particular. Asanas are will tested system and are primarily meant to overcome angamejayatva that is disturbance in the tonic rhythm of the body and thus re-establish a harmonious functioning of the whole system.

Mechanism of Postures
The organs of a healthy body are like the well tuned instruments of an orchestra which are conducted by the brain and nervous system. Each organ functions in rhythm and harmony with all other organs of the body which is governed by Optimum Muscle Tone.
Maintenance and adaptation of posture are due to several fine and automatic neuro-muscular co-ordinations. The various groups of muscles involved are controlled by means of very complex reflex system of activity.

In yoga the following are the chief factors that contribute to an optimum muscle tone.

A stable psycho physiological background.
Good hygiene conditions of life and environment particularly with regard to nutrition and sleep.
Full scope for abundant and free natural movements.
Cultivation and maintenance of correct postural habits.

Following are the important Yogasanas to maintain good postural health.

Tadasana
This asana develops a sense of balance. The normal traction of the body which is required for optimum, muscle tone is maintained by loosening up the spinal column from top to bottom.

Padahastasana
It is a remedy for a widespread symptom of modern living i.e. back, neck and headache. It is very beneficial for relocating minor displacements of the spinal vertebrate and for releasing nerves that are pinched by slightly displaced vertebrate as in sciatica.

Pawanmuktasana
This asana gives excellent stretch to all the joints to keep them in the best possible working conditions. It tones up the muscles of back and neck along with spinal nerves.

Bhujangasana
This asana increases the felicity of the back. Those people who suffer from a slipped disc or sciatic can also benefit from this asana.
Bhujangasana loosens up the spine removes impure blood from the region and tones up the nerves.

Shalabhasana
It is an excellent asana for strengthening the lower back. This is quite helpful in toning the parasympathetic nerves which are particularly prominent in the region of neck and pelvis. It is also useful for reliving sciatica and other common spinal disorders.
Thus yoga is much useful in maintaining the postural health. The practice of yoga is based on its philosophy which would lead to the solution of the world’s most pressing problems arising from socio economic complexities of modern life and hence help social reconstruction.

Did You Know?
Sherrington Magnus has brought to light many facts about the abnormal postural reflex activity. Normally a balanced tone is maintained in muscle which facilitates adjustments for phasic movement as well as for postural activity. When this balance is upset by disease processes varied symptoms such an abnormal state of muscle tone like spasticity, rigidity, hypotonia, flaccidity etc. with a disturbance of deep reflexes. Hence it is important to maintain optimum muscle tone.

Isha Majumder
BA (Journalism, Psychology & English)