Day 5: Physiology

The study of exercise physiology is to understand how the body responds to the various demands placed on it by exercise.  Even within the health and fitness industries the term “fitness” is not universally defined.  For this practice, we define physical fitness as the capacity of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles to function at a high level of efficiency through out daily life and recreational activities.  Are we living life through energetic vitality or are we drudging along from one coffee pot to the next? There are five main components of physical fitness: 

1. Strength
2. Stamina
3. Cardiovascular Endurance
4. Flexibility
5. Body Composition

To compliment these there are in turn five general motor skills:

1. Power
2. Coordination
3. Agility
4. Balance
5. Accuracy

Together these 10 elements of fitness provide a measurable road map to the constant evolution of the body/being. A fitness regimen develops fitness to the extent that it improves each of these ten parameters.  We will get into each of these components later in this program but for now simply understand that you are actively improving each of these skills on a daily basis as you move through this process.

Physiology seeks to understand the biological and bio-mechanical processes which give rise to each of these elements. But before these things can be accomplished we must first be alive. What is it that keeps us alive?  There are three main nutrients which the body requires to continue it’s life processes.

• Oxygen
• Water
• Food

Oxygen is the single most important nutrient in the body.  A person can live for days without water and weeks without food, but five minutes without oxygen and life is gone.  With every breath the lungs fill with oxygen and the heart pumps this nourishment through out the entire body in an endless cycle called the cardio-respiratory system.  If food is the fuel for the fire, then oxygen is the match to ignite it. The ability of the heart and lungs to distribute this element throughout the body efficiently is the deciding factor in the search for vitality.

Water is the second most important nutrient. The body is over 70% water and it uses water for practically every process that it carries out.  Water is a lubricant aiding the flow of blood cells and other nutrients and a solvent dissolving wastes and carrying them away. The traditional notion is that a person should consume 8 glasses of water a day, but this should be considered a bare minimum. Water nourishes, cleanses, bonds, and supports every system in the body.

Food is the final ingredient for a sustainable organism.  Because all life must consume life, the quality of the food we ingest is intimately tied to the quality of life and energy we experience from it.  Are we consuming live foods with living water or are we consuming chemicals, preservatives and pesticides that require energy to be eliminated from the body?  Is the body ever allowed to eliminate these substances or are they loaded into the system over and over like tar in a smokers lungs?  Eating fresh foods with live water is necessary for the body to maintain a healthy and efficient state of operation.

Over the next few days think about how you are breathing, how much water you are drinking and what types of food you are eating and notice how this small internal shift can make the entire experience of each bring about a life of its own.

Exercise:

The goal of this exercise is to notice what we call the oxygen effect.  Breathe in and out through your nose in equal measures as fast as you can to the count of 50 with each exhale being one. Inhale, exhale-one; inhale, exhale-two, in rapid succession.  On conclusion, take a deep breath and let the whole body relax into the exhale.  Notice if you feel any different. In Kundalini yoga this is called Breath of Fire and is meant to oxygenate the blood, expel carbon dioxide, stimulate the pituitary gland, and balance both hemispheres of the brain.

In the comment section below tell me what this “oxygen effect” feels like to you.  Is it a pleasing sensation or does it make you uncomfortable?

Assignment:

Log into WordPress and write a post to the main page entitled, “What I’ve Learned so Far”.  After five days of practice tell me what you have learned about your body so far in this process.  What discoveries have you made about feeling awareness and cardiovascular endurance?  Have you noticed any difference in the feeling of your daily life?

Finally, jump into todays session which will be your last time doing this sequence.  Try to perfect each movement and prepare yourself to perform any one of them on camera for your review!

Checklist:

1. Read lesson
2. Leave comment
3. Post to main page
4. Do BJ session

Stay in your center, and free yourself!

SaTek