EC Brighton runs free yoga classes twice a month (the next one is 25th of April) for any EC student studying at our Brighton school. It’s part of our keeping fit program where we do other activities such as football, jogging, and bootcamp, with more coming in the summer.
Here are a few words from our yoga instructor, Tsetsy, about yoga and circulation:
“One of the key to good health is proper blood circulation in the body. Yoga has a very beneficial effect on the heart and blood circulation and helps to keep the blood pressure normal.
“When you breath deeply during the yoga practice it enhances and improves the venous blood return to the heart.
“During the day we are standing or sitting and that can cause some accumulation of blood in the lower parts of the body. The distance from the heart to the legs is more than any other body part. Gravity pulls the blood downwards away from the heart as well. When we do inversions like headstand and shoulderstand, the heart has to pump blood against gravity, so the blood pressure can increase. Inverted postures are contraindicated to those suffering from hight blood pressure.
“I always end my yoga sessions with relaxation in which students lay down on there mats and completely relax (shavasana). That helps the flow of blood through the capillaries and maintains a proper circulation, without increasing the heart rate and blood pressure.”