​We are continuing our series called “Your Body on Yoga” looking at how yoga affects all the systems of the body. We started this journey on June 2, 2025 and we’ve covered a lot of systems since then. Just a few more to go.

This post is about the lymphatic system which is part of the immune system and is responsible for removing wastes and toxins from the body. The lymphatic system kind of looks like the nervous system or the circulatory system because it is made up of many vessels traveling throughout the body. The vessels carry toxins to lymph nodes for removal. These nodes are located in the head and neck, the armpits, the chest, the abdomen and pelvis, and the groin. 

The lymphatic system is quite different from the nervous and circulatory systems, however. Information moves through the nervous system due to electrical impulses and the blood that travels through the circulatory system due to the pumping of the heart. The lymphatic system does not have an internal mechanism for moving fluid through its vessels and must rely on gravity or mechanical movement to make this happen. In other words, the lymphatic system works best when the body is moving, only minimally when at rest. 

Yoga postures are an excellent way to activate the immune-supporting properties of the lymphatic system. For example,

√ Moving through flowing sequences like Cat/Cow, Sun Salutations and standing lunges to squeeze the vessels and enhance immune function.

√ Inverting the body encourages the lymph fluid to flow in the direction of the lymph glands, most of which are concentrated in the upper part of the body. Excellent choices are standing forward bends, legs up the wall (especially with hips elevated), bridge pose (with a block under the hips) and headstand.

Ayurveda, Yoga’s science of diet and lifestyle, adds two practices for the lymphatic system: self-massage with oil and dry brushing. 

√ Self-massage can be done with special oils for the doshas, or simply use sesame oil or jojoba oil because they are tridoshic. Massage from the hands up the arms toward the heart. Massage from the feet up the legs toward the heart. Massage clockwise circles on the abdomen and back. 

√ Dry brushing can be done with a medium bristle brush (not too hard or soft). Massage in the same way, toward the heart from the hands and feet, and circles on the abdomen and back.

These two practices encourage the movement of stagnant lymph fluid toward the lymph glands, thereby encouraging a quicker release of metabolic wastes. 

All of these lymphatic practices are vital during the spring season when we are shedding winter weight and coping with seasonal allergies. Give them a try and see if you feel better this season.

To follow up on our exploration of trust and creativity, I am sharing two quotes and two inquiries to spark creativity in your life this week. It’s a good week for this inquiry because of the total lunar eclipse on March 3. The moon will be full and shining a spotlight on our lives, asking you “What’s working and what is not?” The eclipse will turn the moon red, however, blurring the picture and making it harder for us to see what’s really happening. If we’re seeking solutions to a situation, we have the promise that the solution is on its way, even though we can’t see it right now. The message is to “trust.”

To practice, set aside some time when you will not be disturbed. Turn off distractions like notifications on phone and computer. Close the door to your room. Open your journal or have paper and pen nearby. Light a candle if that makes the space feel more sacred to you. Read one quote out loud and silently to yourself. Contemplate its meaning for your life. Repeat with the second quote. Spend the rest of the time writing in response to the inquiries. If it helps, set a timer for 5 minutes and write continuously, letting lots of words spill out of your mind and heart. The best advice I ever heard was “write as if you were being paid by the word.” When you’re done, place these writings somewhere you can find them again in the months ahead. The energy of the eclipse is active for six months!

Here are the quotes: 

“Yoga is a light, which once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter your flame.” -B.K.S. Iyengar

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” -Rumi

Here are the inquiries: 

1. What areas of your life are in need of more “light” and how can you bring more brightness to them?

2. How can you use your skills and organize your daily life to assist you in being more productive in meaningful ways?

We’re continuing our series on the systems of the human body called “Your Body on Yoga,” playing off the old commercial which simply showed two eggs frying in a pain while the announcer said, “This is your brain on drugs.” Thankfully, “your body on yoga” is so much healthier.

We’ve covered a lot of body systems so far so scroll back through the blog to check them out. The present conversation is about the reproductive system, considered by Yoga and Ayurveda to be one of the most precious of the systems. The main role of this system is reproduction, so it is significant for us to acknowledge that we carry within us the egg and seed which have the potential to become human beings. And to take birth as a human is a precious thing indeed!

In Ayurveda there is differentiation between male and female reproductive organs as well as additional channels for menstruation and lactation that are specific to the female body. We’ll look at these differences in upcoming blogs, but for today let’s discuss a body part that is found in all humans and is especially important for supporting the reproductive system—the pelvic floor. 

Yoga is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy pelvic floor.

Yes, both women and men have a pelvic floor. It’s shaped like a sling of three layers of muscles that attach to the bones at the base of the pelvis. There are openings for solid and liquid wastes to leave the body, and in women an opening for giving birth to a baby. When pelvic floor muscles are too toned or not toned enough, it can be difficult to hold the wastes in long enough to get to the bathroom.

Because of its proximity to the sex organs, pelvic floor muscles that are too tight or too loose also affect sexual health. It can be the cause of painful intercourse and inability to orgasm.

Yoga to the rescue!

Here are some things we do in yoga class each week to keep the pelvic floor healthy. You might like to try them at home too.

Goddess pose: This is a standing squat with legs wide and turned out. The best way to practice is to bend and straighten the knees, making sure the knees are tracking over the second toe so you don’t give yourself knee pain. Hold your arms overhead and bring your attention to your pelvic floor; you will notice it stretching open when you squat down and releasing to its natural position as you stand up. Do 10-20 squats several times a day.

Tree pose: Place one hand on the wall for balance. Shift weight into one leg. Lift the opposite knee, turn the leg out to the side, and place the foot on the inside of the standing leg. Pay attention to your pelvic floor as you do this. You are stretching that one side of the pelvic floor as the other side remains strong and still. Practice on both sides so you can compare.

As you move through your day, notice your pelvic floor muscles. How do they respond to standing, walking, sitting and lying down? Can you observe the two sides working differently at times? When do they feel weak and when do they feel strong? 

Root chakra awareness: Yoga teaches that the root chakra is located at the tip of the tailbone or just above the pelvic floor. Sit on the floor or on a hard chair with feet on the floor. Sit on the front edge of your sitting bones with a long spine. Become aware of your pelvic floor. Imagine you could breathe in and out through your pelvic floor. After a few minutes, notice how your muscles feel more at ease and working more harmoniously with your whole body. 

As a new year begins, we often think about letting go of the past year and embracing a new year. It’s a process as old as time and one that is deeply engrained in our physiology too:

When we breathe out, we release; when we breathe in, we fill up again. 

Here is an effective yogic breathing sequence you can do to activate both the physical and psychological benefits of this releasing/re-filling cycle.

Pranayama is best practiced in a seated position, on the floor or in a chair. Let the pelvis tilt slightly forward so you’re sitting at the front of your sitting bones. This brings the spine into a long position and creates space for breath to move.

Bellows, or bhastrika, is a warming breath, perfect for cooler winter days. Place your hands on your thighs with elbows open to the sides. Remember to relax your shoulders and neck. As you exhale, begin to round your spine, bow your head, and let your elbows swing slightly forward. As you inhale, slowly straighten your spine, lift your head, and bring your elbows back to the starting point. Practice for a minute at a pace that is comfortable for your body and breath. Rest at the end. If you have the time and inclination, practice for another minute.

Downward-releasing, or apana, breath is grounding and settling, perfect for the fast-moving energies that want us to go, go, go at the beginning of a new year. Rest the backs of your hands on your thighs with elbows slightly bent. Remember to relax your arms, shoulders and neck. Begin by breathing naturally and feeling your body connect to the earth through your feet or your seat. Inhale, feel the breath enter through the nose and flow into the lungs; exhale, imagine the breath could continue down through the feet or seat and into the earth. Continue to breathe like this for a minute or two, gradually increasing to 5, 10 even 20 minutes. 

As you rise from your seat, experience balance and ease, feeling confident and settled. Take this into the rest of your day, and the rest of the year!

Check out the previous two posts about letting go. It’s just as essential for our mind as it is for our body.

​Welcome to part two of our discussion of the systems of elimination and how Yoga helps rid our body of toxins in a safe and healthy way. This is a continuation of the series “Your Body on Yoga” as we systematically go through all the systems of the body. 

According to Ayurveda—Yoga’s sister science devoted to physical health—there are three wastes the body needs to eliminate every day. They are feces (solid waste), urine (liquid waste), and sweat. Here’s a little bit about each one:

Let’s start with the easy one—sweat. A lot of people think yoga does not make you sweaty, but it’s a good idea to do enough strenuous work in your yoga practice to bring some sweat to the surface of the skin each day. Sweat expels toxins from the body, such as heavy metals and chemicals found in plastics and cosmetics. Sitting in a sauna works as does drinking hot, spicy teas. You can also practice yoga in a specific way.

Try this: Begin your day the traditional way with 5-10 rounds of Sun Salutations. Not only will you wake up tight muscles and loosen stuck joints, you’ll also begin to sweat. 

Or try this: If Sun Salutations are not your thing, squat in chair pose, hold lunging poses like Warrior and Side Angle, and do a 2-minute plank and locust pose. Strength poses will make you sweat too.

Next let’s talk about urination. As a reminder, we should be drinking enough water to have clear urine that has no odor. If your urine gets dark, cloudy or smelly, that’s a sign you haven’t been drinking enough. Fresh filtered water and herbal teas are best because caffeine acts as a diuretic, meaning it makes the body produce more urine causing water leave the body faster. And it’s worth mentioning too that sweat also removes water from the body, so if you’re doing a lot of sweating you’ll need to drink more water than usual.

Try this: Twisting poses will squeeze the bladder to stimulate urination, while the back bending pose Sphinx will lift and stretch the kidneys to keep them functioning well.

Here’s the truth about feces—we are supposed to have at least one, if not two or three, bowel movements per day. When you eat you should poop, it’s that simple. If you have a cat or a dog or other animal in your family you certainly observe this behavior in them; they eat and then they immediately eliminate. Ayurveda teaches that when feces stays in the body it becomes ama (ah-mah), putrified toxins that make us sick from the inside out. Two tell-tale signs are irregular bowel movements and a white coating on the tongue. 

Try this: Wind-relieving pose. Lie down on your back and pull your knees into your chest. Moving the knees away from the body and pulling them back in several times can be helpful in stimulating the downward movement of the colon. 

And try this: Squatting. The full yogic squat is a great position for the act of elimination because it reduces stress on the rectum. This position will often stimulate the bowels as well. 

Taking good care of your elimination systems will make you feel free and unencumbered, just what you need to make a fresh start in the new year.

​We are continuing our series “Your Body on Yoga” where we look at the different systems of the body and how our yoga practices support them. Today we are looking at the water system, all of those parts of our body which carry water or regulate the flow of water in the body. Wow! This one is really important because our body is 75% water. Just think of all of the parts of the body affected by these functions: the cerebral spinal fluid in the brain and spine, kidneys and bladder, gastric secretions, sweat glands, salivary glands, blood, and synovial fluid in the joints.

The water system deserves special attention during the fall and winter. As I wrote in an earlier blog post on November 17, Ayurveda teaches that late fall/early winter is Vata season, a time of year that has these powerful qualities: cold, dry, light, mobile, rough, erratic and clear. You always know you’re under the sway of vata when you feel cold and dry! In that post I also offered a dozen helpful practices to overcome these symptoms.

Yoga postures help move fluids through our body efficiently and regularly so we can feel more hydrated and move more fluidly:

√ Fluid movements like cat/cow pose and sun salutations stimulate the joints so that synovial fluid is refreshed and replaced. You’ll have less popping, stickiness and pain in the joints.

√ Backbends like sphinx, cobra, locust and wheel stimulate the kidneys, the small but mighty organs that filter about 200 quarts of liquid per day. You’ll support your immune system by sending more wastes out of your body through urine.

√ Forward bending and twisting poses (seated, standing or lying down) stimulate the spinal column so that cerebral spinal fluid moves more easily between the brain and the spine. You’ll strengthen your brain health and support a balanced nervous system.

One urgent reminder: Please hydrate! Yoga can only work with the water you have invested into your own water system. What is your ideal weight? Drink ½ of your ideal weight in water and herbal teas every day. (For example, for 150 lbs drink 75 oz, approximately 9 ½ cups) It’s time to get a drink of water!

​As we continue our journey through the body’s systems, we turn now to our digestive system and how yoga helps it to function more efficiently. According to yoga’s health science, Ayurveda, the digestive system is the most important system of the whole body. The physical act of digestion is responsible for absorption and assimilation of nutrients which is essential for our overall health. In fact, the digestive tract is actually called “the channel of food,” so it is true that we become what we eat.

We all know that movement is good for the body and it is especially useful for the digestive system. A short walk after meals helps our food to digest well and it moves glucose more quickly through the blood stream, a plus if our blood sugar levels are higher than they should be. (That’s 50% of the American population!)

But here’s an important yoga tip: Wait at least two hours after eating to practice yoga. We move our bodies differently in yoga class, in ways that are more stimulating for the digestive tract overall, not the immediate effects that come from a brisk walk in the hour after a meal. For this reason, yoga maintains the health of the digestive organs for a lifetime and should be part of everyone’s weekly routine.

Here are the best yoga practices for the digestive organs:

• Twists: These are the best poses because of a process called squeeze and soak. When we move the abdomen into a twist (seated, standing or lying down), we squeeze the digestive organs which are all situated in the central part of the body. This squeezing action gently massages the organs and presses some of the fluids out of the organs. When we release the twist, fresh fluids return to the organs. (You can see why we don’t want to practice yoga on a full stomach!)

• Inversions that lift the abdomen: This could include lying down on the floor with the pelvis lifted on a bolster or block, or even taking the legs up the wall. In yoga, we bring emphasis to the part of the body that is lifted.

• Restorative yoga poses: When we lie down on the floor and support the body with lots of props—blankets, bolsters and blocks—we calm the nervous system. A calm nervous system retreats from fight or flight and embraces rest and digest. Just listen for the gurgles in the belly.

Additionally, we can support our bodies with healthy, seasonal food. Yoga practice and sensible eating work together to keep us well all year long.

We’re continuing our series called “Your Body on Yoga” where we’re exploring the systems of the body and how yoga affects them. This article is about the circulatory system, which includes our heart, arteries and veins. This system is related to the respiratory system, since the heart and lungs work together. Breathe into the lungs and oxygen is transferred to the arteries which carry oxygenated blood throughout the body. Veins then carry the deoxygenated blood back to heart so it can be expelled from the lungs when breathing out. 

This is why it is so important to breathe when you practice Yoga (or any other form of exercise). Moving the muscles increases the heart rate and the circulation of blood through the body, and breathing in and out facilitates the movement of oxygen. 

Here are a couple of ways Yoga works with the circulatory system:

Interval training: I remember when I first got into exercise in the 1970s we were told to stay in the “target heart rate.” There were even posters all over the gym showing how to calculate this magical number. We would stop every ten minutes to take our heart rate to make sure we were not above or below it. Exercise research has become more sophisticated and now we know that “interval training” is a better way. Instead of aiming for a steady heart rate, we’re now allowing the heart rate to increase for a while, then slow down for a while, back and forth throughout the workout. The heart becomes more resilient as it practices the increase and decrease. 

Yoga is the original interval training exercise! Sun salutations increase the heart rate, then there is a pause when the heart rate slows down again. Hold the standing poses with muscles contracted in the big muscles of hips, shoulders and back as the heart rate increases again, then relax momentarily in mountain pose as the heart slows. Finish in Shavasana, the ultimate in recovery and restoration.

Lowering blood sugar: I, like many others, am confronted with higher than expected blood sugar levels. Fortunately, exercise is effective in moving glucose out of the blood stream if it is done within 30-40 minutes after eating. I know, we’re not supposed to do yoga on a full stomach, right? But if you can’t get out for a 10 minute walk after lunch or dinner, there are some yoga poses that are safe and effective: Squats!

Squats are excellent because they activate the big muscles of the hips, thereby raising the heart rate and moving that glucose out of the blood. For each of these options lower and lift for 60-90 seconds. Walk around for a minute to recover, then repeat the cycle until you’ve completed 10 minutes. Here are three options: 1) Chair pose with legs hip distance apart. Hold the pose or lift and lower. 2) Goddess or Temple pose with legs wider than the hips and turned out. To raise the heart rate more quickly, hold the arms overhead as you lift and lower. 3) Full squat with support from a post or a tree. This assumes that your ankles, knees and hips can handle a full squat, of course. It’s best to hold onto something sturdy to steady your balance as you squat all the down to the ground and lift back up.

There’s no doubt about it: healthy heart and lungs will bring you strength, focus and joy!

​We’re continuing our series “This is Your Body on Yoga.” We’ve already looked at three systems: nervous, skeletal and muscular. Please scroll back through the blog to read the earlier entries. Now we move on to the surprising system made up of FAT! Well, we think of it as fat, but the yogic tradition describes it as the unctuous, oily, lubricating aspect of the body. And while we modern folks often have a negative view of fat, the medical side of Yoga (known as Ayurveda) teaches that fat tissues have these functions:

• To lubricate the eyes, skin, hair, nails, lips, as well as the waste materials of urine and feces. 

• To form adequate amounts of sweat.

• To make the body firm and stable and make one impervious to exhaustion.

• To increase happiness and satisfaction with life. 

Here are three ways Yoga helps us take better care of our fat tissue:

First, it’s important to know how much fat is healthy for us according to our Ayurvedic constitution rather than try to meet some unreasonable expectation for weight and body type. Ayurveda teaches there are generally three body types: Vata types tend to be perpetually skinny and have difficulty putting on weight; Kapha types tend to be larger around the middle and have difficulty taking off weight; Pitta types tend to have more muscle tone and usually stay at a fairly consistent weight, not too much and not too little. Sadly, many Kapha types feel the pressure to create a Vata body, a task that ultimately brings disappointment because they are naturally meant to have a little more fat around the middle.

Second, Sun Salutations are an excellent way to sweat and build strength. I know a young man who started doing 45 minutes of Sun Salutations every day. He sweated profusely and dropped 20 pounds in a couple of months. This flowing set of poses is designed to warm up the body for other standing postures, but it also recruits big muscles to increase heart rate and sweating to melt away adipose tissue.

Third, Yoga integrates body, mind and spirit to tackle the bigger issues contributing to weight gain and weight loss. In the past weight gain and loss were treated like a simple math exercise—calories in and calories out. Many disappointed people have discovered that this simplistic explanation does not work. Now we know there are other factors to consider, including hormones and additives in food, as well as poor sleep, trauma and stress that play havoc with our internal hormones. Yoga uses a variety of practices to mitigate these factors: postures, meditations, breath exercises, relaxation poses, living according to our constitution and eating with the seasons. 

If you’re trying to develop a better relationship with your fat tissue, head on over to a yoga class and consider making an appointment with an Ayurveda consultant. You too can get on the fast track to happiness and satisfaction. 

I love the feeling of muscles releasing their tension. It usually happens just before I fall asleep or if I am reclining for savasana or yoga nidra. Relaxation is an essential, but often missed, action of the muscular system. Fortunately, yoga is an excellent way to experience muscle relaxation AND teach the body to receive it more easily. 

Have you ever noticed the deeper layers of tension that often exist in the body? Even when we think we’re relaxing, we’re still gripping and holding different parts of the body. Maybe it’s a place where we have an injury or chronic pain, or it might just be a place where tension likes to regularly reside in our body. Happily, if we’re aware of these places, we can actually send our attention there so we can soften and release.

Here are two ways to practice muscle relaxation through yoga:

First, go through a yoga session and end with at least 15 minutes of savasana. Here’s the magic of yoga: it begins with breathing or meditation to corral the energy (prana), gets the body moving in all directions to spread the prana, then gently pulls the prana back just enough to balance the nervous system through relaxation. If you skip savasana at the end, you still get the stretch and strength, but you don’t get the relaxation, and the yoga session is not complete.

Second, you can practice guided relaxation. There are two ways to do this: One is active and the second is passive. The active approach is called progressive relaxation where you squeeze a muscle group (like an arm or leg), hold it in the contraction for several seconds, then completely let it go. You move progressively through the body until you end with squeezing the whole body at the same time, finally releasing into full body relaxation.

The passive approach is used in yoga nidra, a guided meditation that brings peace to body, mind and spirit. In this practice the leader invites you to bring your awareness to multiple points in the body known as “marma points,” or vital energy points. You might be asked to take a breath at each point, place an image or sound at each point, or simply place your awareness there. I find it hard to do this practice without falling asleep.

The best part about these practices is that they are also training for the times when we really want to relax, such as when we’re trying to get to sleep at night. Give them a try and discover the magic of yoga for yourself.