Let's Go to the Mat

I've been thinking a lot recently on the benefits of yoga and meditation, started a couple of posts that completely fizzled, but yesterday found something perfect. From How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist, here is exactly what I've been trying to write. (He approaches the subject from the perspective of meditation because that is what the whole book is about.)

Exercise can even be viewed as a form of meditation because it involves sustained concentration and a deliberate regulation of body movements and breathing.  Studies have even shown that it enhances relaxation and spiritual well-being.

Vigorous stretching, such as yoga, also does wonders for both your body and your brain.  yoga has similar cognitive benefits to other forms of contemplative meditation, and in a recent meta-analysis of 813 meditation studies, the researchers stated that yoga was as beneficial s exercise.  It can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, help control the symptoms of diabetes, lessen the severity of menopausal symptoms, reduce chronic back pain, and prevent the onslaught of migraine headaches. 

In a study conducted in 2007, researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine found that levels of the neurotransmitter GABA increase after a single sixty-minute yoga session.  Since people who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders have low levels of GABA, yoga exercise is a valid modality for improving psychological mood.  It's even been found to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia.  Research has also show that a few weeks of yoga training enhances a wide range of cognitive skills in children and adults.

Talk about a million reasons to go to the mat every day.  See you there.