Chewing gum might seem like a trivial habit, but new research suggests it could have a powerful—if mysterious—effect on the brain. In a recent piece for National Geographic, scientists share their evolving understanding of how this simple act sharpens attention, soothes nerves, and even nudges memory and learning in subtle ways. This isn’t just a neuroscience curiosity—it echoes the ancient yogic idea that seemingly minor rituals can have outsized effects on our state of mind. Like breath, like mantra, perhaps the act of chewing is a quiet key to embodied focus. 🧠 Habit, Ritual, and the Power of Repetition Chewing gum is repetitive—each chomp reinforcing a kind of rhythm, a subtle grounding in the present. Neuroscientists have found that these small repetitive actions can help…

A 2018 study from the Rotterdam Study followed more than 15,000 participants over time, with a subset of 3,742 undergoing repeated brain MRIs alongside questionnaires about their meditation and yoga practice. The finding: practitioners showed smaller right amygdala volume—and that volume continued to decrease over time. The right amygdala processes fear and aversion to unpleasant stimuli. Less volume, less reactivity. Meanwhile, 90.7% of practitioners reported that their practice helped them cope with stress. Science confirming what the body already knew. 🧠 The Direction of Change What strikes me most is the direction of change. We usually frame growth as accumulation—more strength, more flexibility, more knowledge. But here the benefit appears as reduction. The practice is paring something away. This fits the Ashtanga model. We don’t…

Yesterday we led with internal rotation. Today, external rotation takes the development dose while IR gets maintenance. This two-day split gives you focused neurological drive toward each pattern while keeping the partnership intact. The beauty of this approach: you’re not neglecting either rotation, but you’re also not diluting focus. By the time you cycle through both days, both rotations have received dedicated attention without creating the compensation patterns that come from pure isolation. 🔄 CARs Warm-Up (5 min) Standing Hip CARs: 3 rotations each direction, per side. Today, add a 2-second pause and slight “push” into your ER end range on each rep. Notice how yesterday’s IR work has affected the full circle. Video References: CARs Guide | Hip CARs Video 🔥 Primary PAILs/RAILs Block:…

Two accounts from the Bondi Beach tragedy offer yoga practitioners a profound meditation on what our practice prepares us for—and what we can never truly prepare for. The first tells of lifeguards and strangers rushing toward danger; the second describes those locked inside a yoga studio, waiting in terror while the world exploded outside. Together, they illuminate the many faces of Karma Yoga: action and stillness, rescue and refuge, the courage to move and the courage to remain. 🕯️ “Church” Becomes Fortress Nadine J Cohen calls her Sunday double yoga class “church”—a ritual of movement followed by lying down, leaving “high on Zen and vibes.” On this particular Sunday, the first night of Hanukkah, she was walking toward family, doughnuts, and celebration when gunfire shattered…

This is part one of a two-day Functional Range Conditioning protocol designed to systematically develop hip rotation capacity. Today’s session prioritizes internal rotation while maintaining external rotation—tomorrow we flip the emphasis. The logic is simple but profound: by leading with one rotation and supporting with the other, you get focused neurological drive, reciprocal inhibition benefits, and balanced joint centration. No rotation bias for the hip to compensate for elsewhere. 🔄 CARs Warm-Up (5 min) Standing Hip CARs: 3 rotations each direction, per side. Full range in both directions, but add a 2-second pause and slight “push” into your IR end range on each rep. Video References: CARs Guide | Hip CARs Video 🔥 Primary PAILs/RAILs Block: Internal Rotation (12-15 min) 90/90 Position—Front Leg: 2-minute passive…

Grasping DNA and its Influence on Wellness Let’s get this straight: the simplistic notion of biological determinism—the outdated belief that our genes are puppeteers pulling the strings of our health—has been thrown out the window. In the old days, genes were seen as tyrannical blueprints ruling over biological function. But after the Human Genome Project wrapped up in 2003, it was more like, “Hey, genes are just suggestions, not orders, depending on the company they keep.” Sure, those genetic quirks may seem like a family gift that keeps on giving, but remember, environment and lifestyle also hold the pen in this narrative. Diet, toxins, mood management, and stress? All these shape gene expressions, a ballgame known as epigenetics. It’s about factors “above” or “beyond” the…

Teachers live in language. The words we choose to cue a pose or movement change where a student puts their attention, and that shift changes how the body organizes itself. In motor‑learning research the distinction between “external” and “internal” cueing is now a fundamental principle—and it was a woman, researcher Gabriele Wulf, whose work beginning in the late 1990s helped define and popularize this idea. Her experiments and reviews showed repeatedly that directing learners’ attention to the effect of a movement (external focus) often produces better performance and learning than directing attention to body parts or muscle actions (internal focus). (frontiersin.org) What the two cue types mean What the evidence says (brief) Important nuance for teachers: neither cue type is “evil” or a silver bullet…

The previous two studies showed what happens over years—shrinking amygdalas, thickening prefrontal cortexes. This one shows what happens in ninety minutes. A 2020 study took 25 healthy adults, ages 24 to 52, and divided them into two groups. One completed the Ashtanga yoga primary series. The other performed an assigned series of physical exercises. Both groups underwent PET/MR brain scans before and immediately after. The finding: the yoga group showed altered glucose metabolism—the brain’s energy consumption—in seven distinct regions. The exercise group didn’t. 🧠 The Seven Regions The areas that changed tell a story: Hippocampus and parahippocampus — memory formation and spatial navigation. Where we encode experience. Striatum — reward processing and habit formation. Where repetition becomes pattern. Amygdala — fear and emotional processing. The…

l Last week we looked at research showing that sustained practice reduces the brain’s fear center. Today, a different direction: what practice builds. A 2017 study compared brain images of 21 female yogis aged 60 and older to a control group. The finding: yogis had thicker left prefrontal cortexes—the region that typically thins over time, leading to impaired memory and attention. The women in the study had practiced for an average of eight years. The researchers concluded that the longer you practice yoga, the more you protect your brain. 🧠 The Architecture of Attention The prefrontal cortex governs executive function—working memory, attention, decision-making, the ability to hold something in mind while doing something else. It’s what allows us to stay present rather than scattered. It’s…

The stiffness you feel during a winter workout isn’t just inconvenient—it’s your body’s intelligent response to cold, redirecting blood toward vital organs to keep you alive. But as sports medicine specialists explain, this survival mechanism comes with trade-offs that yoga practitioners should understand. ❄️ The Physiology of Cold When exposed to cold temperatures, the body initiates a cascade of protective responses: blood vessels in your extremities narrow to redirect blood toward your core, causing muscles and joints to stiffen. Shivering generates heat through involuntary muscle contractions. Blood pressure elevates as the heart works harder to circulate blood through narrowed vessels. And balance becomes impaired as stiff muscles lead to unsteady ankles and knees. Dr. Adam Tenforde of Harvard Medical School explains that rigid muscles “aren’t…