WHAT EFFECT DOES STRESS HAVE ON THE BRAIN? Scientists and Yogis alike have long recognized the potentially toxic effects of stress on the brain (1). Stress, when unattended, may cause an array of neurophysiological imbalances: high blood pressure, hardened arteries, immunodepression and auto-immunity, flared onset of diabetes, depression and Alzheimer’s disease, among other. , Not to mention it makes one a very undesirable dinner companion! Chronic stress rewires the brain in ways that promote its sinister persistence and it makes us cognitively predisposed to keep doing the same things over and over, to run laps in the same dead-ended rat race rather than approach situations with adaptability and seek new means of doing things. This is one of nature’s “survival safety mechanisms” which can only be bypassed by the act of repetition. Behaviors become habitual faster in stressed people making it hard for them to shift back to goal-directed, positive behaviors, through patterns that yield healthier outcomes.
HOW DOES THIS EFFECT DAILY BEHAVIOR? Behaviors become habitual faster making people unable to shift back to goaldirected behaviors when that would be the better approach. Our brain’s response under chronic stress is usually automatic and emotionally reactive as opposed to focused and plastic (generation of memory and learning). This in turn causes more stress and initiates a vicious cycle.
HOW DOES NAAM YOGA REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE BRAIN? The brain is a complex system of chemical messengers, neural pathways, perceptive functions and self-regulating loops of information and energy. Scientists have documented our capacity to self-heal and rapidly change behaviors believed to be incorrigible and to act in a state of flow that produces top performance. NAAM Yoga, through the power of sacred sound/mantra, activates and connects many areas of the brain. Combined with the powerful limbic/hypothalamic influence of the breath, they are potent tools to elevate mood, self heal, change behaviors and act in a state of flow. They balance rationalization strategies of the left hemisphere and the visual overview of the right hemisphere areas of the brain. The benefit is greater emotional and conceptual clarity. NAAM directly impacts the neuro-endocrine centers that coordinate the neural imprints and associations of the cortex with the brains chemical messages. This practice has also been shown to activate, integrate and awaken different areas of the brain making them less susceptible to the negative effects of chronic stress resulting in higher levels of projective, protective, intuitional intelligence and flow states.
HOW LONG DOES THE PROCESS TAKE? The minimum time to bypass that cycle is 40 to 120 days, Regular and consistent repetition allows the brain to override the “safety mechanism” and negative patterning which influences the psyche, life memories and projections. A consistent, prescribed mantra, breath and mudra practices, done consistently 3 – 11 minutes per day for 40 – 120 days, can effectively neutralize painful or traumatic physical and emotional and mental experiences and replace them with a genuine sense of “flow” and “well-being”. The parasympathetic nervous system is actively engaged in strengthening and promoting ANS equilibrium.
References: 1. Basics: Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop (September 18th, 2009 )