Yoga's effect on bloodstream

Deep breathing in yoga anatomically compresses the veins in the abdomen and pushes blood towards the chest into the heart. And then it reverses, causing blood in both legs to be pulled toward the abdomen. The cycle continues, improving the venous return to the heart.

Yoga improves venous return to heart

So, it's not just the breath that protect us, but the circulation of our blood to and from the heart. Blood gives us life just as breath.

Blood is actually a healing entity as injured ligaments (fibrous connective tissue, connecting bones to joints) of the body heal slower than muscles, for example, because ligaments lack blood supply. As my blood pumps through, it's healing me cell by cell.

Blood is a healing entity

Inversions in yoga (i.e., inverting the body upside down) reverse the gravitation pull of blood downward away from the heart, which increases the venous return from the legs to the heart, improving circulation. (People with high blood pressure should know that inversions can increase blood pressure).

Inversions reverse the blood flow and some yoga sages say it reverses aging, but physiologically the inversion of the body changes the feeling in the body because gravity is a factor. Our body knows which way is up and down, and when it changes, it exerts a different set of rules on the homeostasis we are used to feeling.