Posts Tagged ‘research’

Study: Meditation Changes Your Brain

hst060.jpgScience has spoken.

A new study published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging shows that subjects who meditated 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had
measurable changes in parts of the brain
associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

According to an article in The New York Times, “How Meditation May Change the Brain:”

M.R.I. brain scans taken before and after the participants’ meditation
regimen found increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area
important for learning and memory. The images also showed a reduction of
gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress. A
control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.

We want to know: Meditation improves your memory, makes you feel better about yourself, and reduces stress. What is holding you back from meditating?

Read the whole story on:http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/

Survey Finds Common Yoga Misconceptions

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What prevents people from jumping on the yoga bandwagon? According to a new survey conducted by Yoga Alliance, several misconceptions could be what’s keeping non-yogis from trying their first class.

Below is an excerpt from the press release:

The research sought feedback from people who have never stepped foot in
a studio as well as those who have made yoga an essential part of their
lives. It found that, despite growing “buzz,” there are many Americans
who know little about yoga or, worse, have incorrect assumptions which
inhibit them from participation. The three most common misperceptions
are that yoga:

  • Is religion-based. 57% of those who do not currently practice yoga believe that it requires mantras or chanting related to a form of worship.
  • Requires flexibility in order to practice.

Yoga Helps Teens with Eating Disorders

A recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teens with eating disorders benefited from establishing a yoga practice, reports Time magazine. In the study, teens (mostly girls ages 11-16) with eating disorders showed longer-lasting improvement when they added a yoga practice to their treatment program. “Food preoccupation may be reduced by focusing attention on yoga poses,”

Yoga May Decrease Risk for Dowager’s Hump

You probably already know that yoga can help your posture now, but a recent study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests yoga also can also help lower the risk of Dowager’s Hump in the elderly. Dowager’s Hump, an abnormal outward curvature of the vertebrae of upper back, is often due to osteoporosis and is most common among elderly women (though men can get them, too.)

In a group of elderly participants, those who did yoga three times a day for six
months saw their upper spine curve lowered by about 5 percent compared
to those who did no yoga, reported the Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society.

Read more about the study.

Read the whole story on:http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/

Chronic Back Pain Reduced through Yoga, Study Says

A study published recently in the journal Spine found that yoga may help relieve pain and improve mood in patients with chronic back pain. The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health found that patients who took a yoga class tailored to people with chronic back pain twice a week were in less pain and less likely to be depressed than their counterparts who did not practice yoga. (For more information about the study click here.

Are you surprised? Has yoga helped you or someone you know manage chronic back pain?

Read the whole story on:http://blogs.yogajournal.com/yogabuzz/