https://www.yogauonline.com/y…/chronic-inflammation-and-yoga

A bit of Saturday afternoon reading for you :) This is a very comprehensive article on chronic inflammation in the body and yoga as an anti-inflammatory practice.

The take-home messages? That inflammation is part of the body’s immune/defense response, the body’s attempt at self-protection. The classical signs of acute inflammation are pain, heat, redness and fluid accumulation (swelling). Inflammation may also be associated with symptoms including: fever, chills, fatigue/loss of energy, muscle aches, headaches and loss of appetite.

Chronic inflammation is characterised by a defense response that is aberrant, out of control and is not completely turned off or extinguished. Just like a slow-burning fire that does not ebb, in chronic inflammation the defense/pro-inflammatory molecules continue to be present in the body even when they are not needed.

Enter yoga. Yoga has been found to:

-Bring down the levels of stress hormones that promote inflammation

-Lower the levels of a number of pro-inflammatory molecules in the body and brings down inflammation that is beneficial in conditions like arthritis

-Reduce a subset of pro-inflammatory molecules called cytokines thereby relieving severe pain seen in diseases like fibromyalgia

-Inhibit inflammation that in turn weakens and even kills cancerous cells in people with cancer.

There is much more detail, including what causes inflammation and what other treatments are commonly offered, in the article. Happy weekend reading everyone!