Kundalini Global and endorphins are pretty synonymous with one another. Some of the characteristic aspects of a Kundalini Global yoga class are consciously chosen to be within our practice as a way to encourage their release.
The primary function of endorphins is thought to be to relieve stress and pain. Yes, endorphins make you feel great… happy… high… but perhaps not in the way you believe that they do.
They actually make you feel better by acting as an analgesic, meaning they act to relieve pain or, more accurately, diminish your perception of pain. They also act as a sedative.
Endorphins are important to us as humans. They are released during painful experiences, like if you bang your funny bone on the door frame, to temporarily relieve pain and discomfort. And they’re also released during pleasurable moments, such as during sex, eating chocolate and post exercise. It is widely considered that they have some role in how we perceive pleasure and pain.
Internal morphine
The etymology of the word endorphin is from the two words “endogenous,” which means ‘having an internal cause or origin’ and ‘morphine,’ which is an opioid pain reliever.
They are primary produced in the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, though it is thought that they may well come from other parts of the body too.
They are released as a response to brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. We have a specific type of neuron receptor that endorphins bind to, the same receptors that bind to many common pain medications.
Endorphins and dopamine, and our interoceptive awareness of how they feel, are often confused because they are both chemicals that make us feel good, happy…
They do have an intrinsic connection, though, because when endorphins bind to those previously mentioned receptors of the central nervous system, dopamine is released too.
Endorphins make you high?!
Endorphins aren’t well known for their ability to block pain signals… they are in common parlance because of a belief that they are responsible for what is often described as a ‘runners high’ – or a kind of exercise related altered state of consciousness/euphoria.
It has long been thought that a runner’s high was caused by an enormous rush of endorphins and that the combination of endorphins and dopamine are a huge part in why things like running, but also Kundalini Yoga (and any high-effort endeavour for the body) make people feel so good and keeps them coming back.
This isn’t necessarily the full picture, though. Scientists have studied the topic extensively and have long suspected that endocannabinoids, and not endorphins, are behind our experiences of exercise-induced euphoria, as well as the lower levels of stress and anxiety many experience during their post exercise altered state of being.
Endorphins can’t pass the blood brain barrier
A study published last year called Exercise-induced euphoria and anxiolysis do not depend on endogenous opioids in humans, found that “endorphins do not play a significant role in the underlying mechanism of a runner’s high” and that any post exercise bliss actually depends on cannabinoid receptors and not opioid receptors, as previously believed by many.
One of the reasons this is thought likely, and became an area of study, is that endocannabinoids are easily able to cross the blood-brain barrier, unlike endorphins, which are too large to do that.
It’s unlikely that many of us mind, too much, what it is within ourselves that create a ‘natural high,’ and it is widely shown in study that effortful exercise correlates with higher levels of endorphins. And who doesn’t want more natural opioids? Less pain? A slight sedation that helps allow us to be still, and to experience stillness differently?
Endocannabinoids and euphoria?
Endocannabinoids are also fascinating. So it’s pretty cool that they, too, may be playing a big role in how our Kundalini Global yoga classes make us feel.
The endocannabinoid system is a complicated cell-signaling system within us all that was first identified in the early 1990s by researchers exploring THC, the cannabinoid – the compounds found in cannabis.
It’s not a fully understood system (what is?) But it is widely believed to play a role in regulating sleep, mood, appetite, memory and fertility
Endocannabinoids are made by your body to help keep internal functions running smoothly. Your body produces them ‘as needed’ and study (including the one linked above) suggest that our post-class ‘high’ may be more about the increased levels of endocannabinoids than endorphins.
Change how you feel
Research is ongoing into this topic, what we do know is that, whilst endocannabinoids may be that leads to feelings of euphoria after or during a class, in most cases, the body releases an assortment of neurotransmitters and hormones simultaneously during pain and pleasure, and so endorphins, endocannabinoids, and dopamine are close pals. In relationship to one another. And all part of the work we can do, the agency we can have, in changing how we feel though things like Kundalini Global yoga.
Rolling a joint and not smoking it…
Carolyn Cowan has said that to not allow ourselves to experience how our breathwork and posture work makes us feel, by being gentle, soft and still, after each, is like rolling a joint and not smoking it. This research and thought into the role of endocannabinoids in feeling ‘high’ or just really great, after effort, makes this statement more literal than it may previously have been. Hold onto that idea during your next 90 second plank!
Find a class
If you want to play with changing how you feel, and are curious to see if one of our teachers may be the person to guide you through changing hormonal flow through yoga, go check out our teacher’s page to find your next class!
