#5 LYMPHATIC & IMMUNE SYSTEM: Yoga to Support the Immune System & Lymphatic Drainage
In class #5 of our Body Systems Yoga Series for Full Body Health, we will be focusing on the lymphatic and immune system with a 30 min vinyasa flow. The goal of this class is to support a healthy immune system and the healthy flow of lymphatic fluid throughout your body.
We will start with an introduction to this body system, to help you understand your body a little bit better. Next we will learn diaphragmatic pranayama (or belly breathing) to stimulate your thoracic duct (the largest lymphatic vessel in your body). Our bonus for this class will be a cervical lymphatic drainage osteopathic medicine technique you can try on yourself at home. Then we will get into our vinyasa style flow that was designed to get the body moving and flowing to support the immune system and get that lymphatic fluid draining even more. This whole series is designed for all levels, with harder poses mapped out in stages to allow each person to choose the level they are comfortable with.
All you will need is yourself and your mat– option to use blocks or straps to help support you in more difficult poses.
Click here for a curated playlist designed specifically for this flow: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2YmCzg16ZHclsHhPBZRUBU?si=619c251a4d3a4328
Full Transcript
Introduction to Lymphatic and Immune Health 0:00
[Music] hello hi I'm Dr Mariella wood and I'm a board certified family physician and certified yoga teacher and welcome back to day five of our body systems yoga series for full body Health today we'll be focused on the lymphatic system and the immune system so this is another personal favorite of mine our immune system is what helps us fight off infections it also helps us fight off cancer cells which a lot of people don't realize the lymphatic system goes along with the immune system and it's made up of lymph vessels and lymph nodes that are present all throughout your body so if our body notices something that's not supposed to be there we'll create these antibodies in the lymph nodes and then our lymph tissue will allow it to travel all throughout our body to kill it off our body recognizes cancer cells in the same way we are constantly creating abnormal cancerous cells in our body but our body has this system in place to recognize that and fight them off so today's flow will be a Vinyasa style flow to activate our lymphatic and immune system and increase lymphatic drainage all over our body I specifically say activate our immune system not boost our immune system or increase our immune system because when our immune system is boosted or working too well that's when we get autoimmune disorders or allergies so you really do have to be careful if you're taking an herb to boost your immune system because that's not exactly what we want to do in our bodies we want to support the system that's already in place so with that our special focus of today is going to be lymphatic drainage technique and a diaphragmatic breathing technique so when we do a lymphatic drainage technique we're literally increasing lymphatic flow to the specific area that we're working on this is really great for upper respiratory infections it's also great for post-op patients or people who just had surgery to help get the lymphatic fluid flowing throughout our body it's also great for reducing puffiness or swelling in the face especially when you first wake up in the morning and you need to get some drainage going in your face the diaphragmatic breathing technique or belly breathing technique that we'll be doing is going to activate the diaphragm and what's important about this is that our biggest lymphatic vessel in the body sits right next to the diaphragm so by activating the diaphragm we're actually activating that huge lymphatic vessel to help get lymphatic drainage going all throughout the body so with all that I hope you enjoy this flow and I'll see you on the map [Music] good all right so we're going to start with a diaphragmatic or belly breathing technique so to do this go ahead and lay down on your mats you can keep your knees bent or extend your legs out long without whatever is comfortable for you so to do this you're going to inhale and focus on expanding your belly out as much as you can so inhale expand the belly out as much as you can and then exhale to forcefully let it all out and press your belly into
Diaphragmatic Breathing and Cervical Lymph Drainage 3:00
your chest you can give yourself a little bit of a cyst try placing your hands just below your rib cage where your diaphragm is expand your belly out long on the inhale then exhale flow it out and press down into your diaphragm go through that a few more times inhaling deeply into the belly and then exhaling it fully all out press down into the diaphragm go through that two more times guys all right go ahead and bring yourself up to a seated position and we'll move on to a cervical lymphatic drainage technique so your cervical lymph nodes there's a lot of them they range all over from below your neck up to behind your ear go all the way down your neck into your clavicle a little bit so what you're going to do is you're going to take your thumbs place them just behind your your jawline right next to your ear press n and then gently draw your thumbs down your neck again bring your again bring your thumbs up to the nape of your jaw and then gently gliding them down in your neck you can start to move underneath the jaw always focusing on drawing from the neck down to your hearts so you're going to be brushing so you're going to be putting pressure down towards your heart wherever you're doing it from so underneath the jaw underneath the chin and go back to behind the ears and focus on one side more than the other gently and rhythmically train the lymph nodes down get the lymph flowing this technique is really great for puffiness in the morning if you have a lot of puffiness in your face or if you have an upper respiratory infection any viral illness any cough or colds you might have a little bit of swollen lymph nodes here behind your neck so just gently massaging them will help get the lymph flowing out of your lymph nodes flowing into the lymphatic tissue so that it can go and travel throughout your body let's do this a few more moments on your own stimulating all that lymphatic flow before we get into our yoga flow which will also stimulate synymphatic drainage here we're going to take a couple full deep breaths you can try the belly breathing again if you want or just take any clearing breath that feels good for you so flood of your eyes closed inhale deeply through the nose then audibly exhale out through the mouth again inhale deeply through the nose expand the belly and then exhale through the mouth let it all go all right go ahead and flutter your eyes open and we'll meet in a neutral tabletop position so from here your shoulders are going to be down and back shoulders stacked directly over your wrists stack directly over your knees tuck in your tailbone tuck into your belly you'll go through a few rounds of cat and cow to start so inhale to drop the belly gaze up to the sky your cow pose
Warm-Up: Cat-Cow, Thread the Needle, and Down Dog 7:00
and exhale around the spine tuck your chin cat pose inhale to drop the belly you guys up to the sky and then exhale to round the spine cat pose inhale to bring yourself into a neutral tabletop position and then we'll go through a little bit of thread the needle so inhale to lift your right arm up to the sky for gentle easy twist and exhale to thread the needle thread the left right arm underneath the left and then gently place your face down onto the ground inhale to lift your right arm back up to the sky and then exhale to place it back down to meet the left moving on to the other side now inhale your left arm up to the sky for a gentle twist and then exhale to thread the needle left arm underneath the right you place your cheek down onto the ground inhale to reach your left arm back up to the sky and then exhale to place it back down to a neutral tabletop position from here tuck your toes and then send your hips up and back for a downward facing dog from here I want you to Pedal your feet and specifically here I want to ask you to do this because it's just acting like a little bit of a pedal pump it's another osteopathic manual medicine technique that we use to get the lymph flowing throughout the body this is especially good if you've been in the hospital you're not really walking around a lot it's getting your calves moving getting your feet moving can start stimulating the lymphatic drainage from your feet and just get everything going throughout your body go ahead and find some Stillness here and then on an inhale lift your right leg up and back for a three-legged dog from here Bend into that right knee and open your hips up and start to bring a little bit of stretch into the groin area try to keep your shoulders Square to the ground as you open up through the hips inhale back up for a three-legged dog and then exhale back down for a downward facing dog moving on to the other side now inhale your left leg up and back for three-legged dog and then exhale to bend into that left knee open up your left hips try to keep your shoulders Square to the mat and roll out through the ankle here find any movement that feels good for you and on an inhale lift back up to a three-legged dog and then exhale for a downward facing dog from here inhale to lift your heels bend your knees and then hop forward to a
Standing Flow and Side Planks 10:00
seated position and we'll find a navasana boat pose bring your hands to prayer Heart Center you can place your feet down on the ground if that's more accessible to you we're going to go through a couple of boat twists so if you can raise your feet twist over to the right inhale left inhale right inhale left inhale right inhale left inhale two more right inhale left inhale exhale right inhale exhale left inhale and then release it all down from here come to stand at the top of your mat in tadasana Mountain pose inhale to reach your arms up to the sky then exhale firm that grow back bend inhale to lift back up and then exhale down through forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale forward fold this time inhale to sweep your arms up bend your knees for a chair position and place your hands to prayer Heart Center inhale to lift through the spine and then exhale to bring your left elbow out to the right knee or chair twist you won't stay here very long inhale back up to a chair and then exhale twist over to the left side inhale back up to a chair and then exhale forward fold inhale to lift up to a flat back and then exhale to plant your hands step back into a high plank position inhale to shift your weight forward over your wrists exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog it's like a full clearing deep breath in and out here inhale to fill the belly and then exhale to release it all side out from here inhale to lift your right leg up and back for a three-legged dog then exhale to step your right foot forward in between your hands for runners lunge inhale to lift your right arm up to the sky for Twisted runners and then exhale to Pivot your left foot back and open up to a side plank position inhale to step your right foot back behind you for a fallen star position [Music] and then exhale to Pivot forward and bring yourself back to the top of the mat for a runner's lunge inhale to lift up to a crescent pose and then exhale to straighten through that right leg step your left foot forward and then forward fold for a triangle pose trikonasana inhale here to lift and lengthen and then exhale back down forward fold inhale once more to lift and lengthen and then exhale to bend into that right knee and step back forward runner's lunge inhale to step your right foot forward to meet your left shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga inhale for an upward facing dog or Cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog inhale now to lift your left leg up and back for a three-legged dog and exhale step your left foot forward in between your right for a runner's lunge inhale to lift your left arm up to the sky and then exhale to plant your right foot firmly down into the ground and step back into a plank position side plank position inhale step your left foot back and open up into a fall in Star position while Wild Thing not Fallen star and then plant your left hand down on the ground pivot back forward to a runner's lunge inhale to lift up to a crescent lunge and then exhale to straighten through that left leg bring your right foot forward just slightly and forward fold to trichinasana Triangle pose inhale here to lift and lengthen and then exhale to fold a little bit deeper inhale once more to lift and lengthen and then bend deeply into that left knee and step back to a runner's lunge inhale to step your left foot back to meet your right shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back to a downward facing dog we'll take a full deep breath in and out here and then we'll go through that flow again this time adding on so inhale to fill the belly then exhale to audibly side all out on our next inhale lift your right leg up and back for a three-legged dog and then exhale to step your right foot forward in between your hands for a runner's lunge inhale to lift your right arm up to the sky for an easy twist and then exhale to open up onto a side plank position inhale to step your right foot back open up for a wild thing not bow and star and then exhale to bring yourself back to a runner's lunge to the top of the mat inhale to lift up into a crescent pose and then exhale for trichinasana triangle pose inhale here to lift and lengthen and then exhale back down to fold once more inhale here to lift and lengthen and then exhale to bend into that right knee and step back for a runner's lunge this time inhale to plant your left foot down on the ground and open up into a
Peak Flow: Eagle Pose 16:00
Warrior Two position bends deeply into that front right knee make sure your shoulders are down and back then inhale to shift your weight forward and open up into an extended side angle inhale to reverse the warrior keep the bend in that right knee and then exhale to cartwheel your hands down to frame your right foot for a runner's lunge inhale to step your right foot back shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga inhale for an upward facing dog or Cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog this time inhale to lift your left leg up and back for a three-legged dog and exhale to step your left foot forward in between your hands for runners lunge inhale to lift your left arm up for an easy twist and then exhale to open up into a side plank inhale to step your left foot back for a wild thing and then exhale to plant your left hand step back forward for a runner's lunge inhale to lift up to a crescent lunge and then exhale for triangle pose inhale to lift and lengthen and then exhale to fold a little bit deeper inhale again to lift and lengthen and then exhale to bend to that left knee step your right foot back or Runners lunge inhale to cartwheel your arms open and we'll meet in a Warrior Two position and then exhale to bend deeply into that right knee inhale here to lift through the spine and exhale bend a little bit deeper it's time inhale to shift your weight forward reach your right arm up to the sky and then exhale to reverse the warrior keeping the bend in that left knee inhale to Pivot forward back to the runner's lunge staying here for the exhale then inhale to step your right foot back shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog we'll take another clearing deep breath and in here inhaling to fill up your whole body with air and exhale to release it all out All Right Moving On One More Time adding on just a little bit more inhale your right leg up and back for three-legged dog and exhale to shift your weight forward step your right foot in between your hands for runners lunge inhale to reach your right arm up for an easy twist and then exhale open up to a side plank position inhale for a wild thing and then exhale runner's lunge inhale for crescent lunge and then exhale for triangle pose inhale step it back to the runner's lunge and then exhale open it up to a Warrior Two position inhale for extended side angle and then exhale to reverse your Warrior this time inhale open up for a star pose and then exhale for goddess pose shift around a little bit here Bend deeply make sure that your knees are pointed out toes are pointed out hand hands can be a prayer Heart Center or opened up on your next inhale open back up to a star position and then exhale to curl your hands to frame your right foot for runner's lunge inhale to step your right foot back shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga inhale for an upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to tuck your toes lift your hips up and back for a downward facing dog
Cool Down and Final Relaxation 20:00
all right one more side here inhale your left leg up and back for a three-legged dog and then exhale to step your left foot forward in between your hands for runners lunge inhale to lift your left arm up to the sky and then exhale open up into a side plank inhale for Wild Thing and then exhale back to runner's lunge inhale for crescent pose and then exhale for triangle pose inhale for runners lunge and then exhale to open up into a Warrior Two position inhale for extended side angle then exhale to reverse your Warrior this time inhale to open up into a star pose toes pointed out and then exhale to sink down into goddess pose find some movement here sway back and forth foreign hands can be a prayer Heart Center or opened up into gold post arms inhale to lift up into a star position and then exhale to cartwheel your hands down to frame your left foot for a runner's lunge inhale to step your right foot back shift your weight forward over your wrists and then exhale down through chaturanga dandasana inhale for Upward facing dog or cobra and then exhale to lift back and up to a downward facing dog all right go ahead and drop down to your knees towel off get some water take a little bit of a rest here and then we'll go through one more Peak pose before we cool down all right when you're ready we'll meet standing on our mat and our Peak pose of the day is Eagle pose so lots of twists and pressure points activating our lymphatic system getting everything flowing so for Eagle pose go ahead and wrap your right arm underneath your left like so really press your forearms out so you can feel a stretch through your shoulders then lift your right knee and wrap it around the left you can either kickstand the foots bring it up here or wrap it around your ankle if that's accessible for you and then start to bend deeply into this equal pose again stretching out so you can feel the stretch in your shoulders bending deeply into the knees we'll hold here for just a few rounds of breath one more breath all right inhale it Up release it out shake it out before you move on to the other side this time wrap your left arm underneath the right really broaden through the chest stretch out you'll feel the you'll feel the stretch through your trap muscles in the back of your neck and shoulders lift your left leg up this time wrap it around the right and again you can kick stand keep the foot lifted wrap it around your ankle whatever is accessible for you and then bend deeply into the knees stretch your forearms out to the front we'll stay here for two full rounds of breath all right inhale to lift it up Shake It Out release anything that might be bothering you move on to our cool down so when you're ready let's all find our way onto our backs so go ahead and lay down on your mat and we'll first start with a happy baby pose so for happy baby bend your knees up you can grab for your for your thighs your shins your feet whatever is accessible for you but make sure to keep your low back pressed firmly down into the mat and from here you can find some Stillness you can sway side to side do what you need to do for your body all right release the knees in keep your right knee into your chest extend your left leg out long we'll do a supine spinal twist so grab the right knee with your left hand and pull it on over to the left side of your mat extend your right arm out long just release Here feel the nice gentle twist all right bring your right knee back into the chest give it a squeeze release it down long and we'll switch to the other side pull your left knee into your chest give it a squeeze as well and then take your right hand grab the left knee and pull that knee over to the right side extend your left arm out long to the side and just enjoy this nice gentle easy twist position all right go ahead and bring your left knee back into the chest pull the right knee in to meet it and give it a tight squeeze curl up into a little ball as tight as you can and then release everything out long into shavasana her final resting position let everything go let the breath go release any feelings or Sensations and just be in this present moment then go ahead and pause the video here if you'd like to stay in shavasana a while longer but if you'd like to be guided out I'll guide you out here in a minute or two so feel free to just relax and I'll let you know when we're ready all right go ahead and start to bring some movement into your fingers and your toes wiggle them around maybe roll out the wrists roll out the ankles take a full body stretch do whatever feels nice for you and take your time whenever you're ready all meet up into a seated position foreign go ahead and bring your hands to prayer Heart Center and if it's in your practice you can bring your thumbs to your third eye The Light in Me honors the light inside each and all of you namaste [Music]
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