Boost Your Immune System With Yoga At Work!

It appears that with every season change suddenly you starting hearing more “achoo-ing," and the words “bless you” seem to endlessly be ringing through the work place, as more and more boxes of day-quil and puffs kleenex begin appearing on peoples desks. The change in seasons is often a difficult transition on the body and this causes many people to get sick,  especially in highly-populated areas such as the work place.

However if you are starting to feel achy and need of something to help make it through your work day, there is a better alternative for sickness then beginning to take handfuls of cold medicine. The other option available to you is far better for your body than filling it with chemicals.

This option is yoga! Yes yoga, and you can do it at work. It helps improve your immune system. You can do simple yoga postures in your work place that will help you to stem off sickness, or prevent a sickness from getting worse

Now that I know that you are thinking how is yoga at work going to prevent me from getting sick? Well to start, even simple yoga breathing helps relax the nervous system.  Stress at work inhibits the nervous system. When the nervous system is stressed it in turn inhibits the immune system from working properly.

This allows bacteria that enters the body to proliferate itself further into the body. This is why, for example, bacteria from a common cold is able to go further into the respiratory tract and cause bronchitis. If the nervous system is relaxed, thanks to yoga, the immune system is able to function properly and better help stave of sickness.

In addition, there are certain yoga postures that help support your secondary immune system.  Any yoga inversion (head below waist)- even just sitting in your chair at work and putting your hands on the ground, and leaning your body forwards so your head is below your hips, helps your immune system.

Positions like this allow your lymphatic fluid (which is the fluid of your immune system) to move. Your lymphatic system does not have a pump and so it cannot move on its own. This is why moving your body allows the fluid to circulate. In turn this allows your immune system to remove harmful toxins and bacteria from your body.

Furthermore, many postures in yoga help exercise your thymus gland which is the center of your immune system. Your thymus gland is located between your lungs and your breastbone. Any posture that opens your chest or any backward spinal bend that involves deep breathing, helps stimulate the Thymus.

The Thymus gland is your immune system's producer of T-cells, and T-cell's are what help your body fight infection. So standing in your cubicle and doing a spinal back bend will actually help you to not get sick!

Also spinal twists that you can do while sitting in your chair help activate your spleen and some lymph nodes, which are part of your secondary immune system, further aiding you in fighting infection.

Therefore before you give into your sickness and start taking medication to supress your immune system, start doing yoga right at your desk. Not only will you feel less stressed and in turn will be able to work better, but your body will be better able to keep you healthier so that you will not be one of the people at work “Achoo-ing” this cold season!