ESPResearch indicates that regular yoga practice can significantly slow mental decline by combining physical movement, breathwork, and meditation.
Yoga stimulates neuroplasticity, reduces stress-related brain inflammation, and can even protect the areas of the brain typically vulnerable to age-related shrinkage. Regular practice boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that promotes the survival and growth of brain cells.
MRI studies have shown that long-term yoga practitioners often experience less shrinkage in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex (areas vital for memory and information processing) compared to non-practitioners
