Yoga for Stress Reduction- A Scientific Analysis

Thinking about stress management for your New Year’s resolutions? Curious about whether yoga might be for you? Yoga is fantastic for your mind and body, and there’s some great research that backs it up.

A couple years ago I made this video on the Science of Yoga with some great collaborators for the Science Museum of Virginia as part of my “Thinking about Thinking” series of explaining human behaviors to our general museum audience.

In the video I detail a few key pieces of information about the science of yoga:

• Yoga can actually change your brain and body. Since the 1950s, western researchers have been fascinated with eastern practitioners of yoga who demonstrate conscious control of the autonomic nervous system- the ability to deliberately change their heart rate, blood pressure, digestive processes, and more. Using cutting edge technology we can watch yogis even change brainwave activity. This research continues with both experienced and inexperienced yoga practitioners.

• You can use yoga to calm down. Many of us already know that yoga practices can change our stress response. When faced with a panic-inducing moment, we can prevent or change our fight-or-flight response by techniques like taking a deep breath, relaxing our shoulders, or changing our posture. By practicing these techniques regularly, we can improve our ability to respond to stressors more effectively.

• Yoga boosts brain activity. Both movement and altered breathing rhythms helps better oxygenate your blood, which boosts brain function, improves learning and memory, improves cellular longevity of brain, and protect neurons from degeneration.

There’s more in the video if you watch!

Bonus content!

Want even more on the science of yoga?

While working on the above mentioned video, I also got to assist on this Science Museum of Virginia blog published on August 29, 2020. Question Your World: Does Yoga Actually Reduce Stress?

If you’d rather listen than read, you can listen to the amazing Prabir Mehta deliver this on SoundCloud.