Brain Exercises

Holistic Techniques for Healthy Brain Function

Continuing with our Yoga exercises for the month series, I would like us to do some brain fitness and brain development exercises for the month of May together.  Needless to say the brain is one of the most important organs we have and really it is the key, to not just a successful life in manifestation, but is also the key for awakening to the Reality that lies beyond duality.

For brain fitness, proper exercise, diet and rest are essential, but in addition, certain techniques can be instrumental in helping keep the brain healthy and fit throughout life.  So for the yoga practice for May I would like to suggest a particular yoga pose, pranayama and meditation, which are known to be excellent for brain fitness, function and health.

These techniques come from the following 3 free online e-books here on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga.  These are the Free Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises E-book, the Free Online Guided Meditation Techniques E-book and the Free Online Yoga Breathing Exercises E-book.  Feel free to check them out for more great exercises and meditation to keep you healthy and fit.

For those who are new to the blog, each month we practice together a particular yoga exercise, pranayama technique and meditation, in order to enhance our skills and learn from each other.  We share our experiences in the comments section below as well.  So do join us.  The more the merrier.

Below you will find all the exercises and meditations that we have practiced so far in this Yoga for the Month Series.  Following that is the brain enhancing techniques for May.  If you have room to enhance your current yoga and meditation practice, and are eager to get your brain in shape, then please go ahead and add these exercises to your routine.

Yoga Exercises for Each Month

August:        Learn Yoga | Nauk Asana for the Month (Abs)

September:  Yoga Pose for Thighs – Frog Pose (Thighs/Butt)

October:      Important Hatha Yoga Posture for Healing – Forward Bend (Thighs/Buttocks)

November:   Yoga to Work on Your Aura (Aura and Magnetic Field)

December:   Kundalini Yoga Exercise for Emotional Health – Cat-Cow  (Back and Emotional Balance)

February:    Daily Yoga Cobra Pose for Healthy Back

March:         Yoga Moves to Detox Your Body

April:           Yoga Ab Workout Routine and Free Exercise Videos

Pranayama for Each Month

February:   Kapalbhati Yoga Video for Daily Practice

March:       4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise

April:         Sodarshan Chakra Kriya

Meditation for Each Month

February:  So Hum Mantra Meditation for Joy and Peace

March:      Zen Meditation Technique

April:        Sodarshan Chakra Kriya

Yoga Exercise for Brain Fitness:

One important dimension of yoga exercises is inversions and of the inversions, one of the best poses is shoulder stand.  This exercise is great for the brain as it brings oxygen rich blood to this region helping it rejuvenate and heal.  The pose has other benefits as well, such as realigning the organs displaced by gravity and promoting peace and calm. You can read all the details about this pose in the article, Yoga Exercise for Brain Fitness.

I am quite curious as to how this pose affects people, so do provide your feedback if you try it.  Also, please don’t overdo this pose and be careful of you neck.  Also, start off with less than a minute and build up slowly to 5 minutes max per day (unless you are in a supervised environment).

Shoulder Stand for Brain Fitness

Supreme Yogic Breath for Brain Development:

Yoga breathing exercises are generally great for overall brain health, but of these there is one that especially stands out and that is Supreme Yogic 1 Minute Breath.  This is an advanced pranayama so I want to ensure that you don’t try the full version right away, but instead build up to the 20/20/20 seconds pattern slowly over time.

This breathing exercise will also be key to helping you with meditation, which is being confirmed as excellent for the brain by recent scientific research, and this pranayama is also great for giving you control of your mind and thoughts, as well as overcoming fear and stress.  Needless to say, this pranayama is great for brain function and brain health.

Silent Mind Meditation for Brain Excellence:

As I mentioned above meditation is excellent for the brain.  It actually increases the thickness of the prefrontal cortex and also increases blood flow to the brain, and subjectively you will notice a great improvement of brain function, memory and intelligence.  The meditation research can be found in the article, Brain Health Benefits Making the News, and this research has generally been carried out on monks and yogis who either practice Mantra Meditation (ex: So Hum Mantra Meditation or Breath Awareness Meditation (Zen Meditation Technique).

So of course you can pick one of those 2 techniques above, but I would like to suggest a more advanced meditation technique instead for our practice for this month and that is the Silent Mind Meditation Technique. 

One major reason that brain function and health deteriorates with age is due to the incessant chattering that goes on all the time in our minds.  This constant thinking, worrying, dreaming wears out the brain over time as it is constant friction within.  For this reason the state of awareness without thoughts, or a silent brain is an amazing tonic for the brain.  In this silence the brain is able to rejuvenate and heal itself.  In this silence it grows and develops.  The Silent Mind Meditation Technique will help you move towards this unearthly silence.

Furthermore, the Silent Mind technique, hones and chisels the entire analytic and retrieval system of the brain, therefore significantly improving brain function and intelligence.  It works.  The hard part is just getting down to doing the practice.

So for this month, lets give our brain some much deserved attention and love, and please do provide any feedback from the exercises and techniques above, so others can benefit from your experiences as well.