{"id":5635,"date":"2016-06-12T15:48:56","date_gmt":"2016-06-12T15:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=5632&preview_id=5632"},"modified":"2016-06-12T15:48:56","modified_gmt":"2016-06-12T15:48:56","slug":"yoga-meditation-improve-memory-better-than-brain-games-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=5635","title":{"rendered":"Yoga, Meditation Improve Memory Better Than Brain Games, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is some much-needed fantastic news you can share with all your friends and family\u2026and, no, it has nothing to do with putting your feet over your head, Uncle Charlie. A recent study found that yoga, yes yoga, is better at keeping your memory sharp than all those puzzles and brain training apps you download to try and \u201cexercise\u201d the old noodle. In the \u201cmore good news\u201d department, yoga was also found to relieve depression and anxiety in people who practiced regularly.<\/p>\n

The study, which was\u00a0funded by the Alzheimer\u2019s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tuscon, Arizona, involved 25 participants over the age of 55, 11 of whom had\u00a0weekly hour-long memory training sessions with things like crossword puzzles and computer games, and the other 14 of whom were given weekly\u00a0hour-long yoga sessions and a 20-minute Kirtan Kriya meditation to practice at home every day over the course of 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

After the 12 weeks? Participants showed\u00a0similar verbal memory improvements,\u00a0but the yoga group improved the most with\u00a0visual-spatial memory. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans the researchers saw changes in the\u00a0way the brain cells connect with each other changed in both groups, but they were only statistically significant in the people practicing yoga.<\/p>\n

Science seems to be catching up to what a lot of us have been experiencing anecdotally. \u201cHistorically and anecdotally, yoga has been thought to be beneficial in aging well, but this is the scientific demonstration of that benefit,\u201d said lead researcher Harris Eyre, of the University of Adelaide. \u201cWe\u2019re converting historical wisdom into the high level of evidence required for doctors to recommend therapy to their patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s maybe a most interesting part of this study is the type of yoga they chose. Kundalini yoga incorporates movement, breath, sound (mantra) and meditation and is not your typical asana or vinyasa practice, but rather a series of invigorating kriyas that will sometimes have you flapping your arms or donkey-kicking your feet for several minutes at a time to stir the Kundalini energy, the primal serpent energy, at the base of our spine.<\/p>\n

The Alzheimer\u2019s Research and Prevention Foundation also recommends\u00a0Kirtan Kriya\u2014chanting the sounds\u00a0Sa, Ta, Na, Ma\u2014for better memory.\u00a0\u201dClinical research has shown that practicing Kirtan Kriya for just 12 minutes a day can improve cognition and activate parts of the brain that are central to memory,\u201d their website states.<\/p>\n

For participants of the study, this regular practice not only improved memory capabilities, it improved mood and helped them better cope with stress, depression and anxiety, which is important for the emotional components of aging, or managing symptoms of Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have memory loss, you can get quite anxious about that and it can lead to depression,\u201d said Professor Helen Lavretsky of the University of California at Los Angeles, a co-author of the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you or your relatives are trying to improve your memory or offset the risk for developing memory loss or dementia, a regular practice of yoga and meditation could be a simple, safe and low-cost solution to improving your brain fitness,\u201d\u00a0Lavretsky said.<\/p>\n

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease.
\nWant to give Kirtan Kriya a go yourself? Here\u2019s one you can sing along to:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: Yoga, Meditation Improve Memory Better Than Brain Games, Study Finds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is some much-needed fantastic news you can share with all your friends and family\u2026and, no, it has nothing to do with putting your feet over your head, Uncle Charlie. A recent study found that yoga, yes yoga, is better at keeping your memory sharp than all those puzzles and brain training apps you download […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1135],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}