Name: What yoga does to your body and brain - Krishna Sudhir
Uploaded: 2020-07-03T05:45:43.000Z
Duration: 6 min 2 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

At some point between  the 1st and 5th century CE,

the Hindu sage Patañjali began to codify the ancient, meditative traditions

He recorded techniques nearly as old  as Indian civilization itself

These texts defined yoga as the 'yoking'  or restraining of the mind

in efforts to reach a state  of pure consciousness.

Over time, yoga came to incorporate physical elements

Today, there are a multitude of approaches to modern yoga—

though most still maintain the three core elements of Patañjali's practice:

physical postures, breathing exercises,  and spiritual contemplation.

This blend of physical  and mental exercise

is widely believed to have a unique set  of health advantages.

Such as improving strength and flexibility,

boosting heart and lung function,  and enhancing psychological well-being.

But what have contemporary studies shown regarding the benefits

it's tough to make specific claims  about yoga's advantages.

Its unique combination of activities  makes it difficult to determine

which component is producing  a specific health benefit.

Additionally, yoga studies are often  made up of small sample sizes

and the heavy reliance on self-reporting makes results subjective.

that have more robust scientific  support than others.

Let's start with flexibility and strength.

Twisting your body  into yoga's physical postures

In the short term, stretching can change the water content of these muscles,

ligaments, and tendons  to make them more elastic.

Over time, regular stretching  stimulates stem cells

which then differentiate  into new muscle tissue

and other cells that generate  elastic collagen.

Frequent stretching also reduces  the body's natural reflex

improving your pain tolerance  for feats of flexibility.

Researchers haven't found  that any one form of yoga

so the impact of specific  postures is unclear.

yoga reliably improves fitness  and flexibility in healthy populations.

The practice has also been shown to be a potentially powerful therapeutic tool.

In studies involving patients with  a variety of musculo-skeletal disorders,

yoga was more helpful at reducing pain  and improving mobility

Adding yoga to an existing  exercise routine can improve strength

and flexibility for hard to treat  conditions like chronic lower back pain,

Yoga's mix of physical exercise  and regimented breathing

has proven similarly therapeutic  for lung health.

Lung diseases like chronic bronchitis,  emphysema, and asthma

shrink the passageways that carry oxygen,

while weakening the membrane  that brings oxygen into the blood.

But breathing exercises  like those found in yoga

relax the muscles constricting  those passageways

Increasing the blood's oxygen content is especially helpful

who have difficulty pumping enough oxygen throughout the body.

this practice can lower blood pressure and reduce risk factors

Yoga's most widely celebrated benefit may be the most difficult to prove:

Despite the longstanding association  between yoga and psychological wellbeing,

there's little conclusive evidence  on how the practice affects mental health.

is that yoga improves symptoms  of depression and anxiety disorders.

Since diagnosis of these conditions varies widely

as do their origin and severity, it's difficult to quantify yoga's impact.

that yoga can help reduce  the symptoms of stress,

Research on the effects  of yoga is still evolving.

In the future, we'll need larger studies,  incorporating diverse participants,

which can measure yoga's impact on heart attacks, cancer rates,

But for now, yoga can continue  its ancient tradition

as a way to exercise, reflect, and relax.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

What yoga does to your body and brain - Krishna Sudhir

anxiety

specific

chronic

meditation