Background: Yoga and meditation are becoming increasingly popular worldwide, with several implicated physical and mental benefits. Here we provide a overview of the current research shown about yoga and meditation as it helps to shape the brain by enhancing neurogenesis and neuroplasticity among yoga and meditation practitioners. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to frustrating public health and social measures; this has constrained physical and social interaction. People are socially isolated, feeling loneliness even prior to the pandemic, and there are rising senior populations with memory loss and youth with mental health issues which presents challenges to Western medicine where we have limited resources to handle the rising mental health issues among all ages.

Current evidence-based studies show that practicing yoga and mindfulness has proven effects on all ages by altering the brain positively in a self-directed manner. Making lifestyle choices is key for battling stress and cultivating happiness and a healthy brain. Yoga has been practiced for ancient years in the Eastern world and now it has taken into the Western world at different levels with its proven effectiveness. 

Objective: This study will be examining the current research evidence of the effects of meditation and yoga on anxiety, stress and memory by restructuring the brain with neuroplasticity and enhancing neurogenesis . This study will review systematically all research articles which analyse brain function before and after yoga and meditation practice. This will also have involve the analysis on stress, sleep, work performance and happiness subjectively rated among meditators and non-meditators as well as among yoga practitioners and non-yoga practitioners’ over all in Ontario.

Methodology: We will be doing a systematic literature search from 2010 to 2020 of all qualitative and quantitative studies related to brain changes with yoga and meditation, evaluating the impacts of yoga and meditation on brain function and response to stress, sleep patterns, and mental health.

Conclusions: We will find the effects of yoga and meditation on the brain and the implications on brain aging.

References:

1. Front. Integr. Neurosci., 08 July 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2020.00034
2. Neuroscience for Clinicians pp 165-174| 
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014488603002486
4. https://content.iospress.com/articles/restorative-neurology-and-neuroscience/rnn170810
5. Cureus. 2020 Sep; 12(9): e10639.
6. Published online 2020 Sep 24. doi: 10.7759/cureus.10639REVIEW article