Neuroplasticity and the brain

Neuroplasticity (or brain plasticity) is the brain's lifelong ability to adapt, change, and reorganize its physical structure and functional connections. It allows neurons to form new pathways, strengthen existing ones, and adapt to new experiences, learning, or injuries.

We often think of our yoga practice as being strictly physical, but the mind-body connection is one of the strongest aspects we can cultivate.

We have all witnessed older adults that bodies are still functioning, yet they suffer from some sort of cognitive decline. What can we do to improve our health and minds as we age?

The key to improving health and preventing cognitive decline lies in our lifestyle choices. 

Yoga is the oldest known discipline that combines the psychological, physiological and complex body dynamics. The system created by the yogis remains the most complete practice that promotes the engagement of the organism and its dimensions.  It remains one of the most popular mind-body interventions in the world.

Our Yin Yoga practice consists of many components- breathing, meditative focus, discipline, finding and maintaining our edge, as well as moving our bodies into various shapes.

In Yin Yoga specifically, the mental and emotional bodies are a focus just as much as the physical practice. One of the most defining features of a Yin Yoga practice are the deeper states of relaxation and meditative focus that the practitioner experiences. When this happens, our brain moves into unique wave patterns that are different from our normal, waking or stressful modes of being. In waking life, the brain normally operates in a frequency of Beta waves. In Yin Yoga these brain waves are slower and larger, we move towards the states between Alpha and Theta. This corresponds to a quiet and relaxed mental state. They are associated with calmness, feelings of deep relaxation and receptivity. In these states, the human brain is receptive to re-wiring unhelpful or negative beliefs, patterns and behaviors. On a neurological level, the brain is vulnerable to creating new neural pathways.

Training yourself to be calm is a skill you build over time by conditioning your nervous system. You can achieve this by practicing daily breathwork, shifting how you react to your thoughts, and establishing physical habits that signal your brain that it is safe to relax.

Our first direct link to our nervous system is through the breath.

Diaphragmatic breathing (or belly breathing) is a deep breathing technique that engages your diaphragm rather than your chest muscles. By fully expanding your lungs, it maximizes oxygen intake, lowers your heart rate, and activates the vagus nerve to trigger your body's relaxation response. It rapidly lowers cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and can help manage anxiety and chronic tension.

Take slow breaths in through the nose, feeling the abdomen gently expand, exhale out the nose or mouth, feeling the abdomen gently contract. There is very little movement in the chest region as you breath.