Tagged: health

Yoga better for your brain than exercise, study finds

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Twenty minutes of yoga is better for boosting brain activity than vigorous exercise for the same amount of time, a study has found.

Researchers found that following yoga practice the participants were better able to focus their mental resources ,

Researchers report that a single, short session of the popular Hatha yoga significantly improves working as it improves memory, speed and focus, more so than regular workouts.

The university study involved a 20-minute progression of seated, standing and supine yoga postures that included contraction and relaxation of different muscle groups and regulated breathing. The session concluded with a meditative posture and deep breathing.

The 30 female undergraduate students at the University of Illinois in the US, also completed an aerobic exercise session where they walked or jogged on a treadmill for 20 minutes.

Each subject worked out at a suitable speed and incline of the treadmill, with the goal of maintaining 60 to 70 percent of her maximum heart rate throughout the exercise session.

The researchers were surprised to see that participants showed more improvement in their reaction times and accuracy on cognitive tasks after yoga practice than after the aerobic exercise session, which showed no significant improvements on the working memory and inhibitory control scores.

Researchers found that following yoga practice the participants were better able to focus their mental resources, process information quickly and more accurately and also learn, hold and update pieces of information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise bout.

"The breathing and meditative exercises aim at calming the mind and body and keeping distracting thoughts away while you focus on your body, posture or breath,” Professor Neha Gothe, who led the study, reported.

“Maybe these processes translate beyond yoga practice when you try to perform mental tasks or day-to-day activities."

The study team said several factors could explain the results.

Prof Gothe said: "Enhanced self-awareness that comes with meditational exercises is just one of the possible mechanisms. Besides, meditation and breathing exercises are known to reduce anxiety and stress, which in turn can improve scores on some cognitive tests.”

Prof Edward McAuley, co-author of the study, said: "This study is extremely timely and the results will enable yoga researchers to power and design their interventions in the future. We see similar promising findings among older adults as well.

“Yoga research is in its nascent stages and with its increasing popularity across the globe, researchers need to adopt rigorous systematic approaches to examine not only its cognitive but also physical health benefits across the lifespan."

An earlier study also found that regular sessions of the exercise can help fight off depression as it boosts levels of a chemical in the brain which is essential for a sound and relaxed mind.

Scientists from the Boston University School of Medicine found that the levels of the amino acid GABA are much higher in those that carry out yoga than those do the equivalent of a similarly strenuous exercise such as walking.

Low GABA levels are associated with depression and other widespread anxiety disorders.

 

 

Yoga Classes

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30th – 31st July 2016, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Yantra Yoga for Beginners in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Price: 80 Euros

Enquiries: Click Here

 

Yoga Classes and Courses

 

Classes may vary from very basic beginner level to more dynamic and advanced levels, but always a key point in mind is the unique constitution and present state of each individual and how yoga can be modified to suit your ability, condition and capacity.  

 

Different styles of yoga  are used drawing from a broad range of  yogic and bodywork traditions depending on the focus of the course,

Hatha yoga, restorative yoga,  yin yoga, structural yoga, yantra yoga and yoga therapy.

 

Applying some or all of the following methods:

  • Mobilizing and preparing the joints
  • Strengthening & Grounding Poses
  • Movement and Balancing Poses
  • Stretching and Invigorating Poses
  • Core Work and Activating Poses
  • Stretching and Invigorating Poses
  • Restorative & Relaxation-promoting Poses
  • Pranayama breathing practices
  • Meditation and contemplation

Call john on 07939090412 to talk about how yoga could help you and book a session.

 

Acupuncture &TCM

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Acupuncture and TCM

Acupuncture is one of the major branches of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Traditional Chinese medicine has mapped more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body, which connect with 12 main and 8 secondary pathways called meridians. These meridians conduct energy, or Qi flow between the surface of the body and the related internal organs.

 

The main meridians are classified into two opposing categories: Yin meridians and Yang meridians. Yin meridians link to the Yin organs (usually solid organs), and Yang meridians to the Yang organs (usually hollow organs). Yin and Yang meridians form a complex network, guiding and regulating a proper Qi flow through the whole body.

 

A healthy individual means that Qi circulates freely in the meridian networks, and promotes and maintains the Yin and Yang balance and the organ harmony.

 Diseases occur when the meridians are blocked and Qi flow is disturbed or diminished. The diseased conditions are expected to be restored by manipulating the involved meridians, using acupuncture and other healing methods such as acupressure massage Qi gong, moxibustion and cupping Etc.

 

  One of the unique functions of acu-points is bi-directional regulation, which means that stimulating a same point can restore two distinctive opposite diseased conditions (excess and deficient )over-function and under-function of the affected organs.

 

Acupuncture points are stimulated with fine sterile disposable needles to trigger a healing response in the patient. Specific points along the acupuncture channels are chosen according to traditional theory and anatomical findings to rebalance the flow of Qi in the channels and bring about healing.

 

Acupuncture treatment aims to treat the root of a condition, whilst also relieving the symptoms,

It does this by restoring natural functioning of the body at the deepest levels. As well as balancing and helping with specific problems it can also help with stress and promote general wellbeing and calm.

 

Cupping therapy

Cupping therapy is developed to a high level in Chinese medicine, but which also exists independently in many other traditional medicine systems.

A partial vacuum is introduced into the cup, normally by using a flame, then the cup is quickly placed onto the body. The vacuum pulls the muscle and tissue up into the cup, aiding local circulation and loosening tightness and restrictions. There are also cups which use a pump and a valve to achieve the same effect.

In Chinese medicine cupping can be used to 'expel' pathogens from the skin and muscle layer, this means in treating symptoms including mild fever, chills and fever, stiff neck and a little sweating. It also means it is indicated for situations where there is pain and localized blood stagnation. The suction moves or invigorates the blood, that is in situations where there is sharp or severe muscle pain, spasm and loss of movement where there is qi and blood stasis. By restoring the circulation of blood, stasis is removed and function returns.