Baddha konasana, utthita parsvakonasana, prasarita padottanasana. At first (or second or third) glance these brain-teasing phrases - are they names or exotic recipes? - demand your best thinking to figure out how to pronounce them and what they are.
Well, say researchers from the University of Illinois, that makes sense, since they're names of yoga poses. According to a review of 11 studies of Hatha yoga practitioners (both experienced and first-timers), brain imaging scans reveal that doing yoga causes an increase in the volume of the hippocampus, like that seen from doing aerobic exercise. The hippocampus is involved in memory processing.
Other preliminary findings show benefits from yoga include enlargement of the amygdala, which helps with emotional regulation, and a larger and more-efficient prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex and default brain network. The prefrontal cortex is where you do planning, decision-making and multitasking; the default brain network helps with planning and memory; and the cingulate cortex is important for emotional regulation, learning and memory.
One mystery: Hatha yoga isn't aerobic, so how does it bestow the same brain benefits as a step class or jogging a mile? It's only a theory, but it may regulate your emotions and that reduces chronic levels of stress hormones that cloud the brain, and it eases anxiety and depression.
So to protect your brain and promote bodywide flexibility in joints and muscles, give yoga a try. To get started, check out Dr. Oz's daily yoga routine at www.doctoroz.com and search for "What is Hatha yoga?" at sharecare.com.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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