May 16th 2016
What is Yoga?
In Sanskrit means ‘to add’ or ‘to join’. Yoga is often thought of as a physical practice but is also a mental and spiritual discipline that includes breath control and bodily postures originating in India.
What is Meditation?
To reflect upon, ponder, or contemplate. Yoga may act as a form of meditation.
Current research has shown that yoga therapy, practiced daily, and was more effective than crosswords and memory games at preserving brain function.
Yoga and meditation hav
e been a recent interest in hindering the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It has been speculated that yoga may play a role in the prevention as well as improvement of symptoms in this most common form of dementia. The most recent evidence of this was gathered by experts at the University of Adelaide in Australia. The study compared yoga and meditation with crosswords and memory games in a group of 25 volunteers over the age of 55. The volunteers had reported memory issues such as forgetting names, faces, appointments and misplacing belongings. Eleven of the 25 participants received hour long memory training sessions and performed exercises that ranged from crossword puzzles to computer based tasks, while the other 14 were given hour long yoga sessions once a week coupled with a meditation routine they were able to practice at home for 20 minutes daily. After the 3 months, both methods (yoga/meditation and memory games) were equally good at enhancing verbal memory skills, things like remembering names, words etc. But the yoga provided added benefits in visual-spatial memory, which helps people to recall locations and navigate while doing an activity. This type of research will help doctors to recommend yoga therapy to patients who are suffering from this disease. While there are so many different types of beneficial yoga, Kundalini and Kirtan Kriya mediation were used in this particular study and involved chanting, hand movements, visualization of light and poses that are designed to increase strength and flexibility.
Do you think you are having some memory loss? To learn more about clinical research exploring early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other topics, click here or call us directly at 603-319-8863.
Credits: Yoga Journal, Telegraph
Authored by: Samantha Lemelin, RA
Medically Reviewed by: Marc Shay, MD