Yoga and Technology or Yoga as Technology?
in support of the science and technology of our bodyminds
Yoga for brain health
A few days ago I logged onto Facebook to offer a yoga class through Facebook live. It was a class dedicated to The Longest Day, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association. It was going to be the first time I taught a class online and my first time using Facebook Live. Despite having done some test runs, I forgot to link my mic and once the video was started, I couldn’t do it.
The bad news is that I had to suddenly cancel the event; the good news is that I now have time to spread the word to more people and anyone that couldn’t make it at the original time might now be able to make it to the rescheduled class (Sunday, July 2nd at 5:00pm Central).
Why offer yoga in support of the Alzheimer’s Association? The first reason is a personal one: My mom recently passed away this year in April from leukemia, but I was inspired to get involved in The Longest Day because she lived with dementia for the last few years of her life. Here’s a (somewhat rambling) post on how my yoga practice helped me deal with slowly losing my mom as-I-knew-her through this most difficult disease. Alzheimer’s disease is one type of dementia, and the Alzheimer’s Association supports research and provides resources for dealing with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
The second reason is that movement is so good for cognitive health. It turns out that movement is not only good for your body, but also your brain and some studies have shown that it can slow down mild cognitive decline. Can yoga prevent Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, though? It seems that it might but the evidence isn’t totally clear, yet. I think, though, that if you’ve ever tried yoga for any period of time, and it was a type of yoga that suited you (there are different styles of yoga!), then you probably felt better on all levels, mentally, emotionally, physically, and maybe even spiritually.
Yoga and technology
In general, I’m old school; that’s probably why the Facebook live threw me off! Not to mention that I like to be in the same room as my students, but I try to roll with how technology keeps weaving itself into all our human activities, including yoga.
My first real attempt to use technology to share yoga was creating this newsletter on Substack in 2018. It was a pretty natural starting point, since I am also a writer. From there I linked my posts to Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Honestly, I wouldn’t miss it if we went back to the old days of yoga before the internet, but I do appreciate being able to reach a bigger crowd.
It is kinda strange though, when that crowd is so far away. When the pandemic hit, online yoga became more of a thing and that bigger crowd never felt so lonely. But it did become obvious that yoga online could be more practical for many, and as a stay-at-home mom, it has meant cutting out the commute to class and squeezing in my practice without having to find longer stretches of childcare.
So I am grateful for the internet and how it has made yoga accessible to more people. It doesn’t fully replace an in-person class, but I fully believe it makes it more likely that more people will give it a try and keep it up!
Of course, when we think of yoga and technology we might also imagine some technological gadgets made to supplement yoga practice, things like interactive clothing, intelligent yoga mats, and various apps. These things do exist, but I’ve never tried any of these, and honestly, I sort of eye these types of tools with a critically, mainly because I tend to turn towards yoga to ‘unplug.’ I look forward to stepping away from technology when I get on my yoga mat or meditation cushion. But as they say, different strokes for different folks. I’d love to hear from any of you about experiences with tech tools for yoga, positive or negative. Feel free to comment below!
To me, though, what’s most important is remembering that the practice of yoga can actually be considered a technology in and of itself.
Getting in the groove
If you read enough about the parts of yoga practice beyond just the postures, you’ll probably come across the idea of yoga as a technology or science. You might wonder, what does yoga have to do with science and technology? Is it a technology of the body? Or of the mind?
I’d say it’s a technology of both, a method of creating grooves in our daily habits to optimize the use of our minds and bodies (or what some call the bodymind). Let’s say you have certain habits you’d like to change, physical or mental. Those habits are like grooves in your lifestyle and yoga can be such an effective tool at diverting those grooves onto a different course. Sadhguru writes succinctly (even poetically) on this topic in this article linked here, as does Timothy McCall in his article linked here.
So the science part comes in the form of interoception and self-inquiry: what’s going on in my body and mind? How do I feel when I do this or that posture? Or when I breathe in a certain way? Yoga is an experiential science, with methods of refining the body and mind. I always have the highest hope that I am doing my best to use these methods to be the best mom (and wife and sister and friend, and person) that I can be. My other hope is that I can help you to use this ancient science and technology, too!
We might still not know if we can prevent Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia with yoga, but even if it just slows it down, or improves the quality of life for us all as we age, I say that’s worth something. There’s no doubt that physical activity and reducing stress through practices like yoga and meditation can improve the overall health of our bodies and minds.
That is why I’m sharing my yoga in honor of the Longest Day: for all people dealing with dementia or caring for someone struggling with it, but also for my mom and her sister.
I hope you’ll join me for my belated Longest Day Yoga class on Sunday, July 2nd at 5:00pm Central Time. Here is the link to the Facebook live video, whether or not you donate:
https://www.facebook.com/100075956739977/live_videos/
But I also hope you’ll consider donating to this fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/donate/756250349587140/
Thank you so much to those who already donated:)
Sorry to hear about your mom but wonderful you can share something that might help people. I hadn’t heard of this connection with possibly preventing or easing dementia, but it makes sense. The more we are learning and the mind-body connection suggests that not only physical practice but perhaps meditation, for example, could help. Thanks for a really nice post. The tech got me thinking too :)