Yoga for Brain Health -- Part Four (Mental Stimulation)

You probably already know the importance of challenging our brains to improve memory, focus, concentration, and cognitive skills. It may surprise you to learn that yoga is one way to do this! Here are some examples:

  1. Challenge your proprioception. Proprioception is your awareness of your body in space. Seem obvious? Try this: while standing take your feet wide apart. Then turn both feet to the right. Next, bend your right knee. Press into the outside edge of your left foot. Raise both of your arms to shoulder level and take your gaze over your extended right hand. You just took the Warrior 2 yoga pose. Feel a little strange? Good: you’ve just challenged your proprioception!

  1. Body awareness. I start every single yoga class and private session by inviting people to mindfully tune into how their bodies are feeling. I’ll mention a variety of areas of the body that often are tight, sore, or neglected. I encourage everyone to acknowledge the areas that don’t feel so great, while also celebrating the areas that feel pretty darn good — even if that’s just your earlobes! Taking the time to truly notice your body can be a real mental challenge. Yoga teachers are great guides for this.

  2. Most yoga teachers will then encourage your to notice your breathing. According to the American Lung Association, we each take about 22,000 breaths per day. Yoga gives us the opportunity to focus and concentrate on this automatic activity. No need to change it at first. Sometimes I’ll ask people to notice the coolness of their inhales, and the warmth of their exhales. Or I’ll ask them to place their hands on their abdomens and concentrate on the expansion of that area as they breathe in, followed by the softening as they breathe out. It takes practice!

  3. Breath work. After we’ve taken some time to focus on our natural breath, I introduce my students to a breathing practice. Yogis have practiced pranayama for centuries. Focusing on the breath and manipulating it is a great mental exercise — and the effects are calming or energizing, depending on the practice. There are a variety of practices out there. Feel free to check out a few on my YouTube channel. There is a playlist called Breathing Techniques.

  4. Meditation. Did you know that meditation is a form of yoga and that it is terrific for your brain health? Now don’t worry: meditation doesn’t require you to sit on a special cushion and “empty” your brain for 30 minutes. If you’re new to the practice, start by sitting comfortably and taking five gentle breaths. See if you can keep your attention on those five inhales and exhales. There: you just meditated. Of course, you can work up to focusing on your breath for longer periods of time if you’d like. Guided meditations are also a terrific place to start if you are new to meditation. For those, you can sit, walk, or even lie down. Open a meditation app (e.g., Headspace, Insight Timer, or Calm) and have a listen.

These are some of the fabulous ways that yoga can stimulate your brain and help you keep it healthy. All you need is your brain, your breath, and the willingness to give these suggestions a try!

Me? Meditate?

I’ll admit it: meditation did not initially appeal to me. When I heard the word, I pictured a person sitting with a very straight spine on a cushion, eyes closed, chanting, and in a trance. I would think to myself, “I’ve got no time for THAT!”

But as I started to practice the physical side of yoga, I began to explore the mental aspect. Yes, meditation can look like the image I described above. But it doesn’t have to.

Want to know what my meditation practice looks like? Well, it looks different every time! Sometimes, I wake up, make my coffee, and sit for a minute on my sofa with my eyes closed. I start the Breathe app on my Apple watch and try to keep my attention on my breathing for one minute.

Other days, I do a walking meditation. Whether it’s around the neighborhood or along the shore, I try to spend several moments noticing each time my foot connects with the ground. Or I stand gazing and the waves and try to keep my attention on them. Or I walk on a nature trail and try to keep my attention on the sounds of birds singing.

All of this is meditation: anytime you can interrupt your thoughts, or tune into your body or breath, you’re meditating. Does it have to last 30 minutes? Heck no! Sometimes my meditation practice lasts only 1 minute: it still “counts” and it still helps me calm down, redirect my thinking, or just pause and breathe.

Want to give meditation a try? We can spend part of a private yoga session learning how. I’d love to introduce you to this type of yoga (and it is yoga!)

I Meet You Where You Are

This morning I was ready to lead one of my private students through some stability and strengthening yoga poses and movement. One of her primary goals while working with me is to feel stronger. So, I had a great sequence of standing and strengthening postures ready!

But then she arrived.

She said she was having a stressful day and wanted to focus on breathing and stretching instead. Could that be any further from a dynamic strengthening practice? If this had happened three years ago (when I first started teaching), I am SURE I would have looked like a deer caught in headlights! But not now. I had to think on my toes a LITTLE bit, but was quickly able to offer her a variety of opportunities to tune into her breath, practice a calming breathing technique, take several slow stretches customized to HER body’s needs, and conclude with a lovely guided meditation.

She left the studio feeling really good in body AND mind.

This is why I love my job: I get to LISTEN to my students. I have the honor of giving them space to tune into their bodies and their minds, and decide what THEY need on any given day. I let them explore breath and movement that feels good to them. Then I send them away feeling refreshed. What more could I ask for?

This could be YOU ! Visit www.breathewithjennie.com/private-sessions! I’d love to meet you where you are and give you an opportunity to breathe, destress, stretch, or strengthen!