WELLBEING
student experiences as conscious deep breathing . By practising postures with breath instruction , students are encouraged to deepen and slow down their breathing thus tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system , the rest-and-digest system , and moving away from the sympathetic nervous system , the heightened state of fight-or-flight so many of operate in as a matter of course . A parasympathetic response lowers breathing and heart rate , decreases blood pressure , lowers cortisol levels and increases blood flow to the intestines and vital organs ( Woodyard , 2011 ).
In more complex terms , a Yoga practice can engage not only with our proprioception ( our sense of where our body is within space ), but also with interoception ( our awareness of what is happening inside our body ) and exteroception ( any sensation we experience in response to external stimuli ). Studies have shown that there is a link between atypical body awareness ( that is decreased or increased proprioception or interoception ) and many disorders such as anxiety and depression ( Bulbena-Cabré & Bulbena , 2018 ). We can train our proprioception in Yoga through aligning our bodies into the specific postures and drawing awareness to where we are placing our body parts , but we can also train our interoception during posture practice by ignoring alignment cues and instead focusing on the sensations in the body as we put it through the postures . The same caveat applies to Yoga and mental health concerns as it does to Yoga and
injuries : Yoga will never be a cure for either of these , but evidence clearly suggests that Yoga can provide techniques to improve self-regulation and general wellbeing as a result .
Yoga and academic performance
Executive function refers to working memory , emotional control , organisation , problem solving etc ., all skills required in a classroom setting and potentially attributing to enhanced academic success ( Hagins & Rundle , 2016 ). The part of the brain responsible for executive function is the prefrontal cortex , and it works in co-ordination with the limbic system . If the limbic system is overactive , the prefrontal cortex , our cognitive function , is unable to make good decisions . Or , in very simplistic terms , if we are stressed , we cannot think straight . An implicit hypothesis therefore might be that improved regulation of the limbic system should result in increased executive function , and by extension academic performance . Studies looking at Yoga and academic performance are still rare , and the conclusions from those carried out appear inconclusive . Whilst some have found significant effects ( Kauts & Sharma , 2009 ), others reported mixed results ( Smith et al , 2014 ). Either way , even if a Yoga practice currently cannot be linked conclusively to academic performance , it stands to reason that a pupil with tools to relax and regulate their mental wellbeing will perform better overall .
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