First, thanks for allowing us to ‘geek out’ just a little. Over the last few blogs, we’ve explored the chemical cocktails created by your brain during a Sol Hot Yoga class. We find it literally amazing!
Just one more (for now), and this is on FOCUS! A call to action for our Peaceful Warriors:
“Out of every 100 on the battlefield, 10 shouldn’t even be there, 80 are just targets, 9 are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior and will bring the others back.” – Heraclitus (circa the same time as the Buddha and Patāñjali (Yoga Sutras))
It might only seem like 60-minutes sweating & stretching, and for some, that’s all it ever may be and that might be more than enough. For others, setting a positive emotional intention can significantly impact the brain, enhancing cognitive, emotional, and physiological well-being; both on and off our yoga mats.
Here’s how it works:
1. Strengthens Emotional Resilience
• Positive intentions increase activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, enhancing emotional regulation and resilience to adversity. Over time, they create a “buffer” against negative experiences by promoting adaptive coping mechanisms.
• The anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) is a subregion of the cingulate cortex in the brain, involved in cognitive and emotional processing, decision-making, and motor control. Its activity is often associated with goal-directed behavior, conflict resolution, and response to negative feedback.
• Tasks that involve decision-making under uncertainty or resolving conflicting information (e.g., Vinyasa flows) activate the aMCC.
2. Enhances Neural plasticity
• Positive intentions activate reward pathways in the brain, particularly in the ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex, promoting neural plasticity. This helps strengthen neural connections related to optimism, motivation, and problem-solving.
• The aMCC (our well for “will power”) is activated when expectations are violated, such as receiving unexpected negative outcomes, which helps adapt future strategies.
• Neurogenesis. Mindful breathing and meditation enhance the brain’s ability to regulate emotions and increase focus. These practices are known to stimulate neurogenesis (the growth of new brain cells) and improve overall brain plasticity.
• Heat-Induced Stress Adaptation. Practicing Sol Hot Yoga challenges the body and mind to adapt to stress. This stimulates the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth of new neurons and strengthens existing neural connections.
3. Focuses Stress Toward a Positive Outcome
• A positive emotional intention lower activity in the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, reducing stress and anxiety responses. Your intention also increase parasympathetic nervous system activity, promoting a state of calm and relaxation.
• A positive mindset enhances working memory, attention, and decision-making by engaging the prefrontal cortex. An intention actually reduces mental fatigue, making it easier to tackle challenges with clarity.
• When tasks require sustained effort or performance under challenging conditions, the aMCC is engaged to drive motivation and focus. The stress signals the aMCC to coordinate physiological and emotional reactions to high-pressure situations.
• Epinephrine heightens alertness, focus, and reaction speed during stress. It prepares the body and brain to respond to perceived threats by increasing blood flow, oxygen delivery, and energy availability. Physical or psychological stress activates the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to the release of epinephrine. This occurs during situations like public speaking, emergencies, or intense workouts.
4. Encourages Empathy and Connection
• Positive emotions activate the insula and mirror neuron system, increasing empathy and the ability to connect with others on a deeper level. This fosters stronger social bonds, which further support mental health, and we discussed those in a previous blog.
• Dopamine and Serotonin. Focusing on positive emotions triggers the release of dopamine (reward and motivation) and serotonin (mood stabilization), fostering feelings of happiness and contentment. By influencing neurotransmitter systems like dopamine and serotonin, epinephrine can contribute to feelings of energy, motivation, and excitement.
• By reducing cortisol (stress hormone) levels and activating relaxation responses, positive intentions improve physiological functions like heart rate, digestion, and immune response.
• The aMCC is activated during situations where cognitive or emotional decisions require balancing competing demands, such as risk versus reward assessments. Can you remember your Intention during each posture, or during the last count of a round of high intensity core exercises?
• The aMCC acts as a hub for integrating cognitive, emotional, and motor processes. Practices like mindfulness, yoga, and meditation, which reduce stress and enhance emotional regulation, may help optimize aMCC function.
5. FOCUS! In Practice
• The center of intuition and insight is focused at the “Third Eye” (Ajna Chakra). Your energy goes where your intention flows. When you set a positive intention at the beginning of a Sol Hot Yoga class, you are amplifying this connection.
• Acetylcholine (ACh) is a key neurotransmitter in the brain that plays an essential role in several functions, including learning, memory, attention, and muscle activation. ACh surge from two parts of the brain, like two spot lights from the pre-frontal cortex and the brain stem shining inward toward the aMCC. It enhances synaptic plasticity, allowing neurons to form stronger and more efficient connections. ACh helps regulate the brain’s attention networks by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio, making it easier to focus on relevant stimuli while filtering out distractions.
•Energy in Motion = EMotion. The amygdala, a region involved in processing emotions, enhances the consolidation of emotionally charged memories. This ensures that significant events are remembered more vividly. When we focus the energy of our Intention, then put that energy in motion, it’s like a radio beacon for all the cells in our body. We have an opportunity to send a ‘call to action’ and align every cell to manifest our intention right there on our mat.
Daily practices with Sol Hot Yoga can help cultivate a positive focus. These simple actions create a ripple effect, enhancing not just your mood but also your overall brain function and well-being. Sol Hot Yoga helps to regulate these chemical concoctions effectively; harnessing amazing superpowers of mind, body, and spirit.
Some practice for years and never get past the external sweating & stretching. But, for others, those we call our “Peaceful Warriors”; there is a much deeper internal experience that is transformational. Ironically, the weight-loss and other physical benefits are not fully realized without the choice to go deeper.
This is a call to action for those Peaceful Warriors who, like Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, choose to go out into the middle of the fray every day.
“Ah, but the one, one is a warrior and will bring the others back.”
Are you the one? Are you a Peaceful Warrior? Are you strong enough to stand the heat? Or, does your focus need more focus? Drop in for a class with Sol – the intention is different.