Your Nervous System on Yoga – How Yoga Helps Balance Mind and Body

Mental Well-being

Studies have shown that yoga offers a wide range of benefits in a surprisingly wide range of areas.

These include not just the enhancement of physical fitness but improvement in several areas relating to nervous system functioning, such as awareness and mindfulness, self-regulation of internal physiological and psychological states, as well as the development of a greater sense of life meaning and purpose. 

In this 3-part course, renowned researcher and author Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will review some of the basic research on the underlying psychophysiology of yoga practices and its benefits for the brain, mind, and body.

In session 1, Dr. Khalsa will introduce a model for how yoga affects global changes in both the  physical, mental, and spiritual realms.

In session 2, learn about the benefits of yoga for stress, resilience, and burnout, with a special emphasis on how yoga has the potential to fill an important gap in our educational and medical systems by providing a more effective way to manage chronic stress.

Learn how practices in mind-body medicine and yoga, such as physical exercise and relaxation, breathing techniques, and meditative practices, can trigger important physiological and psychological mechanisms that help resolve the burden of chronic stress.

In session 3, learn how the effects of yoga on nervous system functioning also include fostering greater integrity and quality of sleep. 

We now know that regular healthy sleep is essential for the balanced functioning of both mind and body. 

But unfortunately, sleep disturbances and disorders like acute and chronic insomnia are increasingly common, often triggered by stress and nervous system arousal. 

Dr. Khalsa will present the research evidence showing that yoga can be extremely effective for alleviating stress and arousal to create a balancing and calming effect on the nervous system. 

Unfortunately, these approaches, which are free of side effects and other complications – unlike sleeping pills – are not well known by both healthcare providers or the general public and are not well implemented. 

As a result, there is a need for much greater awareness of the many benefits of yoga for nervous system functioning and the management of stress and sleep disorders. Learn about key research studies in this area and the yoga approaches used.

Sat Bir’s lectures are primarily linked to yoga from an academic perspective reviewing much of the research on the benefits of yoga.

This Course Also Includes:

  • Recordings of All Webinar Sessions: It’s generally acknowledged that many people only retain 10-20 percent of what they learn in a workshop. You will get access to the recordings of all webinar sessions – both MP3 (downloadable) and MP4 (streaming online), enabling you to go back and listen to the workshop as many times as you like.
  • Transcripts of All Sessions: Ever wanted to refer to a certain part of a course? Even the best note-takers miss a point every so often. With the transcripts of the webinar sessions, you can go back and refer to particularly important passages or clarify sections you were in doubt about.

This course qualifies for 3.75 CEs with Yoga Alliance.

Related courses

Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D., is the Director of Yoga Research for the Yoga Alliance and the Kundalini Research Institute and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

$127/ Lifetime Access

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