When we first begin to practice inverted poses, like monkey pose or hip hang in the Aerial Yoga hammock, many students feel immediate benefits. Our spines elongate, we feel refreshed and energised, yet calm and relaxed.
There is another lesser-known benefit of hanging upside-down that I would like to delve into — its role in boosting our immune system. A healthy immune system helps counteract what many medical researchers believe is the cause of most chronic diseases—chronic inflammation.
Remember that our body is made up of around 60% water. By reversing our usual relationship to gravity, we divert the flow of essential body fluids from our feet towards our heads. This helps venous return, which is the flow of de-oxygenated blood from our lower body back towards our heart. It also assists with the drainage of a liquid that is vital to our immune system, our lymph.
Our lymph fluid is rich in immune cells, which fight infection, kill cancer cells and remove our body’s toxic wastes. Our lymph vessels transport stray proteins, waste products and excess fluid by filtering it through our lymph nodes and eventually discharging what remains back into our bloodstream (via the subclavian veins under our collarbones).
Lymph is not pumped around the body in the same way that our heart pumps oxygenated blood. Instead, we rely on movement to transport and filter it through an average of 600 lymph nodes, located around our bodies. Our lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped organs that are found mostly in our abdomen, trunk, head and neck —areas exposed to foreign particles that could potentially cause disease. These nodes screen the lymph flowing through them for any problematic substances, bacteria, viruses or cancer cells, which can be engulfed and destroyed.
Aerial Yoga allows us to practise inverted poses in a relaxed, supported way, while minimising pressure on our neck—an area that is often at risk when we practise headstand or shoulderstand on the floor unassisted. The hammock’s support also means we can remain in inversions for longer than usual. When we invert, we direct the lymph flow from the nodes in our abdomen and trunk towards the head.
As an added bonus, the deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing we practice during yoga classes is known to create a vacuum effect in the torso that pulls our lymph fluid through to the bloodstream (Shields 1992).
So next time you gently hang upside-down and breathe deeply in your favourite Aerial Yoga inversion, you can be assured that you are not just having fun, but ensuring whole body health and longevity by boosting your immune system at the same time.
