WORKSHOPS

HATHA YOGA
Physical, Material and Spiritual Wellness of Being Human!

CHAPTER 4, EXCERPT:
THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF YOGA BY SWAMI VISHNU-DEVANADA

YOGA AND THE CELLS AND CIRCULATION

Now let us study Yogic exercises and their actions upon the minute cells of which the body is composed. The physical body is built of trillions of cells, each cell containing a miniature life and energy for a definite function. Individual lives are really only bits of some degree of intelligence enabling the cells to work properly. Though the cells function instinctively, they are subordinate to the control of man's central mind and readily obey orders, consciously or unconsciously.

Among living things, some animals consist of only one cell and are called unicellular; animals of more than one cell are called multi-cellular. Regardless of the number of cells, each has two main parts, the cytoplasm and the nucleus. The nucleus is a vital part of the cell and apparently the center for chemical activities necessary for its life.

A group of cells may be defined as a tissue. There are primarily four types of tissues. When various tissues of the body are put together in different ways, they form membranes and skin.

Considerable attention should be given to the skin as it is an important structure. There are various functions of the skin; it serves as a mechanical barrier to prevent injury to deep tissues; bacteria cannot penetrate readily through the dead cells of the outer layer and it protects against invasion by foreign organisms. It also acts as the sense of touch. From the color of the skin the conditions of the body can be determined. For example, in hypertension or in any other condition in which the skin's blood vessels are dilated, it is red. In anemia it will be pale, owing to the lower number of red corpuscles. It may appear purple in heart diseases and pneumonia, owing to the improper oxygenation of the blood. The skin appears yellow because of increase in bilirubin in the blood when a patient suffers from jaundice.

Much information can be gleaned if one studies the color changes of the skin. An increased amount of blood flowing through the skin vessels will keep the skin in a healthy condition. Also it is very important to remember here that various cells of the body, which are used like building bricks, obtain their energy and nourishment through the blood stream. Without proper material these cells cannot carry out their proper work. persons who are undernourished have not nearly the normal amount of blood cells and are consequently unable to have their systems function properly. The cells must have body-building material; there is only one way in which they can get this, and that is by means of nourishment from the food brought by the blood circulation, which is kept up easily through various Yogic movements and exercises.