Psychology and Yoga

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”

William James

Psychology is all about study of a behavior and our mind. Mind and behavior are connected with each other that’s why there is a huge connection of our nervous system with a psychology. 
The work of our nervous system is to carry instructions from our brain and spinal cord to the muscle. Whether we are moving our hand or blinking our eyes all this work is the magic of nervous system. How many of us ever thought that why we ran when we saw a scary dog? How many of us ever thought that why we remove our hand when we touch any hot object? If we are  able to interpret these situations properly then automatically we are able to understand the connection between psychology and human nervous system. 
Let’s reflect on functions of our  nervous system . Our nervous system is divided into two parts central nervous system(CNS) and peripheral nervous system(PNS) . The CNS consist of spinal cord and brain and PNS connects CNS to the rest of the body. The PNS consist of somantic and autonomic nervous system. Somantic transfers  motor and sensory signals from and to the brain. The autonomic controls the functions of glands and organs.  
Psychology is a very broad term it includes many factors i. e. Our emotions, our learnings ,our formation of attitude etc. Psychology tell us the connection between our brain and  our behavior. How our perceptions affects our behavior. How our nervous system give instructions to our body according to our perception . Whether you talk about emotions, learnings or attitude, One word you always find in all these i.e. cognitive  and cognitive is all about our mind or the perceptions we have in a mind. Cognitive , Affective and Behavioral are considered as components of attitude. Cognitive is our perceptions about any object , affective is feelings about any object and behavior is reaction towards that object. Our mind gives instructions to our body according to our perceptions. For examples : 1)If we have a positive attitude about LGBTQ then our mind give positive instructions to our body and our behavior towards them is positive. 2) Many of us have a social stigma in our mind that what will the world  say if we do this. In this also our brain and our behavior work in a same order. By this perception our mind will instruct a negative instructions to our body towards any work. 3) If we feel scare in facing challenges then our mind will always give instructions to our body i.e. not to face challenges. Psychology is all about studying all these behavior and give the reason behind every behavior. 
How many of us ever thought why positive thinking has so much importance? How positive attitude affects our behavior it all come under psychology. As our nervous system give instructions according to our perceptions. In the similar way our positive thinking give positive instructions to our body and our body will respond in a positive manner. Our brain and behavior is directly connected. That’s why psychology is considered as one of the most important field in today’s world. Similarly some people live a enjoyable life in every situation because they have a perception that we all get to enjoy. So our behavior is depend upon our perceptions in our mind. That’s why meant health has so much importance these days. 

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” 

Shakespeare

Yoga which is considered as one of the most important element of good nervous system. There are thousands of signal our mind transfers single second. So yoga is worldly recognized for maintaining mental health. 

“Yoga is the ultimate practice. It simultaneously stimulates our inner light and quiets our overactive minds. It is both energy and rest. Yin and Yang. We feel the burn and find our bliss.”

Beachbody Yoga Expert Elise Joan

As two parts of nervous system sympathetic and parasympathetic which together known as autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic produce fight and flight reaction. If we have a uncertain situations then floods of hormones in our body make us ready. Our pulse rate rose up, muscles get alert and our blood pressure rose up. In this way our body get ready to fight or run . It includes fear, stress, anxiety, work pressure , relationship problems etc. In all these cases the activities of sympathetic nervous system increases. On the other side, parasympathetic cancels the effect of sympathetic. It provide you serene. 

“Yoga is the ultimate practice. It simultaneously stimulates our inner light and quiets our overactive minds. It is bot”The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough.”

Amy Weintraubh

It’s very important to have a balance in these two parts of a body. But  recent studies have shown that the sympathetic has dominance over parasympathetic. That’s why most of the population is suffering from high heart rate, high blood pressure, digestive problem, poor sleep, headache etc. One of the best way to maintain equilibrium between sympathetic and parasympathetic is Yoga. 

Yoga increases the effect of parasympathetic and help you to keep calmer.  By doing asanas like pranayam and breathing exercises you can increase effect of parasympathetic. All these asanas help to reduce heart rate and blood pressure. By this you feel calmer, relaxed and get better sleep. 

Leave a Reply