How Yoga Works (part one)

I was teaching in Charlotte this weekend at the Laughing Buddha and during one of the sessions, a student asked “How does yoga work?” I recently read a book entitled “How Yoga Works” and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone that has a yoga practice or is looking for a reason to take up the practice. I will take the next several blogs to explore this question from a different perspective than what the book focuses on.

Before we dive in, it is important to understand the etymology of the word yoga. The word means union. It is a study of polarities and it indicates two forces becoming one. It denotes the idea of finding balance between these two forces so that they can become one action. First let’s look at the mind with regards to the study of yoga.

Your body is made of trillions of cells. These cells are called neurons and they communicate with each other through electrochemical processes. The human brain has approximately 100 billion neurons. A frequency is the speed at which they are traveling. Brain waves are characterized in four different frequencies:

Beta- Fastest impulses at 13-40 cycles per second. This is associated with our normal waking state. Beta helps in logical thinking, analysis and active attention function. Stress and neurotic behaviors could throw the frequency to continuos elevated beta levels. The busier your mind the more beta waves are omitted.

Alpha- 7-13 cycles per second. This occurs during daydreaming, fantasizing and creative visualization. This is often associated with a deeply relaxed state and meditation. This is the state of mind where the mind can be calmly attentive. This is where the mind is less neurotic and more open.

Theta 4-8 cycles per second. Theta is associated with intuition, otherwise known as 'sixth sense' and allows us to access our subconscious. It is activated during deep states of meditation and dream sleep. Theta is also associated with creative thinking, and allows us to tap into our inner genius.

Delta- .5-4 cycles per second produced in deep sleep

At any given time throughout your day your brain is omitting one of these signals. We can look at these mind sets like the gears of a car. First gear is Delta, second is Theta, Alpha is Third and Beta is Fourth. Our bodies have evolved and developed so that they can shift gears throughout the appropriate states and times of the day. When we are healthy we use all of the gears for appropriate situations. If we are going to talk about how yoga works understanding brain waves is critical. In the next blog we will look at two different situations.