It’s Good For Your Brain, That’s Why

A research article was published last March on the positive effects of Kripalu yoga and meditation in the scientific journal “Frontiers of Human Neuroscience”.

Brain function was looked at in Kripalu yoga and meditation practitioners, specifically the Caudate nucleus.

The Caudate nucleus is in the center of the brain along side other structures that have been thought until recently to be primarily involved with movement.

Most movement practitioners are aware of how movement impacts our ability to think clearly, remember and learn.

This study suggests more evidence to support the multifunctionality of these structures: not only do these central areas of the brain light up and keep their grey matter, but that they also develop more connections with movement as we age. This is important because these areas have been implicated in learning, modification of obsessive compulsive disorder, parkinson’s, alzheimers, emotional regulation, sleep and are primarily ruled by the pleasure hormone “dopamine”.

This research article is an interesting point in the direction of the value of awareness based movement and “sitting meditation” in improving and maintaining function of this area of the brain.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25852521

More reason to come to my yoga class!