BETHGIBBS
  • Home
  • About
  • What's New
    • Events
    • News >
      • Enlighten Up! ​Book News 2021
      • Yoga News
      • Online Articles, Blog Posts, and Programs
      • Windsor Journal
      • Mind Body Interview Series
      • Kripalu: Yoga for Menopause article
  • Library
    • Beth's Bedside Books
    • Reliable Resources
  • Contact
  • Courses
    • Five Layers of Self-Awareness course
    • Yoga Nidra course
    • Bitchcraft course
    • Yoga for the Whole Child course
  • Articles
    • The Five Layers of Self-Awareness
    • Enough
    • Nobody Loves Perfect
    • Yoga Therapy: An Emerging Modality
    • Yoga for the Whole Child
    • Let the Children Teach Us
    • Bitchcraft
    • Menopause, Stress and your Heart (Masters Thesis)
  • Books and Audio
    • Soul Food
    • Enlighten Up!
    • Ogi Bogi The Elephant Yogi
    • Release, Relax, and Let Go
  • Enlighten Up! a blog

ENLIGHTEN UP! a blog

Self-awareness stories: lighting our way to clarity, contentment and resilience in a complicated world.

Balance, Wobbles and Working Memory

12/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wisdom from the Yoga Mat
Guest post by Priscilla Shumway
Wobbles are the physical and mental challenges we encounter both in our yoga practice and in our daily lives. Our challenge is learning to accept and even be grateful for the wobbles we experience both on and off the yoga mat. Wobbles are unavoidable; the key is to notice wobbles, not judge them. 

Yoga helps to release tension and stiffness. It is a way to provide balance and flexibility in the spine. By maintaining and improving our balance as we age (think fewer wobbles), we can increase our working memory. While we often choose yoga as a way to increase our balance, it may be surprising to learn that it may also improve cognitive function. In a 2017 research study by Zettel-Watson l, it was found that better balance and aerobic endurance led to enhanced processing speed and working memory in older adults.*

What is “working memory,” and why should we care as we age?  Working memory temporarily stores information that is relevant to any task we are currently doing. Wondering where you put your car keys? What was on that grocery list you left at home on the kitchen counter? These wobbles of the working memory may be enhanced by decreasing the wobbles of balance in our yoga practice on the mat.
​
As balance declines with age, more of our working memory is devoted to balance control, specifically attending to where our body is in space so that we do not fall. We rely on our attention to our balance and position in space to keep us safe, thus limiting the capacity of working memory.  As we practice postures that stress the balance system, balance improves, thus freeing working memory for other important issues. One common source of falls as we age is trying to do two things at once. We can maintain our balance, or we can talk to a friend on the phone, but it is harder to do both without risking a fall. Knowing where our body is in space frees up working memory to pay attention to other daily tasks or where the closest Starbucks is for that cappuccino you promised yourself after yoga class!

Try to embrace your wobbles as a source of wisdom to help us grow and live a satisfying life. 
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26694752     


Picture
Priscilla Shumway, M.Ed spent 25 years as a corporate trainer, travelling nationally and internationally. She has been a contributing author in 5 books on education and training and was the co-editor on Real Women, Real Leaders published by Wiley Publishing. A yoga student for over 18 years, she worked collaboratively with several others to reveal personal journeys both on and off the mat in the book Embrace Your Wobbles. https://www.embraceyourwobblesyoga.com

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019

    Author

    BETH GIBBS started her yoga practice in 1968, four months after her son was born and she’s been practicing ever since. She currently teaches all levels therapeutic yoga classes for adults, and specialty classes for seniors in the Hartford, Connecticut area. Beth is a certified yoga therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is guest faculty at the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy. She writes for the blogs, Yoga for Healthy Aging, and Accessible Yoga. Her master’s degree from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA is in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health. 

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home
About
What's New
Library
Contact
Courses
Articles
Books and Audio
Enlighten Up! a Blog
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer
Copyright © 2023 Beth Gibbs
  • Home
  • About
  • What's New
    • Events
    • News >
      • Enlighten Up! ​Book News 2021
      • Yoga News
      • Online Articles, Blog Posts, and Programs
      • Windsor Journal
      • Mind Body Interview Series
      • Kripalu: Yoga for Menopause article
  • Library
    • Beth's Bedside Books
    • Reliable Resources
  • Contact
  • Courses
    • Five Layers of Self-Awareness course
    • Yoga Nidra course
    • Bitchcraft course
    • Yoga for the Whole Child course
  • Articles
    • The Five Layers of Self-Awareness
    • Enough
    • Nobody Loves Perfect
    • Yoga Therapy: An Emerging Modality
    • Yoga for the Whole Child
    • Let the Children Teach Us
    • Bitchcraft
    • Menopause, Stress and your Heart (Masters Thesis)
  • Books and Audio
    • Soul Food
    • Enlighten Up!
    • Ogi Bogi The Elephant Yogi
    • Release, Relax, and Let Go
  • Enlighten Up! a blog