84 A JOURNEY INTO YIN YOGA
Dr. Cowan concludes his article by stating, “If heart disease is fundamen-
tally caused by a deficiency in the parasympathetic nervous system, then the
solution is obviously to nurture and protect that system, which is the same as
saying we should nurture and protect ourselves” (2014).
Before we explore how all this relates to yin yoga, let’s also look at another
major killer, cancer. Cancer is predicted to overtake heart disease as the number
one killer in the United States. Estimates by the American Cancer Society are
that almost one in every two men will develop some type of cancer during
his lifetime. And for women, it is estimated that one-third will be diagnosed
with cancer (2016). Although these estimates are a tough pill to swallow, there
is a small shaft of hope. An emerging field, called psychoneuroimmunology,
or PNI, is one area of research that shows real promise in the fight against
cancer. PNI puts an emphasis on the mental, psychospiritual, and emotional
factors that make people susceptible to cancer. It also explores which factors
can contribute to better patient outcomes.
PNI says that the effect of stress on the autonomic nervous system, along
with the onslaught of chronic inflammation, have a massive impact on the
survival of cancer cells. Dr. Holloway, who has had a lot of success using his
NuCalm technology to work with cancer patients says the following (quoted
in Galitzer and Trivieri 2016, 86):Cancer isn’t something you catch. Cancer develops when your body’s
immune system is not taking care of rogue cells. Everybody develops
cancer cells every day, but your oncogene (a mutation of a gene in-
volved in normal cell growth) sends in a little protein message that
tells the cancer cells to die. This is called programmed cell death, or
apoptosis. It’s when this system, which is part of the immune system,
is not working that you can end up with cancer.We have explored in depth the consequences of chronic stress, sympathetic
dominance, and chronic inflammation. We know that the cause of diseases
that kill millions of people per year across the globe are linked to deficient
parasympathetic activity. So, where does yin yoga fit into the picture? Well,
it is relevant in so many ways. This is one of the most important messages I
want to convey in this book. The intention behind yin is slowing to allow the
body’s natural intelligence to achieve balance. In your yin yoga practice, you
diminish the sympathetic nervous system and engage the parasympathetic
nervous system. The stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline decrease, and
the feel-good hormones of serotonin and dopamine increase. Inflammation
lowers. The limbic brain, associated with fight or flight, is downregulated by