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Showing posts with label brain health. Show all posts

Daydreaming: A Vacation for Your Brain

14:28 | Labels: brain health, Daniel Levintin, daydreaming, Nina Zolotow

by Nina

by Melina Meza

I get some of my best ideas when I’m sweeping the kitchen floor, weeding the garden, waking up in the morning, and practicing yoga. Sometimes I won’t even realize that I’ve been mulling over a problem in the back of my mind when, like a gas bubble in the La Brea Tar Pits, an idea suddenly burbles up into my conscious mind.

Which reminds me—I recently saw Brad’s report cards from grammar school, and this super accomplished scientist, who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from MIT, didn’t do very well during his early years. In fact he spent so much time daydreaming during one class that his teachers wrote, “Brad lives in another world.” At least in his case, we know that not paying attention didn’t seem to hurt his intellectual development one bit.

Which reminds me: I heard Daniel Levintin, a neuroscientist and author of The Organized Mind, being interviewed on KQED radio (listen here) the other night and he said that daydreaming was a “reset button” for the mind that is overwhelmed with information, and that this state of mind was the mental state in which we’re most creative. So maybe the reason I get my best ideas when I’m doing some simple tasks (I’ll get to yoga in a minute), is that I’m getting a chance to daydream. In his NY Times article Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain, Levintin describes daydreaming:

“This brain state, marked by the flow of connections among disparate ideas and thoughts, is responsible for our moments of greatest creativity and insight, when we’re able to solve problems that previously seemed unsolvable. You might be going for a walk or grocery shopping or doing something that doesn’t require sustained attention and suddenly — boom — the answer to a problem that had been vexing you suddenly appears. This is the mind-wandering mode, making connections among things that we didn’t previously see as connected.”

He says that our brains have two dominant modes of attention: the task-positive network and the task-negative network. The task-positive network is active when you’re “actively engaged in a task, focused on it, and undistracted.” The task-negative network is active when your mind is “wandering” or daydreaming. Together, he says, “these two networks operate like a seesaw in the brain—when one is active, the other is not.” To fully absorb the information we’ve been exposed to, we need to spend some time in both modes. (This sounds very similar to the two modes of the autonomic nervous system: Fight or Flight and Rest and Digest, don’t you think?)

We don’t get much time for daydreaming these days, what with all the multitasking we’re doing throughout the day and all the information we’re constantly being asked to absorb. In his interview, Levintin pointed out that multitasking isn’t really multitasking; it’s just switching very frequently and quickly between one task and another. That’s kind of overwhelming in and of itself. He also wrote, “According to a 2011 study, on a typical day, we take in the equivalent of about 174 newspapers’ worth of information, five times as much as we did in 1986.” So it makes sense that our brains, much like our nervous systems, would need a rest once in while.

Which reminds me: when I first starting practicing yoga in Boston and then later in Cambridge, England, my teachers always taught us a guided Savasana at the end of class. It was only when I moved to the West Coast of the US that I had teachers who told me to lie down in Savasana and then just quit talking and left me to it. That always puzzled me. Weren’t we supposed to have a focus for our minds as we lay there to guide us into a state of relaxation? Why were the teachers just leaving us to “rest” on our own? After all, just this week, I republished a post about Savasana in which I said that one of the things that made Savasana a pose was having a focus for your mind, and not just lying there spacing out. Having the focus for your mind is certainly what’s needed to invoke the Relaxation Response to put you in Rest and Digest mode. But what if your nervous system is in fine shape but your poor brain needs a bit of a vacation? Maybe lying in Savanasa and daydreaming for about 10 minutes could be just what you need? Were my West Coast yoga teachers on to something?

As for my own daydreaming while I do yoga, it’s probably happening while I’m doing restorative poses and long supported inverted poses, because sometimes I just relax physically without a specific mental focus. Oh, okay, sometimes my mind wanders a bit when I’m doing more active poses as well, especially ones I’ve been practicing at home for many years, even though I do try to keep my mind focused on my physical sensations. But until I heard Levintin talking about daydreaming, I had no idea that my wandering mind during my yoga practice was actually providing me with some important benefits!

How about you? Does your brain ever feel overwhelmed by your work? Or what you’re learning in school? Or all the information that you’re bombarded with on a daily basis? If so, consider adding some daydreaming to your yoga practice. You could do it in any form of Savasana (see Savasana (Corpse Pose) Variations). Or, you could also do it while you’re practicing restorative yoga poses (see Restorative Yoga: An Introduction and Mini Restorative Practice), as these poses relax you physically while your mind is free to wander.

Which reminds me: Ram cautions that not all daydreaming is productive or helpful, and he recommends “controlled daydreaming.” That sounds like an oxymoron to me, but I assume he means that if you notice your mind drifting in violent or aggressive fantasies, or negative dramas of any sort, you could gently move your mind away from those thoughts and onto something less stressful.

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Fluid Intelligence and Yoga

11:32 | Labels: brain health, fluid intelligence, intelligence, Ram Rao

by Ram

From "The Path to Holistic Health" by B.K.S. Iyengar

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika was written centuries ago and in the course of time produced several yoga masters and teachers, yet it took Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and B.K.S. Iyengar to bring innovation to the practice of yoga, including developing new poses and adding the use of various props.

Similarly, it took the ingenuity of Robert Jarvik to design and implant the first artificial heart. And also, had those Harvard college kids, led by Mark Zuckerberg, not been interested in digitizing their assignment notes, we may never have seen Facebook. Examples of such innovative and ingenious incidents abound and reflect a specific type of intelligence.

What is intelligence? Is it getting a very high score on the ACT or SAT? Is it having the ability to solve complex math equations? Or does being able to create a complex software program make you intelligent? In reality, intelligence is a little bit of all of these and more. As intelligence began to be better understood by cognitive psychologists, it became clear that many distinct sub-types of intelligence exist. Psychologists are of the opinion that intelligence comes in many forms and is comprised of a variety of cognitive skills and abilities. In broad terms, intelligence comprises two sub-components:

Crystallized intelligence. This is the ability to make use of acquired information or knowledge. Crystallized intelligence involves knowledge that comes from prior learning and past experiences. People who possess high levels of crystallized intelligence are people who remember facts and retain a wealth of knowledge on specific topic(s). Examples of crystallized intelligence include vocabulary exams and geography or spelling bees. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences. It is generally long-lasting and improves with rote learning.

Fluid intelligence. This is the ability to be innovative or ingenious It allows you to quickly adapt to and solve problems, even in an unfamiliar situation. Fluid intelligence is the ability to reason, think and apply. In order for someone to have fluid intelligence, they must be able to reason and think conceptually, as well as achieve problem solving skills. Although abstract thinking and problem solving skills are achieved during a person's education, learning, and experiences, fluid intelligence is an innate ability that is independent of those things. Having an open mind and high level of awareness are key aspects of fluid intelligence abilities. On the yoga mat, fluid intelligence is all about ingenious methods of modifying a pose to reap the same benefits and avoiding any pains, distress or risks.

Fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence are both components of general intelligence and yet are distinct in their respective aspects. Two people with the same IQ may exhibit similar crystallized intelligence but dissimilar fluid intelligence. While both types of intelligence increase throughout childhood and adolescence, the general belief is that crystallized intelligence continues to grow throughout adulthood and then begins to decline after age 65. Nevertheless, as we age and accumulate new knowledge and understanding, crystallized intelligence becomes stronger. In contrast, fluid intelligence and the ability to reason and think conceptually begin to decline around age 40.

Now you may ask what do these concepts have to do with yoga? Well, results from a recent study investigating the relation between age and fluid intelligence in middle-aged yoga and meditation practitioners, and matched controls indicated that fluid intelligence declined much slower in yoga practitioners and meditators combined, than in controls. Furthermore, mindfulness meditation was positively correlated with fluid intelligence. The study Fluid intelligence and brain functional organization in aging yoga and meditation practitioners involved 47 physically and mentally healthy participants (16 yoga practitioners, 16 meditation practitioners, and 15 controls), who were recruited after matching for age, gender, education, race, and handedness. Age-related decline in fluid intelligence and normal functional brain network properties in these participants were investigated. Fluid intelligence was tested using a variety of cognitive skills. Functional networks were also measured by the resilience displayed by neurons to actual lesions in the brain’s cortical areas or by simulating such attacks. The apparent rate of age-related decline in fluid intelligence was found to be lower in yoga practitioners and meditators combined as compared to controls. Furthermore, resting state functional neurons of yoga practitioners and meditators combined were more resilient to damage than those of controls. Interestingly, mindfulness meditation alone was effective in blocking the age-associated decline in fluid intelligence as well as increasing the neural network resilience.

The results of this study may also explain previous studies that indicated that older meditators have better attention performance than non-meditators. Both meditation and yoga requires the quality of mindfulness that in turn triggers functional neural network integration and improve fluid intelligence. The results are extremely relevant and important as they have a potential practical implication with a rapidly aging world population and increasing life expectancies. So if you wish to have a non-medicated, non-prescription-based method to strengthen your neural network and improve your fluid intelligence, unroll your mat and start your practice of yoga and meditation today!

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Featured Sequence: Brain Health Practice

12:26 | Labels: brain health, Brain Health sequence, cognitive health

by Baxter

Here's our new Brain Health sequence, which combines physical exercise and stress management to promote health of the organ in general with "brain aerobics" to challenge you mentally. If you want to practice this sequence on a regular basis, you'll need to change it up periodically (see Yoga Sequences Are Brain Aerobics for information).

1. Checking-In: Start by sitting and checking in with your mind: is your mind busy or quiet today? Is your focus good or scattered? What is your mood? As you take a few moments to observe your thoughts, notice if they have one of the following qualities: pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. Can you notice this without necessarily having to act on this insight?

Next, choose a single yoga sutra, either from your Yoga Sutras book or by finding a sutra online, and read the Sanskrit aloud. Then, repeat the translation aloud three times in a row.

Now you’re ready for your asana practice. Set you mat up so the short end is touching a wall. Then stand at the front of your mat in Mountain pose, facing away from the wall.

2. Mini Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar): Practice the Sanskrit name for Sun Salutations. For general instructions on how to practice our Mini Sun Salutation, see Mini Sun Salutation. Start by practicing one round with your eyes open. Then attempt to do several rounds with your eyes closed, relying on senses other than vision to guide you. Because exercise is as important for the brain as it is for the heart, these Sun Salutations enhance basic brain health as well as stimulating brain function.

3. Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana 2): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then, facing the long edge of your mat, step your feet wide apart so that the outer edge of your left foot is flush against the wall (or only the heel if this is a problem for your hips). Then turn your right foot and leg out 90 degrees, towards the center of the room. Now, bend your right knee and raise your arms to come into the pose. Instead of looking toward your front arm, look back at your left hand as you enter, stay in the pose for 6-12 breaths, and then exit the pose. Turn to the other long edge of your mat and repeat on the second side.

Imagine the Wall!

4. Standing Forward Bend with the Wall (Uttanasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Now, stand with your back to the wall with your hips and shoulders touching the wall but your heels about 12 inches away from the wall. Bend your knees slightly and then tip forward from your hip joints to come into the forward fold, keeping your buttocks flesh on the wall and lowering down as far as you safely can. Caution: If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, perhaps come only half way down. Stay for 12 breaths, and come up on an inhalation.

5. Triangle Pose (Utthita Trikonasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then, turn around on your mat so you can practice the left side of Triangle pose first. Facing the long edge of your mat, step your feet wide apart so that the outer edge of your right foot is flush against the wall (or only the heel if this is a problem for your hips). Then turn your left foot and leg out 90 degrees, towards the center of the room. Next, inhale your arms up to parallel with the floor, and keeping your attention on your left hand, come into full Triangle pose, using a prop for your bottom hand if necessary. As you stay in the pose for 6-12 breaths, keep looking at your left hand (your bottom hand) and continue to focus on your left hand as you come out of the pose. Then turn towards the other long edge of your mat and repeat the pose on the right side, following your right hand as you move into, stay in, and move out of the pose.

Imagine the Wall!

6. Powerful Pose (Utkatasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then, standing as you did for Wall Standing Forward Bend, keep your buttocks on the wall as you inhale your arms overhead, bend your knees, and tip your torso and spine forward over your thighs into the Powerful pose shape. See Powerful Pose for instructions about Powerful pose. Stay for 6 breaths.

Imagine the Wall!

7. Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsva Konasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Next, align your feet for the pose the same way you did for Warrior 2, with your left outer foot (or heel) at the wall. As you come into the pose to the right, using a prop for your bottom hand if necessary, keep your eyes fixed on your right hand (your lower hand), throughout the pose. For additional instructions, see Upper Body Strength Practice Stay for 6-12 breaths, and repeat on the second side.

Imagine the Wall!

8. Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose at the Wall (Ardha Adho Muka Svanasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then stand facing the wall with your hands on the wall at shoulder height. Bend your knees a bit and slowly back your feet and hips towards the center of the room until your arms and torso are parallel with the floor and your hips are positioned directly over your heels. If your back and hamstrings permit, slowly straighten your legs without rounding your lower back towards the ceiling. Float your head between your arms as you actively push your hands into the wall and your hips away from the wall. Stay in the pose for 6-12 breaths. To come out, bend the knees a bit and walk the feet back towards the wall as you lift your torso up to vertical. For additional instructions, see Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose at the Wall.

9. Warrior 1 to 3 (Virabhadrasana 1, 3): Practice the Sanskrit name of the two poses. Now, stand facing the wall about halfway back on your mat (you will need to experiment with the distance to get it just right). Step your left foot back about three feet, and turn it out a bit to the left. Then, inhale your arms up alongside your head and bend your front knee forward over your right ankle, coming into Warrior 1. Then, tip forward from your hips and lean forward, bringing your weight onto the right leg, your hands to the wall and your left leg up behind you into Warrior 3. Try to keep your hips square with the floor beneath you and your head floating between your arms. This can be quite a vigorous pose, so stay for just 3-6 breaths. See Warrior 3 Pose (Wall Version) for further instructions. To come out of the pose, on an inhalation, step back to Warrior 1 as lightly as you can. On your exhalation, come out of Warrior 1 and step back to Mountain pose. Repeat on the second side.

10. Reclined Leg Stretch Pose (Supta Padangustasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then, lie down on your back with the soles of your feet against the wall. Practice version 1 of Reclined Leg Stretch on your right side (see (Reclined Leg Stretch Sequence ), keeping good contact of the sole of the left foot against the wall throughout the pose. The key difference here is the tactile awareness of the bottom leg foot on the wall. Stay for 6-12 breaths. Then repeat on the other side.

Imagine the Wall!

11. Legs Up the Wall Pose (Vipariti Karani): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then, set up for a supported version of Legs Up the Wall pose, using whatever propping would feel good for you today. See Legs Up the Wall pose for instructions on practicing this pose. After going up into the pose, change the typical position of your arms today, and notice how that affects the pose on the level of sensation, breath, and emotions. Stay for 5-10 minutes if your schedule permits. This pose is great for managing stress levels, which is important for maintaining brain health as it helps reduce strokes (see Brain Health Interview with Ram Rao).

12. Simple Seated Pose (Sukasana): Practice the Sanskrit name of the pose. Then sit in Sukasana with your back against the wall and as much support under your hips as you need for your back to feel comfortable. See if you can recall the sutra you learned for today. If not, re-read it now. Then, use the translation of the sutra as a mantra for a short meditation session, repeating the sutra mentally to yourself as you breathe in and out comfortably. I usually set a timer for how long I want to do my final meditation, typically at least 10 minutes, but feel free to start with 3-5 minutes at first. Any type of meditation can be beneficial for brain health, as it may help build brain strength (see Meditation and Brain Strength).

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Yoga Sequences Are Brain Aerobics

14:14 | Labels: Baxter Bell, brain exercises, brain health, cognitive health

by Baxter

Do you like my brain? by Niki de Saint Phalle*

Brain Health is a topic we here at YFHA have addressed on numerous occasions. Research clearly points out that your mind like your body needs to be exercised regularly. I recently grabbed a flyer from my family doctor’s office that caught my eye. It was titled “The Power of Brain Aerobics: Maximize Your Memory.” As I read through it, I could not help but recall (good sign, eh?) the two excellent posts Ram did a while back on brain exercise According to the group who published my flyer, the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, there are three conditions your brain workout must meet in order for an activity to be considered “brain aerobics”:

It needs to engage your attention
It must break a routine activity in an unexpected, nontrivial way
It must involve more than one of the senses

You can see that attending a regular yoga class or practicing yoga at home likely meets all three of the criteria. First, you are actively encouraged to bring your attention to the practice at hand, whether it is the physical poses, breathing patterns or meditation. Second, because you classes are likely changing each week (unless you do a style of yoga that repeats the same sequence week to week), there will be some familiar components of a practice, but an ever-changing sequence of poses, with a goal for each class that is a bit different from the previous week’s class, breaking the routine in a nontrivial way. And if you’re practicing at home, you can consciously try to add new poses or change up your sequences to keep things fresh. Finally, not only does the successful practice of yoga involve more than one of our senses (most obviously visual, tactile, auditory), but involves the mind taking in information and acting on it in the moment.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting my new Brain Health Sequence. If you are going to practice this sequence on a regular basis, it may be more challenging to meet the second requirement of breaking the routine activity in an unexpected way. You will have to find ways to creatively modify the sequence every few times you practice. So in this post, I’ll make several recommendations for how you can do can make this or any sequence more stimulating for your brain.

To re-iterate why we want to do these mental aerobics, Ram says:

“Mental fitness is exactly what it sounds like: keeping the brain and emotional health in a healthy state by performing mentally stimulating tasks. Mental exercises refer to a series of exercises that help you to be more alert, think rationally and logically, make sound and correct decisions and boost a declining memory.”

Here, here! Now for some ideas about how to apply these concepts to your brain health (and other) sequence:1. Each time you practice, pick one or two of the poses in the sequence and commit to learning the name of the pose in Sanskrit. We typically include the Sanskrit names of the poses in our sequences, so you can find the names right on the post. And if you want to know the Sanskrit name for a pose that is not included on the blog, there are many resources to help you with this, including my teacher Donald Moyer’s book Yoga: Awaking the Inner Body and Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar. Nicholai Bachman has a sweet little book and audio CD “The Language of Yoga” to assist in learning the most common yoga pose names, as well.

Note from Nina: Gosh, Baxter, you forgot to mention the second book I wrote with Rodney Yee, Moving Toward Balance—which has Sanskrit names for all the poses in the book! And, everyone, if you don’t have a yoga book on hand, Google or any internet search facility works very nicely for finding articles that include both English and Sanskrit pose names, such as those on Yoga Journal's site or even wikipedia.

2. Using your memory is a great mental exercise. So look over the sequence first and try to do it from memory. If you use the post while practicing, 30 minutes or so after you are done practicing, try to write out the sequence as accurately as you can.

3. A simple way to stimulate new nerve connections in the brain is by using the opposite or non-dominant hand/side for routine tasks. When it comes specifically to yoga asana, if you have a habit of doing the poses right side first, practice the same by starting on the left side before the right and vice versa. Or, as I do in class and at home, alternate which side you go to first in asymmetric poses.

4. Changing your daily habits and routines will allow mental stimulation to occur as well. So try practicing in a different room or space in your house. Something I often do is change the direction of practice by re-orienting my mat in my practice space to point in different directions. When you do this, notice what appears around you and how it feels to practice with the new orientation. Another way to change up a sequence is to tinker with it a bit by adding a new pose or substituting one pose for another

5. Stimulate new neural network connections and brain growth by learning something new. I recommend that you have a yoga book at your mat and you take a few minutes to read a paragraph or two about yoga. Recently, I’ve been reading one sutra from Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD’s new book The Secret of the Yoga Sutra, pronoucing the sutra to the best of my ability and memorizing the English translation. For your learning pleasure today, I share with you Sutra 1.2 and his translation:

yogascittavrittinirodhah: Complete mastery over the roaming tendencies of the mind is Yoga.

I will typically reread the sutra for several days in a row, and continue to practice saying the Sanskrit phrase out loud.

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Short Yoga Sessions Stimulate Brain Function and Improve Cognition

11:15 | Labels: brain health, cognition, office yoga, Ram Rao, supplementary yoga

by Ram

Monarchs Feeding by Melina Meza

Both Nina and Baxter emphasized the need to have a short session of yoga as a quick practice especially during long travel or while taking a break from work (see Mini Office Yoga Practice). And I recently wrote a piece about the ill effects of prolonged sitting, and suggested taking short breaks and bringing in office yoga or supplementary yoga (see Yoga, Your Compantion Through the Day). All these articles advocated incorporating at least 10-15 minutes of yoga that could not only add new life to the dull and routine tasks of everyday life but also keep us fit physically and emotionally.

One may question the benefits, if any, from a short session of yoga. Not surprisingly, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois, a single 20-minute session of yoga awakens and sharpens the mind significantly, comparable to walking or jogging. The study involved 30 participants who were either given a 20-minute yoga class or asked to carry out a moderate aerobic exercise regimen for the same period of time. In addition to standing, sitting and reclined yoga poses, the session also included a short meditation practice where participants were encouraged to focus on their breath. In the comparison group, participants worked out an aerobic exercise session, which was also shown to provide a cognitive boost of its own.

When participants were tested for cognitive performance, the authors found some significant difference between the two groups. Those who’d been practicing yoga and meditation performed significantly better in the assessment tests. Following the yoga practice, the participants were not only able to focus better, they were also processing new information quickly and accurately, and were able to recall the new information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise. While there are several scientific studies that indicate that practice of asanas and meditation has beneficial effects on the emotional well-being and general mental acuity, what’s remarkable about this specific study is that even a short yoga session of 20 minutes is sufficient to stimulate brain function and improve cognition. Yoga does so through multiple cellular mechanisms, including:

releasing brain chemicals that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off anxiety and mental stress
normalizing blood pressure and stabilizing the heart beats
reducing anxiety and depression

Simple and short though the yoga session may be, the outstanding benefits are surely long lasting. Got office yoga or supplementary yoga?

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Mental Exercise, Yoga and the Perfect Brain

12:10 | Labels: brain health, cognitive health, Ram Rao

by Ram

Abstract Lights by Melina Meza

Generally we assume that as long as the brain is working fine and memory is reasonably good there is no need to pay attention to it. But the concept “use it or lose it” applies to the brain as well as the body. Our brains are like the car engines; just as the performance of the engine is enhanced as long as the oil is changed regularly, similarly the brain actively grows and rewires itself in response to stimulation and learning. Brain fitness, mental fitness and mental exercise all mean the same thing: it is the act of performing a mentally stimulating task that keeps the brain fit. Several scientific studies find that mental exercise can either prevent or delay the onset of mental and physical diseases. Furthermore, age-associated memory loss can be prevented by: 1) physical activity/exercise, 2) staying mentally active, 3) being socially active, 4) eating a healthy diet, 5) leading a stress-free life and 6) sleeping well.

Several scientific studies point to the benefits of yoga (asanas, meditation and pranayama) in combating stress, keeping the individual physically and mentally stable and active, improving the digestive capacity and also helping in the sleeping process, all of which will result in combating age-associated memory loss. Yoga does this through multiple cellular mechanisms. Studies show that the practice of yoga has beneficial effects on emotional well-being and general mental acuity without any of the side effects. Yoga increases brain chemicals such as endorphins and enkephalins that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off mental stress. It is akin to stimulating the brain in a positive way, which results in optimal brain function all of which can keep an individual alert and sharp.

So the questions are: Do I practice mental exercises? Does this involve yoga in any way? Is there anything that I do regularly with yoga that I feel will contribute to my brain health?

I incorporate yoga as part of my daily mental exercise regime. Yoga to me is not just about asanas but about all forms of the discipline that bring the body-mind-breath in tune. I sincerely feel that my yoga practice is keeping me mentally agile and physically fit. Here are eight simple mental exercises that I incorporate as a daily/regular practice to combat age-associated memory loss and other mental illness.

Meditation: I do a 30-minute meditation and pranayama practice combined with an hour of asana practice. Meditation helps to settle my unruly mind and allows me to focus consciously. I also believe that meditation gets to places in my brain that asanas simply cannot penetrate. Meditating helps me to ease smoothly into my asana practice. Similarly, doing asanas helps me deepen my meditation practice.

Pranayama: I have a daily practice of pranayama. It helps me to calm down, reducing the Flight or Fight response. I have found it particularly useful in relieving stress in my mind that primarily comes from lab work.

Asanas: I commit to a one-hour home asana practice when I am not teaching at the studio. My yoga sequence keeps varying each day and this variation in the asana sequence is a perfect way to stimulate the brain. In addition, I switch the sides lest I end up with a dominant side. (Some of the poses that I routinely do on the right side first, I practice the same by starting on the left side and vice versa.) Furthermore, as I do each pose I mentally call out the name of the pose preferably in Sanskrit thereby stimulating the “recall” centers of the brain.

Additionally, I end my asana practice with inversions. My rationale for this: with age there is a decline in the volume of blood flow into the brain. This decreases the hemoglobin, sugar and oxygen content to the brain that may be responsible for age-associated mental problems. Inversions trigger increased blood circulation to the brain (by reversing gravity) thus keeping the brain nourished and healthy.

Physical Exercise: My day doesn't feel right if I go without some form of physical activity. There are days when I feel so tired and my brain refuses to work smoothly towards the end of the day. Being aware of the fact that physical exercise is not only important for body's health but it also helps the brain stay sharp, I force myself to go for a workout to the local gym. The antidepressant-like effects kick in after exercising for just 20 minutes.

Santosha: I try to smile a lot and be happy and contented; smiling helps to improve mental and cognitive skills, interpersonal skills and it adds years to life. (See Santosha, Smiling and Longevity).

Satya: Truth frees us from all kinds of emotional turmoil and telling the truth significantly improves a person’s mental health and has a positive impact on health and longevity. So I do my best not to lie and if I am in a fix, I will avoid answering. (See Satya: The Truth about Lies and Healthy Aging.)

Anger Management: Research from several diverse groups indicates that rage and anger are definitely hazardous to health. Anger has been associated with chronic over stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which, in turn, increases blood pressure and heart rate, causing alterations of ventricular function. These days I rarely get angry primarily because of my long-standing pranayama and meditation practice, techniques that are known to curb anger and achieve calmness. (See Anger Management: Philosophy, Science and Yoga.)

Karma Yoga/Selfless Service: Research studies show that selfless service provides freedom from emotional disturbances including desires, ambitions, fear, worry, anxiety, judgment, rage, etc., leading to true happiness and improved cognitive skills. Therefore, I engage in selfless service and voluntary acts during weekends that brings greater fulfillment to my life. (See Selfless Service for Harmonious Longevity.)

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Brain Health: An Interview with Ram Rao

10:22 | Labels: Alzeheimer's Disease, brain health, dementia, memory loss, stroke.

by Nina and Ram

New Growth by Melina Meza

I’m trying to learn more about brain health so I can write a brief overview about how you can use yoga to foster brain health. And since we just happen to have a handy expert on the topic—Dr. Ram Rao—I thought I’d interview him as a way of doing my research. You lucky people get to see my interview in its complete form today. —Nina

Nina: What are the types of dementia? And what is the probability for developing one of these forms of dementia as you age?

Ram: Memory loss can be a simple age-associated phenomenon or due to a pathological condition. Age is one of the known risks for memory loss or forgetfulness. Age-associated memory loss is not the same as dementia. If a person experiences forgetfulness without having any underlying pathological condition, then the memory loss is solely due to age. Age-associated memory loss is not disabling and does not impact or interfere with daily performance.

Dementia is a pathological term to indicate loss of memory and other mental abilities including thinking and reasoning. The condition can be severe so as to interfere with daily life. Any damage to the memory centers can trigger the onset of dementia. Although many diseases trigger dementia, some forms of dementia may improve greatly when the underlying cause is treated. Dementia can arise due to:

NeuroDegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease (a rare inherited disorder), and multiple sclerosis
Vascular disorders that results from multiple strokes in the brain
Traumatic brain injury due to accidents, severe injuries to the brain, hits to the brain
Infections, including meningitis, HIV
Chronic alcohol or drug use
Depression
Developmental abnormalities

Nina: Can yoga help us reduce our probabilities of developing memory loss? If so, how?

Ram: According to the Mayo Clinic, memory loss can be prevented by: 1) physical activity/exercise, 2) staying mentally active, 3) being socially active, 4) eating a healthy diet, 5) leading a stress-free life and 6) sleeping well.

There are so many scientific studies that indicate benefits of yoga (asanas, meditation and pranayama) in combating stress, keeping the individual physically and mentally stable and active, improving the digestive capacity and also helping in the sleeping process, all of which will result in combating age-associated memory loss. Yoga does this through multiple cellular mechanisms.

Nina: How can yoga help prevent strokes?

Ram: Yoga (asanas, meditation and pranayama) has been shown to improve the health of the heart and blood vessels, reduce blood pressure, reduce arrhythmia, reduce anxiety and depression, and improve metabolic parameters including blood lipid profiles all of which help in keeping stroke at bay

Nina: How can yoga help reduce chances of getting Alzheimer’s Disease?

Ram: In a recent study involving patients with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), it was shown that Yoga and Meditation increased functional connectivity in the areas involved in memory and also decreased the early degenerative changes that are typically seen in these regions, suggesting that Yoga and meditation have a positive impact on the regions of the brain related to AD. According to one Harvard researcher, yoga and meditation need to be included as part of the treatment regiment for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. All the above-mentioned risk factors for stroke including hypertension, atherosclerosis, abnormal lipid profile, and stroke can trigger (AD). Since Yoga has been proven to improve all these conditions, in turn it can also reduce the onset and/or severity of AD.

Nina: How about general mental acuity? Can yoga help us stay mentally sharp as we age?

Ram: Yes, there are numerous studies that show that practice of yoga (asanas, meditation and pranayama) has beneficial effects on the emotional well-being and general mental acuity without any of the side effects. It’s no wonder that a recent article in Yoga Journal on yoga’s effects on mental acuity was aptly entitled Yoga-Better than Prozac. That in itself sums up the power of yoga. Yoga increases brain chemicals such as endorphins and enkephalins that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off mental stress. It is akin to stimulating the brain in a positive way, which results in optimal brain function all of which can keep an individual alert and sharp.

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The Power of Mental Exercise, Part 2

12:15 | Labels: brain health, cognitive health, mental exercises, Ram Rao

by Ram

Autumn Light Festival by Melina Meza

Nearly a month ago, I wrote about the power of mental exercise (see The Power of Mental Exercise, Part 1). I had suggested incorporating some form of mental exercises in your daily list to keep the mind fit. Can you recall what I wrote and the exercises that I suggested? If you are unable to recall that information, it is time for you seriously start incorporating mental exercises as a daily life-style practice. In neuroscience, memory consolidation and recall closely reflect neuronal strength and signal transmission between neurons that are involved in memory. Short-term plasticity (STP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) are terms used in neuroscience to indicate cellular mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.

It is incorrect to assume that as long as the brain is working fine and memory is reasonably good, there is no need to pay attention to it. In reality, our brains are like the car engines, just as the performance of the engine is enhanced as long as the oil is changed regularly, similarly the brain actively grows and rewires itself in response to stimulation and learning. Brain fitness, mental fitness and mental exercise all mean the same thing: it is the act of performing a mentally stimulating task that keeps the brain fit and also wards off mental and physical diseases. Medical science has clearly elaborated the effects of mental stress on our physiology and its role in the disease process. Several scientific studies find that mental exercise can either prevent or delay the onset of the disease.

Both Ayurveda and Yoga describe the disease process as taking its roots first in the mind and gradually spreading to the body where it shows up as specific symptoms. Western medical science also accepts the mind-body connection through which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect our physical health. In a landmark study done in 2006, Exploring Interventions to Reduce Cognitive Decline in Aging, scientists demonstrated the beneficial and enduring effects of brain fitness program in an elderly population. The study showed that seniors who received mental training could counteract the decline in mental performance that is seen in the elderly better than seniors who did not receive any kind of training. The researchers concluded that individuals who stimulated their brain more frequently experienced a slower rate of cognitive decline than others. In another study from Australia, Mental Exercise Nearly Halves Risk of Dementia, scientists found that being mentally active diminishes the risk of age-associated dementias by nearly 50%.

Stimulation of the brain can occur in a wide variety of ways. The brain is constantly changing for people of all ages, and learning something new or novel builds and remodels new neural network connectivity. Mental training exercises must occur so that the brain can continue to grow. Today I’m going to present a variety of mental fitness exercises that you can perform in any setting. Since this is a yoga blog, I have come up with exercises that relate to yoga.

Memory Exercises

Our memory is the brain's filing system as it stores everything we have learned and continue to learn. The brain is made up of 100 billion neurons. During learning, neurons get “wired up” to each other and communicate through thousands of connections. Memories are formed when these connections are strengthened. Memory plays a crucial role in all cognitive activities, including reading, reasoning and mental calculation. Memorizing the lyrics of a new song, a mantra that you recently heard in the yoga class, street signs in a new area, and so on boost the level of certain chemicals that are responsible for the memory storage and retrieval. The information making up memory is stored in many parts of our brain, including areas that oversee the laying down of memory, some that are involved in storage and some that help with retrieval of these memories. It is easy to notice when memory fails or declines. To maintain a good memory, you need to train for it.

1. As you turn the pages of a yoga deck (cards with yoga poses) try to memorize the Sanskrit names for each pose. In the process, not only are you learning a new language but you are also laying down new neural connections each time you memorize and recall a pose and its corresponding name. It is a perfect way to stimulate the brain. The next time you see a picture of a pose in a magazine or if you happen to hear someone providing instructions for a particular pose try to recall the name of the pose in Sanskrit. Alternatively, try to recall the correct pose when you hear similar sounding names (for example, several my students get confused with Uttanasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana, Ustrasana, and Upavista Konasana).

2. Using the same yoga deck pick up five cards in a sequential order and mentally note down the name and other details scribbled on the card. Recall the information after 5 minutes preferably in the same sequence. Recall the same information after 10 minutes.

3. Open your favorite yoga text, such as the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, and select a passage to memorize that week. You can start by memorizing the passage in English. Bonus points for memorizing it in Sanskrit as well!

Attention Exercises

Attention and memory cannot operate without each other. Attention is necessary in all our daily tasks as it enables us to maintain concentration and focus on the task. Any object that is attended to will remain in the memory, while those that receive scant attention will leave no memory traces behind. One of the ways to improve attention is by simply changing our daily routines or habits. This forces the brain cells to wake up from routine tasks and pay attention again.

1. When it comes specifically to yoga, if you have a habit of doing the poses right side first, practice the same by starting on the left side before the right and vice versa. Also, try practicing in a different room or space in your house and either find or create an entirely new sequence to practice.

2. The next time you decide to practice yoga, set a timer for a specific time (say 45 minutes). When the timer beeps, crosscheck whether you were fully attentive to your yoga or how often you were distracted. Try and recall all the steps you performed on the mat. If you found yourself distracted, be aware of it the next time you do a similar task.

Visual-Spatial Exercise

Our three-dimensional world is filled with colors, figures, shapes and sizes. Visual-spatial information is about seeing, organizing and remembering. It is the ability to distinguish one object from another, distinguishing a printed object from its background, recognizing a pattern of symbols, images, or words, understanding the relationship of an object situated in space to oneself or identifying an object when certain parts of it are visible. Individuals with visual-spatial difficulties have trouble with pictures, maps, schedules or diagrams. Visual-spatial impairment is often an early symptom of a problem with the nervous system.

1. At your yoga studio, look around and note everything you can see both in front of you and in your peripheral vision. Pick out five items and their exact locations. Write down as many details of the location and items as possible. After completing your yoga practice and before exiting the place, recall from memory all the five items, their location and other details. Challenge yourself to recall again all the details after two hours. (In a home setting since you are very familiar with the placement of objects in the room, try the above mentioned exercise in a different room or space in your house.)

As we age, it’s important to not only flex our physique but our mental makeup as well. With this two-part series on the importance of mental fitness, I hope you are more aware of how to exercise the different functional aspects of the brain. Can I ask you to challenge yourself with daily activities that will help you break a mental sweat and sprout your neuronal branches thereby keeping the brain in shape? Good luck with the mental workout!

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blog archive

Daydreaming: A Vacation for Your Brain

Fluid Intelligence and Yoga

Featured Sequence: Brain Health Practice

Yoga Sequences Are Brain Aerobics

Short Yoga Sessions Stimulate Brain Function and Improve Cognition

Mental Exercise, Yoga and the Perfect Brain

Brain Health: An Interview with Ram Rao

The Power of Mental Exercise, Part 2