In praise of slow
Journal February
This month we started a yoga book club. It just happened as I always refer to different texts in my yoga teachings. Ive come to realise I am really informed by what I’m reading, watching, doing each month and it often comes through when I’m teaching.
Carl Honre wrote ‘In Praise of Slow’ in 2005, as a journalist, he was inspired to research to explore why we’re always in such a rush, what if anything is the cure for time-sickness, and whether it’s desirable to slow down.
The book is not an all-out declaration of war against speed.
Speed has helped to remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating. Who wants to live without the Internet or jet travel? The problem is that our love of speed, our obsession with doing more and more in less and less time, has gone too far; it has turned into an addiction, a kind of idolatry. Even when speed starts to backfire, we invoke the go-faster gospel.
“Inevitably,” Honore writes, “a life of hurry can become superficial. When we rush, we skim the surface, and fail to make real connections with the world or other people.” Moreover we don’t make connections with ideas. We don’t synthesize. We don’t test theories over time. We don’t play with ideas.
In terms of health, speed or rather, absence of slow can lead to a variety of mental health concerns, at all levels of the scale of mental health. Poor mental health can have a direct impact on the function of our inner physiology. I’ll say more about this in future journal content.
In the meantime, apply this to your movement practice. You want to get to the ‘full expression of the pose’ regardless of whether your body is functionally ready. But worse, is your mind ready? Are you calm, clear, focused- or do you have a goal to do it now, in class, where others are doing it and making it look easy. Do you do it regardless of pain, have you ever said ‘ ill pay for this later’ - referring to the muscle or joint pain you will feel one, two, three days after class?
In yoga and movement practices, if we want a lasting practice ( by this I mean, the one you can be doing when you are aged 90) and to move into pain-free postures with confidence, the slow foundations are essential - but you know this already!
This month we are moving slowly and appreciating the time in transition in asana class. Try it. And if you love the research, read below for the science’y bit.
DHARMA TALK (57 mins)
In praise of slow workshop (2 hours) Dharma Talk followed by slow practice
The Science’y Bit…
Speeding up in life can lead to bio-psychological disorders such as high levels of stress, depression and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), characterised by excessive, uncontrollable worry or fear of threat (Bolognesi, Baldwin & Ruini, 2004), GAD is one of the most commonly occurring mental disorders worldwide. Anxiety stems from and perpetuates dysregulation of neurobiological mechanisms. With high rates of long-term medication use for anxiety globally ( is quick and easy to prescribe an anti-depressant or neuro inhibitor), little research has attempted to deconstruct the pathophysiological rationale for the effects of self-care such as Yoga Based Practices (YBP) on anxiety disorders to better understand their contribution to the field.
Numerous studies have shown that YBP, particularly breathing practices can have rapid normalising effects on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) ( think fight, flight, freeze), it can improve vagal tone and increase GABA levels (GABA : Gamma-aminobutyric acid (γ‐aminobutyric acid) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system). Much is still to be learnt, as studies are limited. YBP studies have self-selected populations, small sample sizes and inappropriate control groups. Those who have used biomarker measures are limited in term of scale: MRS (Streeter et al 2007; 20010, 2019), blood plasma (Streeter, Gerbarg, Saper, Ciraulrol & Brown, 2012), hair samples (Rocha et al., 2012) and EEG (Kamei et al., 2000).
There is more evidence suggesting that physical activity (PA) can regulate SNS activity over inactivity, as it produces plasticity within neural networks (Mueller, 20017). Yoga is often defined as a form of low-intensity PA. PA affects brain function through muscle synthesis, releasing myokines (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF) and metabolites ( such as lactate) into the circulation. BDNF crosses the blood-brain barrier at the levels of brain capillaries and affect the functions of both neurons and glial cells, altering neurotransmission in different regions of the brain. BDNF is a macromolecule that plays a central role not only in the treatments of anxiety, but also in neuronal growth, survival and plasticity.
The effects of YBP on the stress response system has limited evidence but is worth further investigation and acknowledged in both holistic and movement practice fields. A better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of change mechanisms of change in stress (speed) and non-stess populations and the individual factors influencing receptiveness will in order allow for more accurately designed interventions.
Rocha, K. K. F., Ribeiro, A. M., Rocha, K., Sousa, M., Albuquerque, F. S., Ribeiro, S., & Silva, R. H. (2012). Improvement in physiological and psychological parameters after 6 months of yoga practice. Consciousness and Cognition, 21(2), 843-850.
Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2012). Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571-579.
Streeter, C. C., Jensen, J. E., Perlmutter, R. M., Cabral, H. J., Tian, H., Terhune, D. B., . . . Renshaw, P. F. (2007). Yoga asana sessions increase brain GABA levels: A pilot study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 13(4), 419-426.
Streeter, C. C., Whitfield, T. H., Owen, L., Rein, T., Karri, S. K., Yakhkind, A., . . . Ciraulo, D. A. (2010). Effects of yoga versus walking on mood, anxiety, and brain GABA levels: A randomized controlled MRS study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(11), 1145-1152.
van Dis, E. A., van Veen, S. C., Hagenaars, M. A., Batelaan, N. M., Bockting, C. L., van den Heuvel, Rinske M, . . . Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Long-term outcomes of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(3), 265-273.
