The Science Behind Yoga
Summary
TLDRThe video script delves into the profound impact of yoga on mental and physical health, backed by scientific research. It highlights yoga's four key components: physical postures, self-regulation, mind-body awareness, and spiritual experiences. Emphasizing yoga's ability to reduce depression and anxiety, the speaker discusses the neurobiological effects, including changes in brain activity and structure, and the influence on gene expression. The script calls for a deeper understanding of yoga's traditional roots and its potential in modern medicine, advocating for its recognition as a powerful tool for self-realization and holistic well-being.
Takeaways
- 🧘 Yoga is a holistic practice that encompasses physical postures, breathing techniques, relaxation, and self-regulation to enhance global functioning.
- 💪 Yoga has the capacity to change the brain and improve psychological well-being, including resilience to stress and emotional regulation.
- 🧠 The cultivation of Mind-Body awareness through yoga leads to increased mindfulness, which can positively influence behavior.
- 🕉 Traditional yoga aims to experience deeper, spiritual states that can be transformative and guide individuals towards a positive lifestyle.
- 🔬 Recent research supports the benefits of yoga for mental health, including significant reductions in depression and anxiety.
- 🌟 The practice of yoga is backed by the principle of 'Prana with space', emphasizing the importance of creating space in the body and mind for energy flow.
- 🔑 Yoga establishes physical connections in the body through channels known as 'nadi', facilitating the flow of energy and information.
- 🌱 Breathing exercises are a powerful tool in yoga for managing stress and are applicable both on and off the mat.
- 🧬 Modern science, including epigenetics, is revealing the mind's significant role in controlling health and biology, which aligns with yoga's ancient teachings.
- 📈 Cutting-edge research in neuroimaging and molecular biology is beginning to demonstrate the tangible effects of yoga on brain activity and gene expression.
- 🌐 Yoga originated as a reaction against urbanization and a pursuit of harmony with nature, aiming for self-realization and a deeper understanding of one's true nature.
Q & A
What is the significance of Eastern philosophy in the context of Western science?
-Eastern philosophy has long held knowledge that Western science is now beginning to validate. The script suggests that practices like yoga, which have been a part of Eastern traditions, are now being recognized for their powerful effects on the mind and body, which science is investigating and understanding.
How does yoga have the capacity to change the brain?
-Yoga changes the brain through its four components: physical postures, self-regulation, cultivation of mind-body awareness, and experiencing deeper or spiritual states. These components work together to increase mindfulness, resilience, and positive behaviors, which in turn can lead to transformative changes in an individual's lifestyle.
What is the role of self-regulation in yoga practice?
-Self-regulation in yoga practice involves the ability to control internal stress and emotional responses, fostering resilience to stress and equanimity in the face of emotions. This leads to psychological self-efficacy, which is critical for mental health and overall well-being.
How does the cultivation of mind-body awareness impact mindfulness and behavior?
-Cultivating mind-body awareness through yoga allows individuals to feel and experience what's happening in their body and mind. This awareness leads to increased mindfulness, which can positively change behaviors and contribute to overall mental health.
What is the significance of the traditional concept of Prana in yoga?
-Prana, a fundamental concept in yoga, represents the life force or energy that flows through the body when space is created. This concept is linked to the idea that when there is space in the body and mind, Prana can flow freely, leading to wellness.
How does the practice of yoga physically establish connections in the body?
-Yoga establishes physical connections through the channels or 'nadi' in the body. These channels facilitate the flow of energy and information, represented by 'Prana' and 'chit' in yoga, which corresponds to various physiological systems such as blood vessels, nerves, and acupuncture meridians.
What is the connection between yoga and the management of stress response?
-Yoga practices, including breathing techniques and postures, help manage the stress response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and reducing the sympathetic nervous system's activity. This is achieved by controlling breathing and redirecting attention, which can have a calming effect on the mind and body.
What evidence supports the benefits of yoga for mental health?
-Research has shown significant reductions in measures of depression and anxiety among individuals practicing yoga. There is also evidence of increased resilience, frequency of positive experiences, and a decrease in negative experiences, suggesting that yoga can have a positive impact on mental health.
How does yoga potentially change gene activity according to the script?
-The script mentions that yoga practices can potentially change gene activity, enhancing genes that are beneficial, such as those related to immune response, and downregulating genes that may be harmful under chronic stress, such as those related to inflammation.
What are the cutting-edge areas of research in yoga mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions neuroimaging and molecular biological approaches as cutting-edge areas of research in yoga. Neuroimaging allows for the observation of changes in brain activity and structure, while molecular biological research investigates the effects of yoga on neurotransmitters and gene expression.
What is the ultimate goal of yoga according to the script?
-The ultimate goal of yoga, as described in the script, is self-realization. While yoga can help with healing and overcoming challenges, it is also about going beyond these benefits to truly understand and know the truth of who you are.
Outlines
🧘♂️ The Power of Yoga and Mind Control
This paragraph discusses the convergence of Western science and Eastern philosophy, particularly yoga, in understanding the mind's power to control life. It highlights the physical postures, breathing techniques, self-regulation, and mind-body awareness as key components of yoga. The speaker emphasizes the psychological benefits, such as resilience and mindfulness, leading to positive behavioral changes. The paragraph concludes with scientific research supporting yoga's effectiveness in reducing depression and anxiety, showcasing the average yoga practice duration and its significant impact on mental health.
🌿 The Concept of Space and Prana in Yoga
The speaker explores the concept of 'space' in both the physical and mental realms within the context of yoga. They explain the importance of creating space in the body and mind for Prana, or life force, to flow freely, which is essential for wellness. The paragraph delves into the physical aspects of yoga, such as establishing connections in the body through channels like blood vessels and nerves, which facilitate the flow of energy and information. The speaker also touches on the historical research on yoga's stress management benefits and the power of breath in controlling the stress response, both in yoga practice and daily life.
🧠 Yoga's Impact on the Brain and Nervous System
This paragraph examines the neurological and physiological effects of yoga, emphasizing the mind's role in controlling health and biology. The speaker discusses the new science of epigenetics and how stress, not genes, is a significant contributor to illness. They highlight the capacity of yoga to change brain activity and structure through neuroimaging and molecular biological approaches. The paragraph also covers the impact of yoga on neurotransmitters and gene expression, illustrating yoga's potential to improve health at a cellular and molecular level. The speaker expresses excitement about the growing scientific validation of yoga's benefits and its potential integration into modern medicine.
🌱 The Evolution and Spiritual Aspects of Yoga
The final paragraph reflects on the origins and spiritual significance of yoga, which began as a reaction against the urban environment and the exploitation of nature. It discusses the evolution of yoga from a physical practice to one that integrates the mind, body, and spirit, aiming for self-realization. The speaker acknowledges the limitations of Western science in quantifying the spiritual aspects of yoga but appreciates its role in bringing more people to the practice. They emphasize the transformative power of yoga in overcoming challenges and fulfilling one's personal destiny, while also contributing to societal well-being.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Yoga
💡Mind-Body Awareness
💡Self-Regulation
💡Prana
💡Nadi
💡Meditation
💡Neuroimaging
💡Gene Expression
💡Stress Response
💡Breathing Techniques
💡Psychophysiological Effects
Highlights
Western science is beginning to validate Eastern philosophy's insights, particularly in the realm of yoga.
Yoga has the capacity to change the brain and enhance control over one's life.
Yoga is composed of four components: physical postures, breathing techniques, self-regulation, and mind-body awareness.
Self-regulation is key to resilience and emotional equanimity, leading to psychological self-efficacy.
Cultivation of mind-body awareness increases mindfulness, positively influencing behavior.
Traditional yoga emphasizes experiencing deeper, spiritual states for transformative effects.
Yoga's benefits are evident to practitioners without the need for scientific evidence.
Scientific research supports yoga's effectiveness in reducing depression and anxiety.
A 33% reduction in depression measures was found in a 6-week yoga practice study.
Yoga increases resilience and the frequency of positive experiences, while reducing negative ones.
The average yoga practice time showing benefits is just 12 minutes most days of the week.
The concept of Prana and space is central to yoga's philosophy, promoting wellness.
Physically, yoga establishes connections in the body through channels for energy and information flow.
Yoga's practices are shown to manage the stress response and emotional regulation.
Breathing is a powerful tool in yoga for controlling the stress response.
Yoga postures and breathing work synergistically to enhance the parasympathetic signal.
Yoga strengthens the mind's power over physiology and subconscious programs.
Modern science, including epigenetics, supports the mind's role in controlling health and biology.
Neuroimaging and molecular biological approaches are cutting-edge research areas in yoga.
Yoga can change gene activity, enhancing positive health outcomes and reducing negative ones.
Biomedical research is increasingly recognizing and validating the effects of yoga.
Yoga began as a reaction to urbanization and the disconnection from nature.
Yoga is not just for physical and mental well-being but also for self-realization.
Yoga integrates the mind, body, and spirit, helping individuals reconnect with their purpose.
Yoga's teachings involve invisible realities that modern science has yet to fully perceive.
Transcripts
Western science is beginning to find
evidence and catch up with a lot of what
this Eastern philosophy has known for a
really long
time there's actually something very
powerful in what's going on in here and
that's worth
investigating the more control we have
in our mind the more power we have in
our
life yoga has really
the capacity to change your brain
I think there's four components that
that really make yoga what it is one of
these of course is the most obvious one
which is the physical postures the
stretching the exercises the movements
the breathing techniques the relaxation
techniques these are an important
component that's working the body to
affect um our Global
functioning another critical area is the
idea of self-regulation the ability to
control our internal stress response to
control our emotion response this is
basically reflected as resilience to
stress and equinity in the face of
emotions and that leads to a
psychological
self-efficacy another really key area is
the cultivation of Mind Body awareness
um the sense of being able to feel and
experience what's going on in the body
and also to experience what's going on
mentally to be able to observe um the
flow of thought um and this kind of
cultivation of Mind Body awareness leads
to an increase mindfulness that can
change behaviors in a very positive way
and then the final component which is
really reflecting the traditional
origins of yoga is the idea of
experiencing these deeper States um
these spiritual States if you will
Transcendent States uh even if they're
short term these kinds of experiences
that you get in deep meditation uh can
really be transformative for people and
bring them to a positive lifestyle to
have them gravitate towards positive
goals in life to improve improve and
enhance uh their life meaning and
purpose for those who have experienced
the benefits of yoga for themselves they
don't they don't need any evidence they
don't need any research to convince them
that that yoga can help however there
are others who do like a little bit more
of a you know a robust scientific
systematic way of looking at what's
actually going on rather than you know
the anecdotal evidence that that so many
people give so what I've been doing
recently is research in the field of
yoga for depression and anxiety
disorders the most significant result
that we found was the reduction in
measures of depression so we compared
the group of people who were doing uh
the yoga practice it was done over 6
weeks and the control group was uh
continuing with that regular treatment
and we saw a significant difference
between the two groups we saw a 33%
reduction in the group of people who
were doing the yoga practice we saw a
significant reduction in scores in
anxiety in overall psychological
distress uh we saw an increase in
resilience that's a really important
measure in uh in mental health we saw
increases in the frequency of positive
experiences that people reporting and
conversely a reduction in the frequency
of negative
experiences the average amount of yoga
that people were doing was 12 minutes on
a regular basis most days of the week
over 6 weeks probably the most important
measures were the reduction of the
depression and the anxiety scores but
each of the other measures gives us a
much more overall picture of
improvements in mental
health the evidence support reports the
whole idea that if people do something
that includes movement breath mindful
attention and
relaxation using the framework of yoga a
little bit each day really does bring
about some pretty significant
results the most important scientific
principle on which the whole philosophy
of yoga rests is Prana with
space I'm sure you've heard this term
very often give me some
space yeah but actually we need to
create that space in the body we need to
create that space in the mind so when
your mind is clogged with thoughts you
need to flush them out remove them and
that's what meditation is all about to
empty your mind similarly in a body when
we are doing Arenas what are we doing we
are stretching out the body we're
creating that much needed space so we
need to give this intercellular space
and when space is there Prana flows and
when there is Prana there is
Wellness the most important thing that I
see in terms of yoga on a physical level
is to establish Connections in the body
and the connections come through the
channels in in our body body which in
yoga they call nardis and what moves
through these channels is energy and
information which in yoga they call
Prana and chit but physically these
channels are blood vessels nerves
lymphatic vessels acupuncture meridians
just to name the main ones and Prana is
things like heat electrical
electromagnetic electrochemical energy
flooding through the different channels
of the body and also energy carrying
molecules like glucose ATP then of
course information or Ito is the
information that might flow through um
nerves and also electromagnetic energy
that flows through the body carrying
information and also information
carrying molecules such as hormones
neurotransmitters immunot transmitters
and so physically and energetically we
have energy and information flowing
through the body and to enhance the flow
of energy and information through these
channels in the body that's the most
important thing to make yoga happen in
the body
now one thing I like to say to people is
that yoga has obviously proved itself
over tens of thousands of years right
yoga has had a chance to prove itself
over time but it is important for a lot
of people to really have that belief in
yoga that they have an understanding of
it from the Western Scientific point of
view and
model uh in terms of the evidence that's
there for um the psychophysiological
effects of Yoga practices I think
historically even going back to the 50s
there's a lot of research that shows the
ability uh of these practices to enable
people to manage their stress response
the stress system and this is one of the
major reasons why yoga people practice
yoga it's to enable them to cope with
stress and emotion in a big way it's one
of the biggest reasons why people come
to yoga classes is to cope with stress
breath is the most powerful tool that
everyone has within their reach to bring
their stress response right under their
control the most direct way of doing
that is by taking fewer breaths within a
period of time and trying to fill your l
lungs and expand your lung volume with
every single breath and trying to
increase that as far as you can from one
breath to the
next when we look at studies of people
who perform pron breathing or yogic
breathing where they prolong every
breath so they breathe less frequently
and deeper we find that it's possible to
reduce blood pressure by controlling
breathing now blood pressure is governed
by the sympathetic nervous system and
the sympathetic nervous system is a
messenger of the stress response so you
can see what we're doing to the stress
response simply by modifying
breathing now within the yoga postures
as we go from one posture to another and
we're creating a challenge that our mind
has to constantly deal with so if we're
standing on one leg or our muscle is
Contracting and we're having to bring
our thum thought right back one of the
things we can do to help ourselves is
conturing breathing because as the
prefrontal cortex or parts of it are
working to redirect attention we are
also trying to get to grips with the
stress response and calm ourselves down
and using breathing as a tool adds to
this so breathing plus the effort of
regulating your thought both enhance the
parasympathetic signal and bring the
sympathetic nervous system signal down
and hence moving out of the yoga studio
this reflects on life in general so when
we are faced with a stressful
situation we remember to do exactly the
same thing we did in that yoga room
which is control the breathing and
redirect attention using our mind using
the parts of the prefrontal cortex so
breathing is an extremely powerful tool
which can be applied both within and
outside of the yoga room but we can
practice using it within every yoga
posture so yoga it strengthens the power
of the mind and the more control we have
in our mind in a sense of the conscious
mind covering or actually controlling
subconscious programs that take us off
track the more power we have in that
mind the more power we have in our life
to control not just our physiology but
where we are in the world and how we
connect with the rest of the world
because it's all through the nervous
system the biology that I teach
epigenetics the new science is all
revealing that the mind is the ultimate
control of our health and our biology
and we've been looking at genes as the
issue it turns out only 1% of illness is
related to genes 90% of illness is
related to stress and what's stress it's
the Mind overworking in a sense of fear
and and just being lost in the world of
so many things going on and yoga brings
it into a
focus I think the most interesting thing
is what it shows about Neuroscience
neurology and how yoga has really the
capacity to change your brain and if it
changes your brain it changes your
neurology it changes your nervous system
it changes your
physiology it could potentially change
anything inside of you that might need
changing or
transforming the two areas of research
that are really cutting edge currently
one of them is neuroimaging the ability
of these large machines that can peer
right into the brain activity and look
at very discrete areas of the brain and
look at changes in brain activity and
also changes in brain structure and what
we're finding is that these meditative
practices can indeed change brain
activity when you focus your attention
um you change brain activity in a very
discret way not only that but over time
you actually change brain structure
through what's called brain plasticity
um and that means you end up with a
brain that is conducive to the benefits
and the practices that come along with
contemplative practices like yoga and
meditation and you can see changes in
the stress system as reflected in the
nervous system and then finally the the
other Cutting Edge area of research in
yoga is a ular biological approach this
is looking at the action of
neurotransmitters uh looking at the
action of actual molecules um in the
brain uh so for example there are
studies that show that a major
neurotransmitter is affected after a
single yoga class and there's other
studies that show that um the expression
of our DNA the activity of our genes is
actually reflected as changing with
these practices and you actually change
gene activity you enhance gene activity
that's good for you uh things like
immune response is improved and you
downregulate gene activity that is
sometimes bad for you if you're under
chronic stress things like
inflammation so um these are the two
Cutting Edge areas and they're they're
bringing yoga into the biomedical Modern
World um we're starting to see that that
yoga is not just a hobby not just
something that you practice on the side
this is real biological stuff you're
really changing the activity of neurons
in the brain you're changing um function
within the body at the cellular and even
the molecular level so it's very
exciting and this research is really
exploding at this point in time so it's
it's very exciting to see this
validation of what we've experienced on
the behavioral level now manifested in
the scientific
research what would be great to see is
um is a recognition in medicine and in
science that there's something worth
looking at more carefully
so I wouldn't say it's a simple instant
outcome that it would be great if
medicine saw yoga in this way but I
think what's really important is that
medicine and and other research
recognizes that there's something in
here that's worth
investigating there's an enormous amount
that we can learn through conventional
biomedical research on yoga in fact
biomedical research itself is evolving
to be able to allow us to peer into the
body and the Brain in ways that were
inconceivable just decades ago and so as
this modern science evolves with things
like I've described in neuroimaging um
molecular biological approaches will
allow us to use these tools to evaluate
exactly how yoga is working uh and
that's fantastic and and that is going
to proceed um in an exponential way
every week There's a new publication
coming out evaluating some aspect of the
physiological effects of yoga or on um
yoga as a clinical inter prevention I
think one area that probably may not
manifest in my lifetime is to look at
some of the subtle things that um
historically yoga has been associated
with these are sort of the so-called
subtle subtle energies uh in the field
of uh complimentary integrative medicine
this have been referred to as Energy
Medicine um there's a number of aspects
of yoga that are hypothesized the flow
of sort of internal energy throughout
the body there's these energy centers or
called chakras that are said to be there
in in the body that are affected by yoga
practice and we currently don't have the
instruments that can really measure um
this energy flow or these energy centers
if they exist and that is going to be
difficult um to measure um but I'm not
too concerned about that because what
we're really getting with the biomedical
research is what we really need right
now practically speaking and that is the
evidence to show that these practices
have real and Powerful changes um and
and and they can make people's behavior
go in the proper direction for health
well-being and actually behavior in
society yoga began as a reaction against
the urban environment and the
enslavement and exploitation of animals
and damning of rivers around 10,000
years ago when we human beings shifted
from living aligned with nature and in
harmony with nature to wanting to
control nature there was a group of us
who said I don't know if that's the way
it's going to ultimately bring
happiness and they held
back and as more and more cities
developed those people we call yogis now
retreated into the forests and the
jungles and the
mountains um to see if there was a
better
way to achieve happiness and Bliss and
the knowledge of who we really
are yoga has a great capacity to help
people heal and help people overcome
challenges but I think it's also
important that we don't let's say get
stuck there because ultimately yoga is
about
self-realization so let's use it to get
better or let's use it to heal but then
let's keep going with yoga to really get
to the juice of yoga which is to really
know the truth of who you are and I
don't know if you can really quantify
that through Western science still it's
great that Western science is bringing
more people to the
practice because it's giving them a
language that they need in order to
enter
yeah for me the yoga practice went from
the physical mental realm to the
energetic emotional realm to the psychic
symbolic it was a very practical
practice that evolved emotionally and
then opened me up spiritually and at one
point there was just well now what and
it was service it was always service it
was take everything that you've learned
and take it off the mat get it out of
your house and bring it down into the
world where it actually
matters a lot of the teaching of yoga is
about invisible realities that have been
seen by deeper faculties this is where
modern science doesn't quite see what
yoga is seeing what they're seeing is
interesting but they don't see that
there are other faculties of
seeing the word Veda from which yoga
comes means to see and gives us
video and what a guru gives or a teacher
gives is Daran a
vision that might not have been obvious
at
first the tremendous transformative
power of yoga it offers these techniques
to move through emotional mental block
blages and challenges and really allows
you to find your true seat of power your
sense of
yourself it integrates the mind the body
and the spirit so people reconnect with
their soul and sole purpose and a
clarifies things for in people's lives
it helps people fulfill personal Destiny
it's a very deep spiritual devotional
practice at the same time it's this
beautiful physical practice it creates
well-being what I feel is everything you
know exists for a reason sometimes is in
the west especially it's a very
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