There have always been those in the yoga and ‘wellness’ communities who have distrusted science and ‘conventional’ medicine. However,  it does seem to be a growing – or at least more visible- trend, along with a distrust of experts of any kind, with many claiming that it is part of some global conspiracy (There may be a conspiracy – but that isn’t’ it!) Those of you who are, or who know, scientists involved in research know this, and find it laughable. Science is a good thing. The word ‘science’ comes from the Latin for knowledge. It is how we know things. 

Yoga cures old age (no, not really!)

There are many claims, like the one above, in the widely read yoga texts about the benefits of asana and pranayama practices on the various organs and systems of the body, and it is still common to hear yoga teachers repeating some of the more questionable claims as though they were facts.[i] However, it is specifically yoga’s effects on the immune system that  I want to talk about here. This was prompted recently, by Russell Brand (who is not a yoga teacher) sharing an ‘immune boosting’ Kundalini yoga breathing exercise on his Instagram page.[ii]

I have many issues with this, but the first and perhaps most important one is – can a yoga exercise ‘boost’ your immunity?

The short answer is no, because ‘boosting’ the immune system isn’t even a thing. The longer answer, is, our immune systems are way more complex and less easy to influence than that. That yoga, or diet or supplements (or any of the other things that people have to sell) can make for a better immune system misunderstands and misrepresents how the immune system (not really a system at all) actually functions. I link to some videos below for an excellent overview.

What is Yoga good for then?

There is really good evidence for yoga’s efficacy in reducing stress, and thus influencing the ways in the which the body negatively responds to stress, such as reduced immune function. So, whilst yoga can certainly play a role in helping to restore healthier immune function, to say that this means specific yoga postures or breathing exercises ‘boost’ the immune system is a stretch. To make such a claim is misleading and it’s unethical.  I link to a review of studies below, for evidence relating to yoga and immunity.

Influence

Perhaps more significant, is Brand’s influence. He has 2.2 million Instagram followers, and that particular post had over 173,000 views, with many positive comments. Such reach and influence carries power and responsibility.  He does say that he’s not a qualified Kundalini yoga teacher at the beginning of the video, but even if he was, the health claims are spurious. Does he know what he actually means when he tells people that the practice will ‘boost’ their immunity? Really?

Immunity-shaming?*

Furthermore, this ‘immunity-shaming’ dog-whistles a much more insidious and inherently ableist narrative that has additional classist and racist undertones. Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, there has been a constant, unrelenting rhetoric amongst ‘wellness’ professionals about Covid-19 and immunity. The suggestion (and in many cases outright claim) being that ‘healthy’ individuals with a robust immune system don’t have anything to worry about. Added to this, is the oft repeated ‘existing medical conditions’ qualifier, presumably used to reassure the rest of us that – don’t worry-  it’s only sick, old and disabled people that are dying.

What do people actually mean when they say that it’s only people with ‘underlying health conditions’ who are dying from Covid? That these people are expendable? That they are somehow responsible for, and therefore deserving of, their fate? Even if they could try and justify that attitude for – say –smokers (which, by the way, they can’t) what about those  people classed as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ who have conditions that have absolutely nothing to do with their lifestyles? [iii]

Many people live with health conditions and disabilities, or receive medical treatments which mean that their immune function is  inherently compromised. I have a relative, for example, who doesn’t have a spleen because it was surgically removed.[iv] I also work with people whose immunity is compromised because they are going through cancer treatment.

That serious health inequalities exist amongst those with low incomes, precarious housing, and among people of colour, makes the whole ‘let’s do yoga to boost our immune system’ conversation even more distasteful. It promotes ideas of health and wellbeing that are – like the privilege of eschewing essential vaccination – blinkered, unscientific and, frankly, harmful.  


Footnotes

[i] The Yoga classic BKS Iyengar’s ‘Light on Yoga’ is full of such claims.

[ii] https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKUd8DRjEB3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[iii] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/whos-at-higher-risk-from-coronavirus/#:~:text=People%20at%20moderate%20risk%20(,(such%20as%20hepatitis)

[iv] [iv] The spleen has a significant role in immune function, removal can lead to compromised immunity https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spleen-problems-and-spleen-removal

*’Immunity Shaming’ term stolen from Matthew Remski, of the excellent Conspirituality Podcast. I encourage you to listen.

Resources

The Immune System

My favourite A&P resource Crash Course present no-nonsense, factual, well researched and entertaining videos. Below, two on the immune system for an excellent overview. Worth noting is the difference between innate and adaptive immunity.

Yoga and immunity

Yoga and immune system functioning: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

“Immune Boosting” in the time of COVID: selling immunity on Instagram

I am linking here to an excellent course by my colleague Charlotte Watts which explores a good solid evidence-based approach to yoga, the nervous system, and immunity https://www.yogacampus.com/courses/specialist-training-courses/teaching-yoga-for-immune-and-respiratory-health

Health Inequalities

Health inequalities: the hidden cost of COVID-19 in NHS hospital trusts?

https://www.health.org.uk/topics/inequalities

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/what-are-health-inequalities

Covid-19 Vaccination

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination-programme/key-vaccination-information

Immune ‘Boosting’ Bullshit!
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4 thoughts on “Immune ‘Boosting’ Bullshit!

  • March 22, 2021 at 8:21 am
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    Thank you for this article and all of the links and additional resources. I found this so interesting, so glad I discovered you. I look forward to learning more.

  • March 4, 2021 at 7:51 pm
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    Thankyou for your comment. I’m not sure if you have understood where I was really coming from, which is: absolutely honouring the tradition of Yoga and its origins, and being very suspicious of the modern (western) commercialisation of Yoga, which is the whole premise of the post, so I’m not sure what you actually read?

    I can only guess your comment was hurriedly written in a state of feeling triggered. In that case I invite you to read the article again, and then taking time to figure out WHY you’re triggered by it. Because I don’t think I’ve said anything that isn’t true. You are clearly annoyed by my tone (I do mention this in the first paragraph of the follow-up blog) which I’ll own (although I think venemous is a tad hyperbolic) and I do wonder, although I don’t really know, if perhaps because you, or members of your network, have engaged in ‘Yoga for Long Covid’ or ‘immune boosting’ or similar, and feel shamed? I’m sorry if so. Something to think about.

    When you say “Without such insight, wisdom, and proper guidance, modern day “yoga” is asana without understanding, faith, or intention, and therefore, merely remains at the level of physical exercise.” I wholeheartedly agree! My ‘qualifications’ are much less relevant than my thirty-year practice.

    Where we most definitely and wholeheartedly part company is in your holding up of Jois and Iyengar as paragons of yogic virtue! I’m sure you are well aware of the concerns surroundung both these figures, but I point you to Matthew Remski’s excellent book “Practice and All Is Coming: Abuse, Cult Dynamics, and Healing in Yoga and Beyond” for deeper context.

    Go well.

  • March 4, 2021 at 5:51 pm
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    mmm…neither beautiful nor kind…but pretty agressively pretty judgmental…I THINK I CAN see where you’re coming from..and if it had not been delivered with such uneccessary venom,I may have respected at least some of it…..surely,the irony of a white westerner judging how others work with,or how others perceive themselves to be benefiting from a very ancient practice (without declaring themselves to be ‘a senior teacher’,or ‘professional’) rooted NOT in western tradition,(and possibly not fully understood by this ‘senior teacher??)including Iyengar cannot be entirely lost on you?’“To practice asana and pranayama is to learn to control the body and the senses, so that the inner light can be experienced. That light is the same for the whole world.” – Jois (or just for a few select westerners ‘in the know’,with ‘the right qualifications’,belonging to ‘the right associations’)?)

    Unfortunately, the likes of Iygenar and Jois are difficult to come by, especially in much of today’s yoga culture which is driven by a Western-mentality of commercialization and commodification. Without such insight, wisdom, and proper guidance, modern day “yoga” is asana without understanding, faith, or intention, and therefore, merely remains at the level of physical exercise.’….

  • January 28, 2021 at 6:34 am
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    This is a lovely, pointed, accurate commentary. It evinces a love for the community, combined with an impatience with bullshit. It is also just the right length. You are absolutely right — the immune system is not a muscle to be strengthened, nor an engine to be supercharged. It is more wonderful, subtle and complex than anything we know in our everyday lives, which is why it is so tempting to force it into something simpler, easier to understand, a thing which can be “boosted”. Your references are excellent. Let me recommend also “Roitt’s Essential Immunology” and “Janeway’s Immunobiology” as good sources of information. In Denver, we have a Mini-Med-School for the general public (of whom I am one), where the curious can get a quick grounding in biomedical fundamentals. Your readers may find something similar in their respective areas. Thanks very much for a beautifully focused commentary!

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