Full Disclosure

by Brad Gibson

The Light on the Water (from Muir Beach) by Brad Gibson

Okay, so it took me ten years to finally listen to my wife Nina and take up yoga. I may be slow, but I’m not an idiot. So what was the epiphany? There were actually several. 

The first was listening to my wife Nina and Rodney Yee at a book signing in Los Angeles talk about how restricted most of us are in using and exploring our bodies. As adults we typically sit, stand up, walk, and lie down. That’s pretty much it. Compare this to our younger selves, where we rolled down hills on our bellies, spun ourselves so we were so dizzy we crumpled to the ground, and did handstands on the lawn. And all that just for the fun of it.

The second was attending a seminar given by a well-regarded scientist from the University of California San Francisco. Here I learned about the startling plasticity of the human brain, and its ability to rewire and reorganize itself based on various environmental and behavioral stimuli. One particular example struck me: that the regions in the brain that control movements to our fingers are spatially distinct and this spatial resolution and control can be lost if the hand is constrained in motion over long periods of time. These regions then shrink and become partially fused, resulting in the inability to use the hand in a way we are accustomed, and more like a paw. The good news was that this is largely reversible if the constraint is removed. The brain—along with the slow recovery of the hand —can then restore these neural connections. The significance to our aging brain and body was clear, both in a negative and positive sense. We must actively fight against the restricted physical activity that we impose on ourselves, as well as the loss of dexterity that is the result of this behavior. Otherwise, this can become a vicious cycle as we react to our aging bodies by imposing further restrictions to our movements, and our brain’s ability to control and balance these movements becomes diminished as a result. 

My third epiphany was a bit more vain, but important to me nonetheless. As I was attending a party in the Berkeley hills on a warm summer evening, I was struck by how many beautiful women were there. Now this party was not one of the faculty or science-type parties that I usually attend, but one made up of by yoga practitioners of many stripes and ages. But as I pondered this—admittedly over a few glasses of very good vodka and some really delicious food—I realized that these people held their bodies in a posture and poise that I was not generally accustomed to. They were not just physically fit, but healthy and vibrant. Okay, my wife did point out the next morning as I told this story that I not only didn’t have my glasses on, but was also pretty drunk by this point. Fair enough. But over the years—and under more sober conditions—I have found this observation to hold up pretty well. 

So as a scientist who studies the biology of aging and the many diseases that are associated with aging, I have come to my own personal conclusions on the importance of practicing a mind/body discipline like yoga. And as I approach my 59th birthday, the immediate realities of physical and mental loss become more apparent. And I am not one of those people who think I can avoid this. I do believe, however, that we have the capacity to regain some of theses age-related losses, and if not, at least slow down their progression. Regaining or maintaining a higher level of balance, physical dexterity, and cognitive function and resolution is therefore something that is attainable and has the capacity to make huge impacts on the quality of our lives. The aging component that works against all this and drives these declines, however, is scientifically and mechanistically poorly understood. This is what makes my scientific life and work so interesting. But as far as I can tell, the basic processes underlying human aging are largely inescapable, at least as we currently understand them. That doesn’t mean we can’t intervene or we have to give up, nor that some of the losses we associate with aging can’t be mitigated. We probably need to practice both acceptance and active engagement as we confront our own aging—part of the underlying philosophy of yoga that I am still struggling with. In any case, it can’t hurt to strive to feel better and think more clearly. There are few things that I would consider more important.

My primary interest in participating in this ongoing discussion on “yoga for healthy aging” is to examine evidence on how practicing yoga might intervene and in some cases reverse some aspects of the mental and physical decline we think of as normal aging. In doing so I have to first acknowledge that there is a lot of crap out there, and as a scientist I would want to bring rigorous and critical thinking to the process of evaluating these claims. Most published studies or claims just don’t stand up to rigorous scientific and statistical scrutiny because of poor study design, small sample size or the lack of good controls. But I also I don’t want to fall into the trap of constantly seeking to debunk or ridicule studies that attempt to establish a connection between yoga (or other related disciplines) and possible beneficial effects on aging or limiting age-related diseases. Rather, I’m more interested in trying to extract whatever useful information I can from these aging studies and see if it can be applied to improving one’s yoga practice.

And lastly, a full disclosure: I’m a firm believer in science. I am also a believer in western medicine, although with some qualifications. My concern with western medicine is that it can overreach itself at times and rely on vastly incomplete scientific knowledge in coming to diagnosis or treatments. Or worse yet, it can incorporate many cultural biases. That said, it’s by far the best and most successful form of medical practice that we have. I am also aware of limitations in the scientific method. Not so much as a philosophy or discipline, but rather from the standpoint of recognizing the difficulty of scientific inquiry in tackling highly complex phenomena or systems. And as complex biological systems go, humans are at the top. This makes it exceedingly difficult for scientists to predict, investigate or fully understand how we respond to various environmental, temporal and behavioral changes. And yes, yoga would fall under these latter categories, as would aging itself.

Despite all this, I believe there are important things that we can do that can impact and alter our aging status and overall health, and that yoga has the potential to be a key player in this process. Indeed, some reasonable information already exists on how yoga might lower blood pressure, or reduce muscle atrophy (sarcopenia), stress, or cognitive decline. These and other such topics will be ones that my colleagues and I will try and tackle.

Do any of you have questions for our scientist?

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