Damaged basal ganglia cause Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases

Justine and I read alot about health, wellness, aging, Yoga and especially senior health. We often are sending each other articles and links about some interesting news or tidbits and asking each other what we think.  It could be anything from some medical research study, an anatomy concept or some new healing approach to an ailment.  Here is a “Food for Thought” article that is worth reading and pondering.

And because we Yoga Teachers all love and appreciate Anatomy… here’s a tidbit that came across my desk this week.

What is Basal Ganglia and what is its purpose in our body? 

It is a network of circuits deep inside the hemispheres of your brain. The basal ganglia coordinate movement, behavior, and emotions. They make things that happen in sequence possible, like walking and dancing, learning patterns, forming habits, and stopping activities then starting new ones. Damaged basal ganglia cause Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
(Source: WebMD)

Hmmm.. so this got me thinking about all the different movement patterns we do in our Gentle and Chair Yoga classes and how beneficial they are to our brain health…. especially as we age.  And I loved that they included “dancing” in the mix of movements for brain health because Chair Yoga Dancing has become the number one hit in my classes over the past year or so! We are rocking our Basal Ganglia!

Here are all the Chair Yoga Dances we created to date.. with more coming for sure!  Try learning them and sharing them.  I guarantee your students will LOVE them!

Keep reading, learning and sharing!

Namaste,
Sherry (and Justine)