10 ways in which Yoga Meditation helps nourish Body, Brain and Mind

— An easy, low cost, natural practice can help us boost our brain power, be healthier and more spiritually attuned as we age, and improve our quality of life and happiness. It could also reduce some of the staggering health care costs seen today. Curious about what that practice is? For the past 12 years, The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF), of which I’m the founding president and medical director, has organized, helped design, and fund innovative research on a simple 12-minute singing yoga meditation called Kirtan Kriya (KK). This work has specifically focused on reducing risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and the enhancement of total brain fitness. To determine the benefits, these studies included well-recognized methods to measure aspects of brain health and brain scans such as SPECT and fMRI, as well as sophisticated memory and blood tests. What are the results so far? What are the documented body, brain and mind benefits from this type of yoga meditation? 1. Increased telomerase: Telomerase is the enzyme that controls the length of your telomeres, the cap of your DNA. Longer telomeres equal better health. Shorter telomeres equal Alzheimer’s disease and accelerated aging and a shortened life. An increase of 44 percent in telomerase was shown in a study on highly stressed caregivers doing KK for 12 minutes a day for eight weeks. To my knowledge, this is the largest increase in telomerase ever seen. 2. Decrease in bad genes: 39 stressed car...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness Alzheimers-disease brain-power cerebral blood flow cognitive-decline depression improve sleep Kirtan-Kriya meditation memory-loss memory-tests neurotransmitters Prevent-Alzheimers Source Type: blogs