Yoga practice and brain’s substances

Today I would love to speak from a “cerebral” point of view, why yoga is so important for taking care of us, in a global way.
The attention to the body, the mind and the spirit must be equal. Let’s see why.

Our brain has an important role in the regulation of our mood. In our brain we have got in fact some different chemical substances, the neurotransmitters, which help us to be happy and to feel better. Some of them are dopamine , serotonin , oxytocin , endorphins , adrenaline and Gaba . Let’s see some ways to naturally increase them.
The dopamine is above all related to the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction, while low levels of this neurotransmitter make us feeling demotivated and to procrastinate.
We do produce dopamine in great quantity when we set an objective of any kind, but also when we succeed in reaching our goals. A good habit to increase its levels can be to create day after day an objective writing it down and working to its realization.
Good levels of serotonin contribute to make us feeling important, while low ones make us feeling alone and depressed. To produce serotonin we can think about happy moments, pleasant things and imagining ourselves already in the situation we aim to be. The physical exercise and the sun’s exposure facilitate its production.
The oxytocin allows us to build affective relationships with the others and to trust ourselves. The best method to increase it is without doubt to embrace and to be embraced and, in general, to give and to receive cares and attentions.
The endorphins are related to the perception of the physical pain and they act as a sort of analgesic and they are produced above all when we do physical exercise. Further activities as practicing yoga, singing, laughing and smiling allow us to increase the levels of endorphins and make us feeling happier.
Gaba helps us to reduce the neural activity and to feel less stressed-out and to reduce the anxiety. One of the best ways to stimulate this substance is surely the meditation that brings calm and serenity.
Adrenaline allows to use our energy and to feel less tired, helping us to give the maximum in the moments of physical and mental stress. To increase the adrenaline we need to go out of our comfort zone and to practise new and exciting activity.
Of course it is really important to take care about our food, the integration of vitamins and mineral and the sleep.

Have a good practice!

By Beatrice Bassi

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