YOGA INVERSIONS

INVERSIONS

            Many practitioners have questions about the benefits of doing inversions.  Inversions such as the headstand, and shoulderstand can increase the risk factors in practicing yoga if these poses are not done correctly and with care.   These two poses can put compressive force on the cervical spine, especially when done by those just beginning their practice of hatha yoga.  One should develop strength in the arms and shoulders to keep the weight off the head, and to  avoid injury to the neck and spine, prior to attempting the headstand.  For those participants who have cervical degeneration, doing these poses may cause nerve irritation.  Many people do not realize they have cervical degeneration until symptoms arise.  Also, one may have an old injury or mal alignment that may cause nerve irritation.

           

So, why bother doing inversions at all?  Ralph LaForge, M.S., states that there are only two clinical trials in this country which were designed to determine the physiological benefits of inversions, and both these studies were too ”statistically under-powered” to draw clear conclusions.⁹  Thus we must rely on expert opinions, case studies and educated reasoning to ascertain the benefits/effects of inversions. 

           

            The most obvious effect of inversions is to upend one’s relationship to gravity. Our bodies are sensitive to the fluctuations in gravity due to the fact that we are made predominately (60%) of water.  David Coulter, PhD, states that after 3-5 minutes, the tissue fluids will flow more efficiently from the lower extremities and trunk, up into the abdominal and pelvic organs, creating a healthier exchange of the nutrients and wastes between cells and capillaries.¹⁰   In a study by Dr. DF Chandia, a lecturer on physiological and psychological effects of yoga, they found that the headstand could affect the baseline opening of blood vessels.  This increases the efficiency at dilating and constricting so that the body shunts blood more quickly and efficiently to the active areas of the brain.  This also may affect the cerebrospinal fluid, a fluid which flows from the brain to the spinal cord.  The increased pressure on the top of the skull may increase the elasticity of cranial bones and stimulate the productions of the cerebrospinal fluid.¹⁰   Many times, practitioners will claim that headstands and shoulderstands improves  the endocrine system.  For example, these postures may assist in the metabolism by stimulating the parathyroid and thyroid glands.  This has not yet been proven; however, inversions do increase blood flow to these glands, increasing their efficiency.   Pat Layton, physiology teacher for the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco’s Advanced Studies Program, postulates that inversions ensure healthier and more effective lung tissue.  Lower lung tissue is more compressed (secondary to gravity) than the upper lung tissue.  When we invert, we cause the blood to perfuse the well-ventilated upper lobes which ensures more efficient oxygen to blood exchange and healthier lung tissue¹⁰ 

  

            So, in summary, inversions may increase the efficiency of  the cardiovascular, respiratory, lymphatic and endocrine systems, according to expert opinion.  Scientific validation of these benefits has not yet been performed.  We can certainly communicate to our students the benefits we believe the inversions can impart.  We should always inform our students of possible risks of injury to their cervical region and thus they can weigh the benefits versus the risks themselves.  There certainly are safer partial inversions which may result in similar benefits, at this time, we do not yet know.  Let the research continue!