A Little Space Yoga & Tai Chi

When the world feels dark or heavy, it's more important than ever to act with kindness. Approach each day with love, compassion, and a proverbial belly rub or two. 💜

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Don’t forget to take care of yourself today! 💕

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"“Breath-centered practices such as yoga, tai chi, and qigong have been utilized for centuries to manage stress and promote psychological well-being,” they wrote in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. “Emerging research reveals an additional benefit: these practices also stimulate cerebrospinal fluid oscillations, potentially activating the glymphatic pathway during wakefulness.”

When people engage in rhythmic controlled breath-holds, their CO2 levels go up, stimulating constriction and dilation of arteries that sends pulses that may promote fluid movement through the brain when applied in ON and OFF cycles, they write.“In addition to highlighting the potential for controlled breathing practices to facilitate waste clearance, these findings raise the intriguing possibility that rhythmic, controlled CO2 exposures may serve as a direct and potentially more effective modulator of glymphatic function.”"

Researchers Study Whether Intentionally Manipulating Blood Carbon Dioxide Levels Might Enhance Brain Health Abnormal clumps of proteins like α-synuclein, amyloid beta and tau are associated with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, but a waste removal mechanism called the glymphatic pathway can clear these proteins and other...

Interesting?

Inhaling high levels of carbon dioxide intermittently for half an hour flushes proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease out of the brain, a small study has found. Exposure to the gas changes how blood vessels in the brain constrict and dilate while we’re awake, mimicking activity that occurs during deep sleep. This then turbocharges the glymphatic system to remove the build-up of waste products that could cause harm.

A 2025 study suggests the same approach could help with Parkinson’s disease, by clearing the protein alpha-synuclein. “If you have any condition that is due to or exacerbated by any sort of accumulation of waste, this could be something beneficial,” says Sephira Ryman at the University of Texas at Austin.

The brain’s waste-disposal, or glymphatic, system is comprised of a network of channels surrounding blood vessels that collect waste fluid released from brain cells. It is most active during deep sleep, when slow brain waves drive blood vessels to dilate and constrict about once every 30 seconds.

Read more here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2580471-inhaling-high-dose-co2-clears-alzheimers-proteins-from-the-brain/

Image: pocketlight/Getty Images

Recently I spent the weekend online with 50 international yoga teachers talking about bone health. Their receptivity, the exchange of ideas and spirit of learning and collegial support was really inspiring. There's so much we can do to stay strong as we age, and we can adapt classic yoga poses creatively to keep it fresh and help beginners catch onto the fun of yoga. My co-teacher Lynn Crimando and I have been offering this course for about 8 years, and the material we offer keeps expanding.

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Yin. And Yang. Balance. ☯️

"Why Are Your Poems So Dark?" by Linda Pastan.

Isn’t the moon dark too,
most of the time?

And doesn’t the white page
seem unfinished

without the dark stain
of alphabets?

When God demanded light,
he didn’t banish darkness.

Instead he invented
ebony and crows

and that small mole
on your left cheekbone.

Or did you mean to ask
“Why are you sad so often?”

Ask the moon.
Ask what it has witnessed.