Have you heard about Superbrain yoga?
Just like renowned yoga for the body, Superbrain yoga originates from ancient Indian traditions, with the main focus on brain functions.
This approach to brain training promises significant improvement in brain performance and even mindfulness.
To understand how it works, here’s what you need to know:
- What Is Superbrain Yoga and How Does It Work?
- Evidence for Superbrain Yoga
- Benefits of Superbrain Yoga
- Superbrain Yoga Exercises
While yoga postures take time to master, Superbrain yoga exercise is easy to learn. On top of that, you can reap tremendous benefits by doing it for 3 minutes a day.
What Is Superbrain Yoga and How Does It Work?
Superbrain Yoga is often termed to be “the new way of yoga that improves the brain”.
And yet, while it seems to be a new kind of yoga, it’s actually a modern name for an ancient technique. Traditionally known as Thoppukaranam, this technique has its roots in ancient Indian practices.
Based on the ancient principles of yoga & acupuncture, Superbrain Yoga encourages a free flow of energy from the brain, through the spine and the entire peripheral nervous system.
It allows the clear flow of energy through the energy centers, otherwise known as chakras.
This ancient method though has continued on in an intriguing way.
Believe it or not, teachers across India used to dish out an embarrassing punishment to kids which were called “sit-ups”. But I wonder how many actually realized, the technique they were giving was, in fact, the ancient technique of Thoppukaranam!
There were reports from teachers that this method was actually improving the children’s grades and their focus. But how could this “punishment” actually have had benefits to it?
Evidence for Superbrain Yoga
It’s not about mental intelligence, it’s about mental fitness.
— Jim Kwik, trainer of Mindvalley’s Superbrain Quest
And as it turns out Superbrain yoga is one of the techniques you can use to exercise your brain.
In 2014 in India, they completed a study highlighting the effects of Superbrain Yoga. This study measured “selective attention” aka concentration, and “psychological states” aka mental well-being.
Researchers discovered “a significant improvement” in concentration performance, and mindfulness after using the technique. Furthermore, anxiety was “reduced significantly” after only one session.
They concluded that “these findings indicate Thoppukaranam results in enhancement of cognitive functioning and psychological states.”
So with that evidence fresh in our minds, let’s dive deeper into the benefits of Superbrain Yoga.
Benefits of Superbrain Yoga
With about 100 billion neurons, our brains are vast and complex. And what matters most to brain function is the number of these connections and how well they speak to one another. This network of neurons is always firing and changing according to our control.
Superbrain Yoga helps with this task of reshaping the brain. Our brain is a muscle, the more you use it the more it grows. Here is how Superbrain Yoga helps develop better brain function:
1. Improved focus and creativity
Superbrain Yoga is a simple technique you can use to access deep, meditative alpha brainwave state. Ranging from 9 to 14 Hz, alpha waves are activating relaxed and calm alertness also known as a brain’s natural state of flow.
It is in the flow state we can access more of our memory and recall. This is when we are the most creative and intuitive ability to problem-solve effectively. Most art, music, and poetry is also made in the alpha state.
2. Increased brainsynchronization
Our brain has two sides, the right and left. Often we have a tendency to be more left or right biased. And this leads to tendencies in behavior, some being more logical and others more creative and intuitive.
Superbrain yoga helps to synchronize the two sides of the brain. And since those hemispheres control our body, these exercises not only help improving brain function but body balance too.
Synchronizing of the hemispheres helps to keep the mind energized. This allows you to concentrate better and helps to keep your mind focused and on task.
3. It helps grow your superbrain
Our brains work every moment, yet for the majority of the day, we act on autopilot. We start to do things unconsciously, forgetting that we have the power to reshape our brains. Modern brain scanning reveals that each of us shapes a completely unique brain. So why not use your mind deliberately to shape the brain you want?
Small habits done daily are what it takes to grow your superbrain. And synchronizing our brain gives us more access to brain growth. Superbrain yoga exercises help our mind to learn faster, and this means we can overcome challenges quicker and easier.
Many have forgotten about their superbrain. As adults we limit ourselves, but our brains are always growing. We can learn to work smarter instead of harder. And we’re capable of a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.
If you fight for your limitations you get to keep them.
— Jim Kwik, trainer of Mindvalley’s Superbrain Quest
Here is the technique on how to shape your brain using Superbrain yoga:
Superbrain Yoga Exercises
This is an easily accessible technique. It’s done by using just a simple exercise and breathing pattern. It is suitable for all ages and is very easy to learn. And it’s possible to do it in only 3 minutes a day.
Here is how to try it out for yourself:
Step 1. Standing up straight with your shoulders back. Remove any obstructions, uncomfortable clothes, or jewelry.
Step 2. Connect your tongue to your palate, this connects the electrical circuit of the body together.
Step 3. Clasp your earlobes, using the fingers on your right hand on the left ear. Now use the fingers on your left hand on your right ear, and hold through the duration of the exercise.
Step 4. Stand with feet apart, ready to engage your glutes and core as you squat down.
Step 5. Squat down comfortably, inhaling as you squat down, and exhaling as you stand up.
Repeat each day for 2-3 minutes for the full benefits of the exercise.
Many types of yoga are known today. People talk about Ashtanga and Vinyasa. Karma yoga and Bhakti yoga. And yet there are a few which remained unknown until they were rediscovered in modern times.
We’re lucky that the world is discovering Superbrain Yoga again. It is a doorway into your self-healing so you can access your own healing states in life. By eliminating things that no longer serve us, and adopting new habits like Superbrain Yoga, we gain access to new resources, focus, and presence.
