Yoga and Creativity - scientific studies
We keep on finding scientific information about positive effects of yoga to us. Every yogi and yogini can tell unique experiences and effects on their body, mind or soul. But we are members of informational society and we believe in proofs and scientific facts more eagerly.
We have discussed in our previous newsletters how yoga helps your mental and physical health, but this time we would like to share information how yoga can increase creativity. It is difficult to understand how creativity can be measured and yoga's input described. Apparently it is possible! "Psychology Today" had published an article by Jeffrey Davis, M.A. , discovering yoga's effects on the muse. The main thing that is discussed - a relaxed but alert state of mind that is reached during meditation, asanas (like savasana), breathing by activating the abdomen instead of the chest area. When mind is relaxed and yet alert - creative decisions, ideas are more willing to come. A study by Hans C. Lou et al states that Yoga Nidra quiets the prefrontal region and arouses the posterior visual system - a state of awareness comparable to REM sleep. Studies led by Jonathan Schooler and Jon Kounios (Drexel University) demonstrate that the part of the brain that lights up during "Aha!" moments is the right anterior temporal lobe. It's located in the right hemisphere, generally behind the right ear. Andrew Newberg (University of Pennsylvania) in his research stated that after three months of practice and study of yoga , practitioners' right hemispheres were activated more. At the moment insight, the brain waves light up at the highest measurable frequency known as gamma waves - potentially associated with "higher thinking" such as meditation. So it can be concluded that Yoga helps us to achieve that "higher thinking", be creative, open to new ideas and use our brain more effectively. Read a full article here.
We agree with William Broad, a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer for The New York Times, who is a practicing yogini since 1970: "The benefits start to accrue...It's like putting a little bit of money in the bank every day or every month. The payoff comes as these things start to multiply."
So let's keep our yoga lifestyle as our path, as a friend traveling through life with us, who helps to know ourselves better and we get to know that friend with a time.
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