Those of you who have practiced yoga with me may already know that I am a big fan of yawning, especially when practicing Yoga. When animals wake up from a nap, they usually yawn and stretch before doing any physical exertion.
Yawning increases the following substances’ levels and maybe the long sought after ‘Fountain of Youth.’
All of the substances mentioned above are important, but I would like to focus on just one – Nitric Oxide, and its potential role in fighting COVID-19.
There are several ways in which NO (Nitric Oxide) can help patients with COVID-19. NO is known to be a powerful vasodilator. It lowers blood pressure and improves circulation. But NO also serves to dilate blood vessels in the lungs allowing oxygen to be more readily absorbed. NO also preserves surfactant function in the lungs, which is often part of the treatment of respiratory distress. NO is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent. But of special interest is NO’s antiviral effects.
In a paper published three months ago, researchers found that an effective way of treating the coronavirus behind the 2003 SARS epidemic using Nitric Oxide also works on the closely related SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. NO was shown to inhibit viral protein and RNA synthesis – essential stages of viral reproduction of both SARS and COVID-19. It was especially effective in the early stages of infection.
According to the lead researcher on this study, “To our knowledge, nitric oxide is the only substance shown so far to have a direct effect on SARS-CoV-2” www.sciencedaily.com
In addition to yawning, how can we increase our own naturally occurring Nitric Oxide levels? It turns out that the kind of exercise and the passive stretching associated with Yoga increases NO in muscles and fascia throughout the body.
But what I really want to talk about is the impact of yogic breathing and chanting on Nitric Oxide levels in the nasal passages and respiratory tract – which is the front line for COVID-19 infections.
A few years ago, we discovered that respiratory Nitrous Oxide is primarily produced in the paranasal sinuses – a group of four air-filled spaces that surround the nasal cavity and then distributed throughout the lungs by the slow nasal breathing that we practice in Yoga. There is a growing conviction among researchers that nasal breathing can help prevent many respiratory illnesses like colds and flu. But my favorite study on this topic found that humming creates seven times more nitric oxide than a normal exhalation. www.atsjournals.org
After reading this paper, I realized that I owe an apology to one of my yoga teachers from when I was a teenager. At the end of a class, they explained that chanting Aum helps prevent respiratory illnesses. As much as I loved this teacher, I remember rolling my eyes!
It seems that Yoga has held its ground over my lifetime, and it has been science that has had to catch up!
