As a certified yoga instructor and teacher trainer with over 20yrs experience, I can tell you that studies have been recently conducted that point to a surge in seratonin, dopamine, and endorphins can be present in the body after practicing yoga.
Which type of yoga practiced as well as how well you control your breathing, how deeply you are able to get into the poses (don’t ever force yourself), and how well you hydrate and feed your body has a lot to do with how much of that dreamy cocktail is expressed.
Sometimes (unless you have a lot of experience with controlled substances— in which case some forms of yoga are really a great way to detox) it’s just that until you breathe deeply and control your breath and elongated your spine so that the sinovial fluid is really able to go to where it needs to be, YOU NEVER KNEW THAT THIS IS HOW GOOD YOUR BODY IS SUPPOSED TO FEEL… that this euphoric state is the desired state of the human body.
For example, if you sit at an office desk all day and don’t have ideal posture, you tend to not breathe fully— you breathe from the top third of your lungs… now, your body can live without food for quite a while, without water for a few days, but without oxygen ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES(give or take).
Your lungs are the size they are for a reason… (I know they are large for helping us run away from saber toothed tigers) but when you don’t breathe fully a couple things begin to happen.
1. Your body begins to automatically triage the use of oxygen. Oxygen is necessary for every process in the body. Obviously the heart and brain are going to get it first, but if you have just eaten, then oxygenated blood is needed for digestion.. now maybe you get foggy after a big meal, you get tired in the afternoon a couple hours after lunch and reach for that coffee or cola( just doing some pranayama breathing for like 2 min would accomplish much more).
2.Your lungs aren’t stretched/exercised to full capacity so their function/elasticity declines …
3.Your posture begins to affect your health. When you sit for long periods over 20–30 min. As most people do at office jobs, the hamstrings get tight, hip flexors get tight, and glutes lose strength… these are major muscles that help support the body… I didn’t even get into fascia and how it freezes/gets stuck in places/loses elasticity… and didn’t even get started on the muscles of the spine itself. There are also studies that have been conducted on aging populations and how using these big muscles of the legs keeps your mind sharp).
Fascia runs through your whole body, through organs, etc(there are like 5 different types of Fascia in the body… you can google it, but it is enervated (which means it can feel pain) and needs blood flow/oxygenation and lubrication(hydration).
If you took everything out of your body except Fascia, you’d be left with a network of Fascia that looks like a loofah in the shape of your body… many studies are finding out that some of those mystery pains that doctors can’t find a reason for, are really due to unhealthy fascia…
Tight Fascia inhibits organ function, contributes to high blood pressure, etc.
Yoga is a 10000 yr old healthcare system that works all the Fascia of the body in conjunction with proper oxygenation (breathing) and hydration, etc.
This is done properly through proper sequencing from a really well trained yoga instructor (there are a lot of instructors who have no clue about proper sequencing or even the knowledge that I have just provided …sigh…)
So, no quick answer to your question here, but congratulations on experiencing a symptom of being on the path to better/ideal health… many people who get adjusted by a good chiropractor because of the freeing/unlocking of the spine, feel the same way.
PLEASE NOTE: it is always a possibility that if you are on any medication, it may need to be adjusted because after practicing yoga for a while, your body changes.. it can ALSO be possible that you are experiencing dehydration or low sugar symptoms… feeling “woozy” because of low sugar or lack of hydration or meds that need to be adjusted some people confuse with “high”… woozy is not euphoric, a natural “yoga high” is … but, if you are well hydrated and are managing your food intake and not on any medication, congratulations on experiencing how great your body can feel!!
My gratitude to: Ms.Charisse Tenewitz for giving valuable tips.