The Gift of Regulation: Spiral Motion Yoga and Metabolic Health (Part Three)

To Live is To Change

Metabolism is from the Greek metabolē "a change," from metaballein "to change," from meta "over" + ballein "to throw"... to change, or overthrow the status quo, in a continuous chemical reaction operating beyond its equilibrium state. Head back to Part Two for more depth on metabolism.

Churchill said:

 To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

My take on his sentiments in light of metabolism:

 To live is to change; to thrive is to regulate change.

But then again, I am a card-carrying Virgo. More poetic yet still accurate versions:

...to thrive is to dance with change.

...to thrive is to fall in rhythm with change.

...to thrive is to embrace change.

...to thrive is to cultivate change.

I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below!

Why Yoga Teachers need to engage with metabolic awareness

Understanding metabolism helps inform decisions about sequencing, intensity, and timing of practices toward the ultimate goal of personal regulation.

The body's complex network of chemical reactions, ever in flux, affects everything from energy production to hormone regulation, and knowing how these processes work is now at least as important as understanding how our bodies move.

Your passionate interest in metabolism becomes particularly relevant when working with students who have specific health conditions or fitness goals. With an understanding of metabolism, we begin to understand the synergy between systemic health and yoga's "tri guna" perspective on cosmological balance: tamasic (too slow), rajasic (too fast), and sattvic (just right) qualities.

Additionally, grasping these fundamental concepts allows yoga teachers to communicate more effectively with other healthcare providers and offer more informed guidance to their students.

What even is "metabolic health"?

The following levels of five markers define metabolic health:

1. Blood pressure (hypertension): high BP indicates systemic metabolic problems such as hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, decreased insulin sensitivity or diabetes mellitus.\

2. Fasting triglycerides: fat molecules in your blood when you haven't eaten for 8-12 hours.

3. Fasting high-density lipoprotein (HDL) "good" cholesterol: absorbs cholesterol in the blood and carries it back to the liver where it can be flushed it from the body.

4. Waist circumference: A high BMI indicates too much body fat, whereas a high waist circumference shows that a significant amount of the excess fat is visceral fat.

5. Fasting blood sugar: Normal range of glucose in the bloodstream

Dysregulation: When the balance is off

Metabolic syndrome refers to a condition associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, when three out of the five above markers, your warning lights, are in the danger zone. A diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome indicates a two- to four-fold increase in the risk of stroke, tripled risk for heart attack, and a severely elevated risk for diabetes.

Staying metabolically healthy requires a variety of activity, rest, plus social and nutritional habits that align with the circadian rhythm of mammalian life on this planet. In a word: regulation.

On a molecular level, our mitochondria are no different to the larger batteries in our lives (children) in the sense that they are happiest when we bathe them in the rhythm of regulation. What fascinates me is that these micro hubs of metabolism, the mitochondria, are the tiny batteries that supply energy not only to us mammals, but to all animals, plants, and even the formidable fungi.

This series of posts will explore the role of mitochondria in metabolism and joint health, how we access our molecular health through physical activity, and how keeping our movement intentionally "low friction" is key.

Stay tuned and wait for the next blog post OR sign up to my free newsletter below to make sure you get each post in the series straight to your inbox. You can check out the previous post in this series to soak up the basics on metabolism.