Unique regulation of brain in yoga practitioners

Yes, you yoga practitioners knew you were special and here is the science to prove it!

In this older study I came across (2018) participants were recruited to see how they dealt with stress. 19 were yoga practitioners (taking part in 1-3 30- to 60-minute sessions per week) and 12 were from the general public who didn’t participate in yoga but were physically active. They were then given various questions and then they had their brains scanned. During scanning they were given various emotion-eliciting stimuli and tasks. These were video clips and were selected to elicit certain types of emotions e.g. anger, or conversely, happiness.

What was interesting is that the researchers found that yoga practitioners had a unique brain activation pattern activating two brain regions known as the superior parietal lobule and the supramarginal gyrus during emotional regulation. This suggest that something about yoga changes brain activation patterns. As the researchers note:

“… yoga experience may allow individuals to: (1) regulate the emotion generation process through greater flexibility, acceptance and non-attachment to the self when observing or experiencing emotions; and (2) be more empathic when presented with an emotional situation, by attending to the emotions of other individuals”

Now that is a sales message for yoga!