Jason Raish
FIRST came yoga, then hot yoga, beer yoga, even goat yoga. Now we have e-yoga, the combination of brain stimulation with meditation, mindfulness and downward dog.
Paradoxical though it may seem to add modern technology to a spiritual practice, there are hints that passing a small electrical current through your brain enhances the hard-won effects of yoga and meditation, leading to greater feelings of well-being, more quickly.
The first results of trials of the technology will be available next month, but that isn’t quick enough for some. Behind closed doors, the world’s first e-meditation classes have already started. The US defence agency is even investigating the concept as a way to enhance soldiers’ abilities. But don’t unroll your mat just yet: fast-tracking your zen could have a dark side.
The yoga and meditation industry is booming, with more than and the global market worth £74 billion. It is no wonder: while practitioners have spoken about the transformative potential of meditation for centuries, science has only recently caught up.
Mindfulness meditation – paying more attention to the present moment, to your thoughts, feelings and the world around you – can protect against depression, accelerate learning and alleviate pain and anxiety. It may even . Yoga has also been found to offer numerous health benefits, such as , anxiety and emotional eating. Both can switch off genes implicated in inflammation, which is linked to a number of diseases.
Even so, it takes time and dedication to see results from yoga and meditation. , a…
