Yoga - it's a 'mind game' after all

As I've been practicing supported headstand, shirshasana for quite some time (1yr +), I am a bit more confident these days to do something different... with the legs.

The desire to explore almost comes naturally, once you're firm on the ground upside down.

It literally feels like "Think on your feet" (or more like "Think WITH your feet"), as if you are 'relocating' your brain to your legs, knees, and feet. The lower body finally taking over the brain's job, becoming the master mind behind movement.

It's a new, strange feeling, as if my feet are getting smarter...

Well, I figured that my feet weren't getting smarter but in fact, my brain is regaining control over parts of the body that it had lost touch with. Through daily practice of focusing, and sending signals to different parts of your body when you are in a state that you're body is not used to (i.e. being upside down), you are actually activating and strengthening the connections between neurons.

It's an exercise for the brain after all.

"When the brain forms memories or learns a new task, it encodes the new information by tuning connections between neurons. MIT neuroscientists have discovered a novel mechanism that contributes to the strengthening of these connections, also called synapses...."

Learn more from about how this work from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: https://news.mit.edu/2015/brain-strengthen-connections-between-neurons-1118

Other than my own playful discovery, mom (once a doctor, forever a curiouser) recently alluded me to 'Super Brain Yoga', which claims to treat autism and boost immune. It seems to be built on basic left/right brain stimulation, and something to do with acupressure point. Some doctors have even been prescribing the exercise for patients. Now, I'm not sure if that's pseudoscience but I think if you ask your body to get into awkward and bizzare movement, and repeat it, your brain ought to have to overcome some challenge and adapt to it, just like learning a new skill.

Anyways, I'll keep playing with my own brain game. Maybe I'll get into a lotus one day, or not. It's a work-in-progress yet the journey is already the destination :)

xx

...

Oh, don't forget to warm up. A dip in the thermal pool is deeee best!!