Why Your Immune System Needs Movement

Your daily movement practice isn’t just good for mobility, but actively improves your immune system.

You have two types of immunity: 

1. general (your skin, mucous membranes, and fluid secretions like saliva and stomach acid) that prevents infiltration 

2. specific (T + B cells that recognize and attack specific infiltrators)

The walls of your blood vessels are made up of epithelial cells that are electrically charged to repel the blood cells and proteins to the centre of the blood vessel, allowing oxygen and dissolved nutrients to pass through the walls into the surrounding interstitial fluid. 

Most of this interstitial fluid gets reabsorbed back into the bloodstream, but the interstitial fluid that has dissolved waste and debris gets absorbed into the lymphatic system.

Once this interstitial fluid is absorbed into the lymphatic system, it becomes lymph, which then gets circulated through a series of nodes containing T and B cells that will break down and eliminate the waste + debris. 

This is where your daily movement practice comes in. 

Unlike blood, which gets pumped by the heart automatically by the autonomic nervous system, circulation of lymph is dependent on skeletal muscle contraction. That means you need to move your body to move lymph through its screening system of nodes. 

This means that your daily movement practice, whether that be yoga, weight lifting, or dog-walking, is much more than fitness, aesthetics, or devotion. Movement is one of the ways your body maintains and protects itself. 

Your body was designed to move.

Not as punishment.

But because movement is deeply connected to the way your body functions, heals, adapts, and survives.

If you want to support your immune system, don’t underestimate the power of a consistent daily movement practice. Even a 20-minute practice 4x a week can make a meaningful difference. 

And if you’re looking for a place to begin, join me for class. We’ll build a sustainable practice rooted in well-being and devotion. Because when you feel good in your body, you feel good about your body.