The Yogaland Roundup

Feb. 3rd

Coming to you live from my bed, my favorite place to write.

Here’s what’s been on my mind this week:

I’m about to record another podcast about meditation and the brain with neuroscientist, Dr. Daya Grant.

To prep for it, I listened to the first one we did together, This is your brain on yoga. Here are my takeaways from the episode:

• In studies where brain activity was measured in fMRI machines (functional magnetic resonance imagery machines), yogis were shown to have increased grey matter in the insula. The insula is responsible, in part, for increased interoception. (Interoception is awareness of the body’s physiological functions, i.e., hunger cues, cues to go to the bathroom, cues that you are feeling anxiety.)

  So, increased grey matter in the insula is correlated to increased interoceptive awareness! So cool.

• The hippocamus is related to learning and memory and it also increases in volume in yogis.

• Yogis have decreased volume in the amygdala, which Grant correlates to yogis having a different relationship (i.e., better perspective, more tools) to stress.

• Studies have shown that yogis have increased blood flow in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with mental flexibility, executive function, working memory, ability to carry out tasks.

• In yogis vs. non-yogis there are differences in the default mode network. When the default mode network (DMN) is overactive, it can be associated with excessive rumination and depressive symptoms. When we’re doing yoga and meditation we see reduced activity in the DMN.

• Alternate Nostril Breathing is associated with increases in verbal and spatial memory. This one blew me away; I’d always associated this type of pranayama with balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (and she validates that), but I’d never heard that it associated with cognition!

You can listen to the whole episode here. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like me to ask Daya in our next interview.

It would also be helpful to know if transcripts of past interviews are to you. It takes me time and resources to transcribe, but if enough folks are interested, I can choose select episodes and make it part of my paid membership.

Also of note in our content-sphere: this is the earliest we’ve ever had Jason’s year-long schedule up! You can view the whole year at glance for online trainings here.

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It’s Black History Month in the U.S. and Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old father of a 4-year-old was brutally killed at the hands of police less than one month ago. He was less than 100 yards from his mother’s house when he died. I have no eloquent words for this tragic event. Like you, I am horrified and sickened by the pain his family must be experiencing. I want to acknowledge this young man. He loved skateboarding and photography and had a web site that featured his work.

I’ve been trying to tamp down the noise that social media has created in my life, so for Black History month I thought I would revisit some of the black writers whose work has made an imprint on my life. If I had to choose three favorites they would be — Zora Neale Hurston whose glorious voice introduced me to a time, a place, and a story-filled life I never would have known, Ntozake Shange whose spare, poetic style so perfectly conveys feeling, and Roxane Gay who is one of the funniest, bravest, most insightful essayists of our time.

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Other things that have given me pause this week:

This gorgeous podcast on Huberman Lab with creative genius, Rick Rubin. So many moments of yes.

I worry about plastic. Like a lot. Was not happy to learn there’s plastic in our period panties. (As you may know, Lola used to be a sponsor of the podcast and I’ve been using their organic, all-cotton period products for years, but didn’t think about the panties I was buying from other companies!!)

I really wish that long ago I’d learned to put words to my boundaries like this little gal.

As I try to come up with a “Valentine’s Day ritual” for our family — I know, it’s the cheesiest of the Hallmark holidays, but kids love cheesy holidays — I laughed that I could be heading down this slippery slope.

Last thing! Did you know that Substack has an app? It’s a fantastic reader where you can view all of your subscriptions in one place! No ads! A lovely reading experience! I highly recommend it. Download the app here.