Down dog, chaturanga, up dog, vinyasa. Oh, excuse me, I was just practicing a little Ashtanga (and increasing my thalamic GABA levels).If this sounds to you like a pickup line from some foreign film noir, you're not alone. Au contraire, mon ami (French for "on the contrary, my friend"), all of the above (excluding GABA, which is a neurotransmitter associated with increased positive affect and decreased anxiety) are actually postures routinely practiced in the age old exercise of yoga.
The physical benefits of yoga are prolific and well-known--increased flexibility, improved circulation and decreased muscle tension to name a few--however, its neuronal benefits have, up until now, been relatively unexplored.
A study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine last week documented a significant increase in mood and decrease in anxiety when comparing two experimental groups of people: one that practiced an hour of yoga three times a week and another that did one hour of metabolically comparable walking exercises three times a week (this was all done over a twelve week period). Marked improvements, confirmed by self-reports and quantitative measurements of GABA levels in the brain immediately after each session, were observed in the yoga-practicing group.
Though exercise is inherently associated with an increase in positive affect and decrease in anxiety, comparing two events that involve equal increases in metabolic activity controls for any confounding factors. Thus, more credibility can be attributed to the notion that practicing yoga is the cause of these improvements.
Take a deep breath; you don't have to practice two hours of hot yoga a day to reap its brainy benefits (not to mention the amount of laundry you'd accrue doing that). Just keep in mind that it's never too late to try out a class at your local gym, buy a DVD or even use videos online to learn (Hulu has some great ones).
No comments:
Post a Comment