If you get sick more times a year than Lauren Conrad swears off best friends, you may be able to blame your immune system—a team of trillions of white blood cells that, when healthy, attacks unwelcome invaders like viruses. Some immune systems fight certain invaders better than others depending on several factors, including the route by which the bugs entered the body (i.e., nose vs. mouth) and how well the body has demolished them in the past, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Yoga can help stimulate the four main physiological systems that are linked to the immune system: the circulatory, digestive, nervous, and endocrine systems, says Surya Kolpakov, a certified yoga therapist and owner of Aranama Studio in Newton Center, Massachusetts. Poses that affect at least one of these four systems help bolster immune function, says Kolpakov, who teaches workshops on yoga for immunity. “For example, I’ve found that bow pose is one of the best ways to stimulate digestion and improve immunity,” he says. To help stave off colds and other bothersome bugs, he recommends these immunity-boosting poses.
Down dog vinyasa
This short dynamic sequence, targeting the circulatory system, is an excellent all-around warm-up. It stretches and strengthens most of the major muscle groups, promoting circulation and helping white blood cells move through the body to fight invaders.
1. Begin in plank pose splaying your fingers out wide on the mat to create a firm base.
2. Lift your hips up into downward-facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana). Take a couple of long breaths here.
3. Slowly lower the hips and bring the body parallel to the floor, returning to plank pose.
4. If comfortable, lower the hips even further bringing the chest through the upper arms into upward-facing dog pose (urdhva mukha svanasana) or cobra pose (bhujangasana). In either cobra or up dog, avoid locking your elbows, keep your back long, and stretch the whole front of the body by gently lifting the chest. Keep your neck in line with your spine, gently stretching your chin forward without pinching your neck. Take another long breath here.
5. On your next inhale, smoothly and fluidly move back to down dog by curling your toes under, pressing your palms firmly into the floor, lifting your knees off the floor and raising your hips up and back. Straighten your knees as much as is comfortable.
6. Exhale right back to plank pose.
7. Inhale slowly to up dog or cobra again.
8. Exhale back to plank.
9. Inhale back to down dog.
10. Repeat this sequence five to eight times.