Superbrain Yoga!
by Beth
A news feature on a California T.V. station reported that Superbrain Yoga — a five-minute yoga exercise designed specifically to help the brain — has been endorsed by Yale-trained neurobiologist Eugenius Ang, Ph.D. The TV spot shows a few children with autism doing Superbrain Yoga and includes a testimonial from one mother who says her son’s behavior improved dramatically after they started doing the five-minute exercise.
An article in AARP Magazine about Superbrain Yoga links to a video and describes the exercise step by step:
Step 1 Place your left hand on your right earlobe, thumb on the front of the lobe with fingernail facing outward and second finger behind the earlobe. Then, with your right hand, grasp your left earlobe, again keeping your thumb on the front of the lobe, facing outward. Press both earlobes simultaneously, making sure your left arm is close to your chest and inside your right (which devotees say helps energy travel upward to the brain).
Step 2 As you press on the earlobes, squat down, keeping your back straight. Do 10 to 12 deep bends, inhaling through the nose on the way down and exhaling through the mouth coming up. You may place a chair underneath you as a safety precaution.
Step 3 Repeat daily
Okay, I admit it. I’m a skeptic. But heck — this little exercise only takes five minutes out of one’s day. And hey, maybe that’s five minutes away from the internet, away from big-screen TVs, away from cell phones. Who knows … that just might help your brain. At the very least, it could give you time to think!