If you're looking to improve your mind and body, you’ve probably considered taking up yoga. Understanding the benefits of yoga is a little bit of a minefield. Sure, yoga is great for us, however, it is a subjective experience. Yoga evolved over thousands of years. Its journey has been organic and free-flowing. It’s been the culmination of mystical experience, religion, reflection, meditation and spiritual insight. It has also been a journey of science, sports anatomy, neuroscience and peer-reviewed research. Somewhere amongst this cauldron is a simple truth: about mind and body, about what makes us human, about knowing ourselves and about seeing the world for what it really is. This article concerns neuroscience and a few of the field's perspectives on modern postural yoga. The support for yoga that neuroscience and healthcare practitioners have is unprecedented and represents the start of a union between Western and Eastern philosophies and sciences. This union has long been predicted by yoga practitioners in the 20th century.
For starters, yoga has been shown to help ease the jitters of everyday life. Through deep breathing and stretching, we enter into a relaxed state, it activates our parasympathetic nervous system and sends a message to our brain that says "chill out." Alongside this, neuroscience knows yoga can boost happiness by increasing the levels of feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. So, not only will we feel relaxed, but we'll also feel a little happier too
And here's the really wild part: yoga has been shown to make our brains more pliable and adaptable, something called neuroplasticity. Who knew that twisting ourselves into a pretzel could lead to a more nimble mind? And there are more cognitive benefits: Regular yoga practice has been shown to give our memory and cognitive function a lift, especially as we get older. So, we can stay sharp and spry, even as the years go by.
I haven’t even mentioned the obvious: yoga has been shown to be great for our physical health. It can improve our flexibility, balance, strength, and overall well-being. So, it's a win-win for our minds and body.
From a neuroscience perspective, stress is a response to perceived threats and challenges. When we're faced with a stressful situation, our body prepares for fight or flight by releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones get our heart racing, our breathing quickening, and our muscles tensing up, so we're ready to take on the challenge at hand.
Now, a little bit of stress can be a good thing - it can give us a burst of energy and focus. But when stress becomes chronic, it can have all sorts of negative effects on our mind and body. So, it's important to find ways to manage stress and keep it from becoming overwhelming. That's why yoga, deep breathing, and a good old-fashioned nap can do wonders for our well-being.
Stress and anxiety, are two peas in a pod, but they're not exactly the same thing. Let me explain.
Stress: We know that feeling we get when we're up to our ears in work and responsibilities. That's stress. It's like a firecracker that goes off in our brain, giving us a burst of energy and focus, but also leaving us feeling a little frazzled.
Anxiety: Anxiety is like stress on steroids. It's that feeling of worry and unease that just won't go away, even when there's no real reason to be worried. It's like a dark cloud that hangs over our heads, making it nearly impossible to focus on anything else. When anxiety persists, or becomes louder and more consistent: that’s when we start talking about anxiety disorders.
So, you see, stress is a short-term reaction to a challenging situation, while anxiety is more like a persistent state of worry. Both can be tough to deal with, but with the right tools and techniques, we can learn to manage stress and anxiety and get back to living life to the fullest.
Anxiety disorders are a sneaky bunch. They can be triggered by specific situations, like social anxiety disorder, or they can just show up uninvited, like with generalised anxiety disorder. And they can make life a real struggle, with physical symptoms like a racing heart and sweaty palms, as well as mental symptoms like excessive worry and avoidance behaviour.
The good news is, there's help out there. A combination of therapy and medication can make a real difference for those struggling with anxiety disorders. Psychotherapy can help us learn coping skills and change negative thought patterns, and medications like anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants can help calm those alarm bells and give us some much-needed peace of mind.
The key to understanding how yoga will benefit anxiety and stress is learning about the parasympathetic nervous system - This is the part of our nervous system that's like the calm after the storm. When our body is all revved up and stressed out, the parasympathetic nervous system steps in and helps us wind down.
Think of it as the "rest and digest" branch of our nervous systems. When the parasympathetic nervous system is in charge, our heart rate slows down, our breathing becomes slower and deeper, and our muscles relax. This is the state our body is in when we're feeling calm, relaxed, and at peace. So, you might be wondering, how exactly does breathing help activate the parasympathetic nervous system? The vagus nerve is a long and winding road of a nerve that runs from our brain all the way down to our gut. And, one of its stops along the way is our diaphragm, which is the muscle that helps us breathe.
When we take a deep breath, we stretch the diaphragm and send a signal up the vagus nerve to the brain. And, what does the brain do? It sends a message back down the vagus nerve, telling the parasympathetic nervous system to kick into gear.
Before we know it, our heart rate slows down, our breathing becomes slower and deeper, and our muscles relax. It's like we've hit the off switch on the stress response and flipped it into the relaxation response.
So, the next time we're feeling frazzled and stressed, try taking a few deep breaths or doing some yoga, or just taking a moment to close your eyes and relax. These activities can activate the parasympathetic nervous system and bring you back to a state of calm. Every time we do this, it becomes easier to activate. And, trust me, your body will thank you for it! The parasympathetic nervous system and neuroplasticity, are two fascinating concepts that are intricately connected. The parasympathetic nervous system plays a key role in promoting neuroplasticity. When the body is relaxed and in a state of rest, the brain is better able to consolidate new information, form new connections, and make changes to existing neural networks. This is why activities like meditation, which activate the parasympathetic nervous system, have been shown to improve neuroplasticity and overall brain function.
So, the parasympathetic nervous system helps to create an environment in which neuroplasticity can occur, and neuroplasticity, in turn, allows the brain to better respond to the signals generated by the parasympathetic nervous system. It's an ever-evolving dance: we learn to relax and we relax to learn. Neuroscience has uncovered a multitude of reasons why practising yoga is a good idea! For starters, yoga has been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, this means that practising yoga can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions, which in turn can have a positive impact on overall physical, mental health and cognitive function.
In addition to stress reduction, yoga has also been shown to promote neuroplasticity, or the ability of the brain to change and reorganise itself. This can help to improve brain function, enhance memory, and boost creativity. Furthermore, yoga is known to have a number of physical benefits. For example, it can improve flexibility, increase strength and stability, and reduce pain and inflammation. It can also help to boost the immune system and promote cardiovascular health.
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