Suggesting as many do, that asana is practiced for physical fitness without any connection to the fundamental philosophy of yoga including the yamas and the niyamas, or moral and ethical disciplines.
Is it possible to optimize heart-brain coherence by practicing the whole of yoga?Īs Yoga has expanded and been popularized it is also become compartmentalized. And, because breathing has the added effect of relieving emotional stress, here in lies the largely unconscious aspect of yoga’s wide appeal. It makes perfect sense that when a physical exercise like the practice of yoga asanas, which includes rhythmic breathing, the heart rate would naturally enter into some version of coherence. The factors that effect heart rate variability are: And that we can by connecting with the heart in practice, smooth those fluctuations, find coherence, and the doorway for inner peace. The reflection I am sharing here suggests that when our minds fluctuate so does our HRV. Lets look at Yoga Sutra 1.2, Yogas cittavrtti nirodhah, Yoga is the stilling of the movements of consciousness, or the ability to direct the mind without distractions. How does yoga contribute to better heart-brain coherence? produces a smooth sine wave, blood pressure, respiration, and heart-brain activity join the heart in coherence. When the heart rate becomes coherent, i.e. In contrast, uplifting emotions such as appreciation, caring, compassion, and joy smooth the heart rhythm back into coherence, causing the ANS to shift to increased parasympathetic activity. What brings the heart and brain back into coherence? It’s like driving your car with one foot on the gas and the other on the break. When this occurs the two branches of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), the sympathetic (fight, flight or freeze) and the parasympathetic (rest and restore), oppose each other. As one would suspect, negative emotions, such as anger, frustration, anxiety, or fear give rise to an irregular heart rhythm pattern. This incoherence lends itself to emotional confusion and indecision. It turns out that the heart and the brain can be in or out of coherence with each other. What causes the heart and brain to be out of sync?
The implications for the study of consciousness and increasing our capacity to love are amazing. This heart brain, called the intrinsic cardiac system, holds both short term and long term memory and functions separately from any input from our brain. The heart can learn, remember, and make decisions. Peer reviewed science including research at the Heart Math Institute have shown the brain of the heart can act independently from the brain of the head. Scientists have discovered that the heart has a complexed neural network of over 40,000 cognitive cells known as the ‘brain of the heart’. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is known as the flexibility and youth of the heart. These changes present as a smooth sine wave like pattern in heart rate variability, as compared to the more typical erratic heart rate sign waves. Studies have shown that when sustained positive emotions are held in the heart the effect can be measured to show distinct changes in physiological functions. Did you know that between 2012 and 2016 Americans practicing yoga doubled? Now 36 million Americans practice yoga and it keeps growing! How and why did this happen? As a yoga practitioner and yoga teacher trainer for over 35 years I was excited to discover the widely unrecognized science of heart brain coherence, and how this research informs the popularity of yoga as reported by Harvard Health. There are some remarkable yoga statistics to consider.