The Importance of Organs in Yoga

We’re not just a bag of bones and muscles, we’re a (pretty magical) system of organs that function so well that we barely notice them - until we have a tummy ache or get sick.

We can function as humans without an arm, leg, quad, or tricep, but there’s no life without lungs to breathe in oxygen, a heart to pump oxygenated blood through the body, a digestive system to process food, kidneys and a liver to help filter, and a brain to think and interact with the world.

When our yoga practice is operating at its fullest potential, we don’t just get stronger and more flexible, we operate better as a system of life-giving organs.

A good backbend gives volume to the lungs. A good forward bend flushes the kidneys. A good inversion aids the heart and brings circulation to the whole body. A good twist benefits the liver, intestines, and more.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the nostrils are portals to the lungs, the mouth is a portal to the stomach, the eyes are portals to the liver, and the ears are portals to the kidneys. Everything is connected in a way that’s hard to understand when we’re so accustomed to holding everything together with our muscles and our willpower.

Everything affects everything, and in this way, our yoga practice extends beyond the poses into what we eat, how we breathe during the day, how we sleep, how we manage stress, and how we interact with others.

Said differently, yoga extends into a system of being rather than a system of poses, and the lines can be perfectly blurred between practice and reality.