Category: Yoga

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Grey Matter Grows:)

Here’s a recent article with the heading “Harvard Unveils MRI study proving meditation literally rebuilds the brain’s grey matter in 8 weeks.”:

“Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University. The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter. “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”

Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.” Until now, that is. The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”

“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany. You can read more about the remarkable study by visiting Harvard.edu.”

Guess it takes Harvard name drop to convince people of modern times but yogis and monks have known this for couple of thousand years…

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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Healthy Activities Yoga

Squeezing in Yoga Classes in Tokyo…

Been curious about this outdoor summer? event (it was snowing this time of the year!), utube recording from 2 years ago at a park in Roppongi – one station away from Hiroo – perhaps someday attend this kind of a consciousness raising event – to the ocean:) Human ocean at a park in the big city…Some translations interpreter did not translate since the audience is Japanese – outburst of “ITAI” = “ouch!” & popular term, “gaman” a commonly used word especially by parents admonishing children- with Zen Buddhist origin meaning “enduring the unbearable with patience and dignity” = “gaman”… a THICK mat should help alleviate the discomfort…& stay PRESENT:) Be in the NOW:)

******************** Last night in Tokyo, Friday the 6th. ***********************
A big moon, almost a full moon followed me all the way to Haneda airport – every time I looked out the taxi window to my left, there it was – a big moon shining above the Tokyo skyline… Last Wednesday in Japan was old calendar New Year’s celebration, an auspicious day…and a full moon. Also ran into First Snow of this winter season last week in Tokyo… freezing cold but toasty warm inside… photos coming when I get over from this jet lag. I am lacking one night’s sleep and feel… drained… head spin with a vertigo. I am in my elements there and rarely suffer from a jet lag but as soon as I get back to California time, I am a bit off balance. Other than my own home practice, I only had the time to drop into 2 yoga classes – held on 31st floor in Ginza highriser – overlooking red red Tokyo tower – really heavenly:) Lovely instructor, Taeko Kubota. I like the way she incorporates a more traditional Japanese and simple lymphatic drainage self-care methods before the actual start of the class… and the fact that she is SO polite and gracious.

Last year when I dropped in on her class in September, seemed like she only had a handful of ladies but this time…the class size had tripled – and surprise, this time, few husbands/gentlemen too – like 3? One of the 3 gentlemen was so cute – when the class was over – the instructor do not say “Namaste” at a non-yoga studio setting in Japan – the instructor just says “Arigato-gozaimashita” (thank you very much) – this gentleman started clapping as in applauding, kind of like a child. Us ladies just had to laugh at his child-like enthusiasm because the class usually ends in a rather solemn tone after a savasana where she does an adjustment for each student – this gentleman was old enough to be our father but he had this sweet positive energy we can learn from – I thought – why not? we should be applauding – clapping in joy after finishing a yoga class:) It’s a joyful moment when you feel so clear-headed, light & free. That feeling of joy – of arriving even though she did not instruct not even one down dog or plank in her sequence … no sun salute – so NOT Western and yet feels so lovely – it’s effervescent & sparkly – no power. All about balance and lightness…JOY:)

After the class, I asked who she went to or who she would want to take a class from as an instructor – a basic recommendation I ask other instructors, and … of course, turns out to be the exact same class I had hoped to attend – among few others. I really wanted to go to this amazing yoga teacher’s class but could not make it because my mother’s needs became much much greater – but purchased yet another of his books instead ! I will introduce this amazing Japanese yogi – Akira Watamoto sensei! There’s a subtle difference between Japanese interpretation of yoga to Western (or American) interpretation of yoga… not better or worse – just different based on different culture and lifestyle – that’s just my thought as I can’t help but always compare and contrast. My busy mind needs to be tamed through the practice of meditation?

Scientific and medical research proves that grey matter actually grows with steady and consistent practice of meditation – I don’t feel any smarter:) but I feel more at peace within and that’s enough for me at the present.


Moon River by Yuki

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Beautiful People Healthy Living Yoga

Lightness in Being…

Two nights of suffering and this third night into it, at last, thanks to yoga, I am no longer jet lagged. I could have been more efficient and popped sleeping pills* like someone’s suggestion but… I thank last night’s solar (90 min. group) and lunar/restorative (90 min. self) yoga practices. Gratitude for being allowed this precious time for self-study and care – I realize not everyone can afford the time and must take sleeping pills or whatever it takes to be totally 100% “ON” but… I was marginally functional despite the headache and the mind fog (I am not an air traffic controller so no worries). I slept like a baby last night and here I am fully refreshed, recharged and clear headed. Feels like that sensation coming out of well guided restorative or yoga nidra or meditation sessions where the fog within lifts and you are no longer sluggish, muddled or lost – your path is redrawn where your senses are sharper and there’s clarity and inner world at utter peace. While everyone deals with insomnia in different ways, sleeping pills, alcohol, internet and meaningless contacts – they may work but probably not as empowering as when you are able to self-regulate. And yoga is probably about that – being a yogini means, you are able to trust the natural power within to heal, to rejuvenate and in this case, to rejoin the living, renewed and restored, with reverence for the warm sun shining within your heart and the cool moon light reflected within your mind’s lake. The storm has passed, multi-faceted glow surrounds you, everything sparkles:) Yoga creates … ENERGY. PRANA. & who dispenses the teaching matters to me.
Have a lovely day !

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“I don’t give a d-mn about power and money per se. Really, I don’t. I may be a selfish b-st–d, but I’m incredibly cool about sh-t like that. I could be a Zen saint. The one thing I do have, though, is curiosity. I want to see what I can do out there in the big, tough world.”

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

Excuse him for the language – Someone was young and fully awake:) and despite the fact that it’s all him, Yoko, his wife has been beside him since the very beginning, before fame: “When working on a book, Murakami states that he relies on his wife, who is always his first reader.” To be always the first reader … what a show of love and trust. I wonder if she edits…or just accepts all as is.

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* Melatonin per MD seems safe and Skullcap Tincture from an aromatherapist appear innocuous enough so I am not judgmental. But beyond that, such as commonly prescribed Halcion seems unnecessary. It is unfortunate but maybe for some, yoga may not be accessible due to various limitations. It would be wonderful if it was accessible to anyone with or without limitations as this simple experiment of mine shows – yoga works. You can change from within, one breath at a time – Yes?