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Truth time: Our brains don’t know the difference between being chased by a tiger and being pinged by a triggering email. Both activate the amygdala the part of our brain that kicks on when we are in distress and perceive a danger (real or imagined).
This brings on the fight-flight-freeze response. Hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline flood your system, creating intense and immediate reactions: Your heart rate increases, your palms sweat, and you may feel the urge to run or hide until the danger goes away.
This biological response can save your life when you’re in real and urgent peril. But when the reaction is repeatedly triggered by non-life-threatening events, the constant onslaught of hormones can take a toll on your immune system, mess with your gut health, and leave you more susceptible to long-term mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
We know that exercise is great for our general health, but can mindful movement like vinyasa yoga also boost our immunity?
“Exercise and movement are very important for supporting our immunity and overall health,” says Dr. Vani Gandhi, an infectious diseases and integrative medicine specialist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. But when it comes to immunity, not all forms of exercise are equal.
“There’s a relatively new field of medicine called exercise immunology,” Gandhi says. “Studies have shown that moderate exercise can activate immune cells, which have anti-inflammatory effects. On the other hand, evidence shows that high-intensity exercise, like intense competition events, is associated with physiologic and metabolic stress, which are linked to immune system dysfunction and inflammation. A short yoga session or a 45-minute walk is very different on the body compared to a 26-mile marathon race.”