Why Yoga & Exercise Should Be Part of Therapy
Science-backed reasons to include yoga, fitness and strength training in your psychological healing and growth.
Most people are aware that exercise and yoga are good for your overall health and wellbeing. But did you know there are research findings from the fields of neuroscience and physiology that show how yoga and fitness can help you reprogramme your mind-body system?
When you’re on a journey of healing and self-development, you’re bringing awareness to your subconscious patterns and learning new ways of being that are more in line with how you want to experience life. Whether you’re processing traumatic experiences, rewiring anxiety patterns or developing your focus, the process of evolution requires more than just a shift in perception; it requires change at the level of your wiring.
It all comes down to communication
Our compulsive behaviours, our shifts in energy, and how we respond emotionally to triggers in our environment are all governed by the way the different parts of our brain and body speak to one another. When these patterns are sabotaging our potential to live a happy and fulfilling life, it makes sense that we’d want to rewire these communication pathways.
New neural connections (how the different parts of your brain communicate with one another) need to be laid down to transform your subconscious programming, and shifts in physiological signalling (how different body parts communicate with one another) need to be made to change the way your nervous system responds to life.
The key factors that make yoga and exercise so beneficial for the therapeutic process include:
Neuroplasticity and brain function
Stress response and hormone regulation
Emotional regulation
1) Neuroplasticity and Brain Function
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form new neural connections, which we now know is possible throughout our lifespan. This is the function that allows us to learn new things, which is vital when our goals is to adapt and grow as a person. Scientific research tells us that exercise, yoga and mindfulness can enhance our capacity for learning and emotional resilience.
Brain Connectivity
Studies have shown that aerobic exercise (including yoga and strength training) can stimulate the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports neuron survival and even the growth of new neurons (neurogenesis), and that regular physical activity is associated with improved cognitive function and increased connectivity in brain regions responsible for memory and emotional regulation (Voss et al. 2013).
Further improvement in brain connectivity has been found between the prefrontal cortex (our executive function) and the amygdala (our ‘alarm system’) as a result of exercise (Piva et al., 2019), which makes it more possible to regulate our emotions. This is particularly important when healing from traumatic memories, which can continue to activate psychological, emotional and physiological dysregulation when triggered. Enhanced connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala allows us to discern past from present, and helps regulate emotions from past experiences so we can feel safe and grounded in the present.
Structural Brain Changes
Research in yoga and mindfulness also consistently shows that both yoga practice and mindfulness meditation produce physical changes in the brain, increasing the grey matter density in brain regions related to memory, sense of self, and emotional regulation (Khalsa, S. B. S., et al. 2016); (Hölzel, B.K., et al. 2011). Such measurable adaptations in our actual hardware illustrate just how transformational these practices can be, especially alongside the ‘software updates’ of psychological work.
2) Stress Response and Hormone Regulation
The Stress Response
The stress response is our body’s mechanisms for mobilising. A cascade of effects shift hormone levels, increases blood glucose levels, and reduces our ability for creative, long-term thinking as we focus on immediate potential threat. When we’re out of balance, this mechanism can be over- or under-active, which makes it hard for us to respond appropriately to life.
Yoga practices are known to promote parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) activity, the so-called ‘rest and digest’ aspect of the autonomic nervous system that sends signals for us to slow down, recover, assimilate and integrate (R. R. C. L. D. R. S., 2014). This works in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which drives our stress response. Regular yoga practice, with its emphasis on breath techniques, reduction of physical tension and focusing of the mind in the present moment, can therefore help tone PSNS pathways and thereby foster greater resilience to stress.
Exercise — though it has the opposite intention of activating the stress response for healthy adaptation — has been shown to help modulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which plays a key role in the body’s stress response (McEwen, 2007). Especially when teamed with the yogic practices that help promote PSNS activity, including exercise in your programme can help develop an agile, well-balanced and well-adapted nervous system that can respond intelligently to life’s stressors — a key goal in therapy, self-development and high-performance training.
Both exercise and yoga have also been found to reduce systemic inflammation — as measured by a reduction in inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein — which is associated with depression and anxiety (Dinas et al., 2011).
Hormone Regulation
Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise and yoga helps reduce cortisol levels (the hormone most associated with stress), while increasing levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline (which help us stabilise our mood and wellbeing).
Resistance training in particular has been shown to enhance serotonin levels (Dishman and O'Connor, 2009). Physical activity is also well-known for releasing endorphins, which helps relieve pain and stress with an immediate mood lift. These mood shifts can be extremely valuable while you’re in therapy, creating opportunities for optimism, hope, and the possibility of contentment.
3) Emotional Regulation
A key aspect of yoga and exercise is that they are embodied practices. As such, they teach us to be present in our bodies, which helps us tolerate and regulate emotional and physiological fluctuations. Therapy will likely bring up emotions that have been repressed, so developing the capacity to hold these emotions is vital for being able to process and integrate.
It’s important to note that there are many different approaches to yoga and exercise, some of which discourage identification with the body, and may even result in ignoring pain signals. Some particularly intense approaches may also be used as a form of distraction from internal feelings. However, when approached mindfully alongside the implementation of self-regulation techniques and self-awareness, intensity can also help to develop resilience as your system learns that it’s capable of coming back to baseline when activated.
In trauma healing terms, this intense training could help you expand your ‘window of tolerance’, which is crucial during the process of healing and in the life you build for yourself thereafter.
Becoming more sensitive
On the other side of the spectrum, somatic yoga and body-based mindfulness specifically develop the ability to sense subtle sensation. A key aspect of somatics is interoception — the ability to perceive the inside of our body, including physiological signals such as thirst, hunger and the need to eliminate waste. Interoception plays an important role in emotional regulation, because it allows us to sense the ‘raw data’ of our feelings, separate from our mental interpretations. This is a vial part of therapy, because it’s often the thought loops that keep us stuck, and it is through the embodied experience of emotions and energetic fluctuations that we can process and complete these previously stuck cycles.
This mechanism may partly explain why a meta-analysis of research found that mindfulness practices that include somatic awareness promote improved body awareness, and have been linked to reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression (Khoury et al., 2015)
Self-regulation
Somatic practices have been found to influence brain development in areas associated with processing interoceptive signals and regulating emotional responses, including the prefrontal cortex and insula (Khalsa, S. S., Rudrauf, D., & Tranel, D., 2018). As we saw with the enhanced connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, this improved communication between the prefrontal cortex and the insula allows us to better perceive feelings from within the body and then determine what they mean in the context of our broader experience. Over time this can allow us to have a clearer sense of who we are, and a more skilful ability to self-regulate.
Psychological strength
One of the powerful benefits of strength training is the development of feeling strong. To sense your body adapting to challenges and physically feeling how your power can defeat resistance can therefore have a huge effect on mental health. And this is more than anecdotal: a study conducted in 2019 found that increased muscle strength led to improved mood, a greater sense of self-efficacy and resilience, positive body image and self-esteem (Anderson, E. S., & Durstine, J. L., 2019).
Conclusion
We don’t need to know the science to feel the subjective benefits of yoga and exercise, but having an awareness of the mechanisms of action can help us feel more connected to our bodies as we go through this physical, mental and emotional transformation. Particularly when you’re in a therapeutic programme, or dedicated to unlocking high performance, it can help commit to these disciplines when you know there’s so much happening under the hood that will help you towards your goals.
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