stress | brain training: stretch
Overview
Stretch is a component of Mismatch Method Brain Training that synthesizes elements of yoga, tai chi, qigong, Pilates, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and focused breathing into a single active relaxation activity or flow. Performed daily, active relaxation has been scientifically proven to physically alter areas of the brain to become more resistant and resilient to daily stress.
During Stretch sessions, you will perform physical poses, and stretches, paired with focused breathing. The combination of active relaxation movement and breathwork calms the nervous system. As you continue your sessions over the 4-phases of the reset, you’ll begin to feel and observe changes in your mind and body. You'll quickly develop a new sense of relaxation, peacefully calm yet energized. You'll become more aware of your muscle movements and breathing patterns. Stretching and bending may be easier on one side than the other. You may find you have better balance on one leg than the other. You will begin to align your mind and body in a new and powerful way.
Active Relaxation & Inflammation
As we’ve discussed in articles and videos, your amygdala releases adrenaline and cortisol hormones when you experience a fight-or-flight response. This was an ideal evolutionary design for our ancient ancestors as it helped them to fight or to flee dangerous predators. But in our modern culture, you experience daily stressors in your work and home life that repeatedly trigger this response and flood your body with these hormones. Excess cortisol interferes with the functioning of your metabolic system and can result in insulin resistance and excessive fat storage throughout your body. These fat deposits can activate protein signals that result in immune responses which, over time, lead to inflammatory ailments and eventually serious disease.
Researchers have demonstrated that active relaxation practices can the reactivity of the brain's amygdala to stress, reducing the number of fight-or-flight reactions, lowering the volume of adrenaline and cortisol in the body, thereby reducing levels of body inflammation. Their studies have shown that the bodies of yoga practitioners contain lower levels of stress hormones, and that inflammatory marker testing of their blood displayed significantly lower levels of body-wide inflammation.
These imaging studies have also shown that active relaxation practices like Amazing Brain Trainings decreases activity in two other stress-related areas of the brain—the frontal lobe (used for thinking, planning, predicting, and emotion regulation) and the parietal lobe (which processes what we see, hear, smell, and feel). Scientists believe that the reduced activity of these brain areas further lowers yoga practitioners’ reactivity to stressful events, thereby further reducing levels of inflammation in the body.
Selected References
(1) Yoga less density and neural activity in the amygdala: Gotink, R. A., Vernooij, M. W., Ikram, M. A., Niessen, W. J., Krestin, G. P., Hofman, A., Tiemeier, H., & Hunink, M. G. M. (2018). Meditation and yoga practice are associated with smaller right amygdala volume: The Rotterdam study. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 12(6), 1631–1639. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9826-z
(2) What Has Neuroimaging Taught Us on the Neurobiology of Yoga? A Review:: van Aalst, J., Ceccarini, J., Demyttenaere, K., Sunaert, S., & Van Laere, K. (2020). What Has Neuroimaging Taught Us on the Neurobiology of Yoga? A Review. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 14, 34. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2020.00034
(3) Yoga and reactivity of the frontal and parietal lobes: Gothe, N. P., Khan, I., Hayes, J., Erlenbach, E., & Damoiseaux, J. S. (2019). Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature. Brain Plasticity, 5(1), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.3233/BPL-190084
Reduced inflammatory biomarkers in yoga practitioners: Falkenberg, R. I., Eising, C., & Peters, M. L. (2018). Yoga and immune system functioning: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 41(4), 467–482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9914-y
(1) Studies of the impact of yoga on blood pressure: Wu, Y., Johnson, B. T., Acabchuk, R. L., Chen, S., Lewis, H. K., Livingston, J., Park, C. L., & Pescatello, L. S. (2019). Yoga as Antihypertensive Lifestyle Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, S002561961830939X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.09.023
(2) Studies of the impact of yoga on blood pressure: Cramer, H., Lauche, R., Haller, H., Steckhan, N., Michalsen, A., & Dobos, G. (2014). Effects of yoga on cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Cardiology, 173(2), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.02.017
Yoga improves balance and proprioception: Jeter, P. E., Nkodo, A.-F., Moonaz, S. H., & Dagnelie, G. (2014). A Systematic Review of Yoga for Balance in a Healthy Population. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 20(4), 221–232. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2013.0378
Clinical trial of yoga on balance: Tiedemann, A., S. O’Rourke, R. Sesto, and C. Sherrington. “A 12-Week Iyengar Yoga Program Improved Balance and Mobility in Older Community-Dwelling People: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.” The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 68, no. 9 (September 1, 2013): 1068–75. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glt087
Increase in hippocampus volume of yoga practitioners: Gothe, N. P., Khan, I., Hayes, J., Erlenbach, E., & Damoiseaux, J. S. (2019). Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature. Brain Plasticity, 5(1), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.3233/BPL-190084
Yoga changes brain insular cortex: van Aalst, J., Ceccarini, J., Demyttenaere, K., Sunaert, S., & Van Laere, K. (2020). What Has Neuroimaging Taught Us on the Neurobiology of Yoga? A Review. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 14, 34. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2020.00034
Practicing yoga releases neurotransmitters: Streeter, C. C., Whitfield, T. H., Owen, L., Rein, T., Karri, S. K., Yakhkind, A., Perlmutter, R., Prescot, A., Renshaw, P. F., Ciraulo, D. A., & Jensen, J. E. (2010). Effects of Yoga Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety, and Brain GABA Levels: A Randomized Controlled MRS Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(11), 1145–1152. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2010.0007