Yoga is great for many things and functions in the body, including improving brain power. A better brain means you will most likely be much more intelligent in life and which may also improve your standard of living.
The following are four ways it helps to improve brain function, from stress relief, to preventing the onset of some serious brain diseases.
1. Stress relief
Yoga is a great stress reliever. It releases endorphins, serotonin and many other chemicals that help to calm and soothe stress signals. Cortisol the hormone released, when your stress can kill brain cells, according to a research that involved injecting cortisol into rats and artificially growing brain cells outside the body. Anxiety and depression has also been shown according to another research conducted by Harvard, to be reduced by yoga.
2. Improves blood flow
The brain is one of the largest organs in the body. For all that mass to function properly, it needs a massive amount of resources that is oxygen, sugar and nutrients to function properly. Even a slight dip in any of these resources will cause a massive change in its function. These resources are brought to the brain by the blood, so an increase in blood flow that yoga causes by its sometimes upside down poses, causes more of these resources to be brought to the brain, hence increasing its function.
3. Prevents brain diseases
In a recent study, the brains of elderly people who practised yoga were measured and compared to the brains of those of the same age group that did not practice yoga. The results were that yoga practitioners had bigger brains than those who did not practice. This is surprising, as the older most people grow, the more their brain shrinks and hence the more likely they are to suffer from age related brain diseases.
Yoga is also known to improve blood flow and reduce blood pressure. This helps to prevent strokes as high blood pressure increases the likelihood of a vessel bursting, thereby cutting off blood flow to certain areas of the brain and hence killing off some regions.
4. Improves concentration and memory
In a study conducted by the University of Illinois, those who practised Hatha yoga for at least 20 minutes had a significant boost in memory function and concentration.
Yoga Poses to Improve Brain Power
The following are 3 yoga poses you can practice, to improve the functions of your brain.
1. Padangusthasana (Big toe pose)
Apart from stretching and lengthening the hamstring muscles, this pose causes more blood to be pumped to the brain, thus refreshing it more and increasing its functions. Stand straight with your legs a few feet apart and bend your hips forward to move your head and torso together downwards.
Put your middle and index fingers in between your big toes and the other ones and wrap them under the big toe, holding the other two fingers with your thumbs.
Push your torso up a little bit to straighten your arms and then straighten your legs as well. Hold and be breathing in and out for about one minute, then release.
2. Paschimottanasana (Seated forward bend)
This pose increases blood flow to the brain, relieving it and decrease your stress and also significantly boosting brain functions.
Sit down straight on the floor, with your legs closed, flat and extended in front of you.
Push your tailbone outwards as you bend your hips forward to bring your torso to touch your legs.
Stretch your arms forward to touch your toes and hold for up to four minutes.
3. Balasana (Child’s pose)
Balasana is a great pose to relieve stress, that destroys brain cells and it causes more blood to be pumped to the brain, improving its functions.
Kneel down on the floor with your big toes touching. Move your knees from each other after you have sat on your heels.
Bring your torso down to between your knees and then extend your hands palms down on the floor in front of you.
Now flatten your back and bring it down further, as you deepen your torso on to the floor, opening your thighs even more and pushing out your tailbone. Inhale and exhale, as you hold the position for at least 30 seconds and as much as 3 minutes.
Please leave your comment to suggest which yoga pose works for you.
