Yoga Bliss

  To many, yoga bliss comes from spiritual awakening, as described in yoga teachings. I believe neuroscience offers a more specific explanation. It’s about biochemistry. Three Power Senses & Yoga Bliss In yoga, you move through a series of poses (asanas) that involve considerable proprioceptive input (sense of body awareness from input into the joints and muscles), vestibular input (sense of balance from moving in a different plane) and tactile input from deep pressure applied to your body against floor or wall. These three “primary” senses are our power senses. Strong input into these three, bolstered by deep breathing throughout the practice is the secret behind yoga bliss. “Primary senses?” You might be shaking your head. Don’t we have only five senses: touch, vision, hearing, smell, taste? No. These five senses are only what most people are aware of. In truth we have at least eight senses, including the vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive. During yoga...

      The arduous hour and a half Power Vinyasa class is at an   end. Lying on my back in Savasana (the corpse pose)— eyes closed and eyeballs fallen into the orbits, arms spread and legs open slightly wider than the hips, palms up and chin slightly pulled down—my body, heavy, melts into the floor. My breathing slows to 3 to 4 times per minute and a quiet peace   resides in my center. I am lost in the moment. Time stands still and my mind floats above the clouds. The experience is the closest I come to a   religious encounter. All the strenuous effort of the last hour and a half has been a preparation for this serene, meditative place. I never want to leave. Ahhh. Yoga bliss. Typical for me is this quiet stillness and serenity at the    end of Power Vinyasa Yoga: a vigorous, challenging Vinyasa-style practice consisting of a flowing, vigorous, dynamic seque...