Why inversion makes you happier (science backed)

Demystifying inversions

First I think it’s important to demystify what an inversion is. And no this is not only a headstand. The key to practicing inversions is to bring the head below the heart. 

Inversions can be split into 4 categories:

1.     The One and only one – Down-dog. Coming into a V shape, you bring your heart on top of your head. This posture is great to lengthen the spine and the hamstrings. 

2.     The Anyone can do it ones – Standing Forward Fall (Uttanasana) or Wide-Legged Standing Forward Fall (Prasarita Padottanasana). Depending on how wide you want to open your legs and stretch your hamstrings, calves and hips, both postures are also great to improve digestion, reducing fatigue, anxiety and headache and insomnia. Everything we need right?

3.     The Take it easy ones – Also called the restorative ones if you feel low energy and want to have a close-to-the-ground practice, shoulder stands are great. My favorite ones are: Legs up the wall with something to elevate your hips, it changed my sleeping pattern so massively as I now fall asleep in few minutes vs 30 on average before (link to my sleep article). Plough pose is also great to balance the thyroid gland and stimulate the abdominal organs. Puppy pose is also a great chest opener while being in an inversion. Any pregnant lady seeking to create space? This one if for you!

4.     The Let’s be bold one – The ones triggering one of our primal fear, the fear of falling. From headstand/tripod to handstand, you have the choice and it’s like everything in life, do you practice and all is coming !

With that in mind, inversions can be practiced at all level. And you can include them in all of your practices depending as there will always be one that will match your mood or energy levels and give you what you need (energy or calm).

false truths

One thing I heard so many times in classes and would like to clarify: It is totally safe to practice inversion during your period. To me really it is a personal choice. The blood doesn’t change direction and cause harm. What does happen is that on the first few days of a women’s menstrual cycle, you can be feeling weaker and using a lot of energy in this natural process. So I would say if you are feeling weak and tired during menstruation then don’t risk injury in challenging poses that could harm you such as headstand. As anything in yoga or in life, I find it to be more about tuning in to what your body needs, it always knows.

contraindication

-       If you have high blood pressure: There already is a lot of pressure of the blood going towards the heart, the heart is already working hard to pump that pressure so we put additional pressure by bringing all of the body above the heart and this can be dangerous. It can create the small blood vessels to burst and even lead to haemorrhage.

-       If you have low blood pressure: It is not contraindicated but you need to be mindful. The pumping of the heart is done in a way that the blood does not have a lot of pressure on the blood vessels. When we go upside down all of the blood goes rush to the upper body which is fine but the problem comes when we exit the inversion and gravity brings the blood to rush down and leaving low nutrient to the brain hence why we feel dizzy and may faint.

What happens physiologically

Besides the lengthening and stretching (category 1 to 3) and the strength building for the upside down one, inversions help us tap into our endocrine system. Dr. Karen Koffler, medical director of Canyon Ranch Miami and formerly director of Integrative Medicine at Evanston Northwestern Hospital, explains the benefits of these inversions for the brain: 

Inverted positions that are assumed in yoga alter the blood flow (including lymphatic drainage) and flow of cerebral spinal fluid. If there is increased blood flow to the area, there will be increased bioavailability of oxygen and glucose—the two most important metabolic substrates for the brain. It follows then that cells bathed in a solution that is rich in factors required for the creation of neurotransmitters (like norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin) will be better able to produce these chemicals.

Norepinephrine is a naturally occurring chemical in the body that acts as both a stress hormone and neurotransmitter (a substance that sends signals between nerve cells). It's released into the blood as a stress hormone when the brain perceives that a stressful event has occurred. How come is this a good news? Because stress is vital to our survival (read more here).

Dopamine is the immediate pleasure hormone. Dopamine is released when we achieve something and feel good about it. Like when you tick a box on your to-do and feel like you are killing it, it is thanks to dopamine. 

Last but not least, serotonin is the hormone which makes us feel in control, calm, relaxed and able to deal with whatever life will throw at us. It is what we find in antidepressants so better stepping onto your mat than medicating yourself, don’t you think?

Now with regards to the lymphatic drainage. I am sure you heard about lymphatic massage before but may not know why it’s beneficial. The lymphatic system contains white blood cells and fluid/water (i.e the lymph). While blood vessels receive pressure from the heart pumping the blood, the lymphatic fluid is not pumped by any vessels. So our lymphatic system requires better movements to circulate. Thanks to yoga, we help the fluid to travel and the lymphatics system to be more effective. Muscle contraction helps the fluid to travel, the more it travels the more it is filtered and the less we get attacked by pathogens. Hence why yoga supports our immune response.

From lengthening and building your muscle mass to boosting your lymphatic system, inversions make your stronger as they protect you against injuries and virus. But this does not end here as the hormonal benefit is huge too, enabling you to tame your stress response to be in action rather than being stuck, you are more inclined to take a step back, pause and unfit your mind and actions. It also provides some nice rewarding feeling via the dopamine response making you feel on track and productive. Finally, serotonin flowing through your body will bring you form being overwhelmed and confused to feeling ready to deal with whatever life puts on your path, more empowered.

Next article will dive into how inversion teaches you about life.