Bipolar Disorder, Brain Chemistry, and Yoga
A study published in May of this year documented how yoga can have a positive influence on a brain chemical that affects mood1.
In the study, several subjects did yoga for an hour while another group read. At the end of the hour, measurements were taken of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) levels in the participants’ brains. The yoga group experienced a 27% increase in GABA, while the readers had no change.
GABA is an amino acid, important in regulating brain functions including mood. Lack of GABA can lead to over-stimulation of the brain and poor impulse control2.
Underproduction of GABA is one of the culprits behind bipolar disorder and is caused by a transcription malfunction located in the 15q11-q13 chromosome region3. That’s just a fancy way of saying bipolar genes don’t allow proper production of GABA.
Incidentally, Vitamin B6 is necessary for the production of GABA, and coffee can inhibit its release4. So take your vitamins and go easy on the coffee already. And do your yoga.
- Chris C. Streeter, J. Eric Jensen, Ruth M. Perlmutter, Howard J. Cabral, Hua Tian, Devin B. Terhune, Domenic A. Ciraulo, Perry F. Renshaw. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2007, 13(4): 419-426. doi:10.1089/acm.2007.6338. [↩]
- http://www.enotalone.com/article/4118.html [↩]
- Otani K, Ujike H, Tanaka Y, Morita Y, Katsu T, Nomura A, Uchida N, Hamamura T, Fujiwara Y, Kuroda S. Neurosci Lett. 2005 Jun 10-17;381(1-2):108-13. Epub 2005 Feb 25. [↩]
- http://www.benbest.com/science/anatmind/anatmd10.html#gaba [↩]
Tags: amino acid, bipolar brain chemistry, bipolar disorder, bipolar study, GABA, yoga
March 13th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I teach yoga at a state university where I also work on a masters degree in womens studies. My interest in womens studies is centered around right brain and left brain activities and at what point in human evolution we switched from being predominantly right brained to predominantly left brained in our culture. We take this back to the area of the Mesopotamia where the alphabet was first developed. Prior to the alphabet, all writing was pictorial in nature and ‘reading’ was a right brained activity. When humans moved from pictures to the abstract alphabet, our deciphering moved from one side of our brain to the other side of our brain. Consequently at this time we also went from a Goddess worshiping culture (many deities in nature and animals) to a God worshiping culture (abstract male is nowhere but everywhere). I have found that my bipolar tendencies come from being someone better suited to right brain living while living in a left brained or patriarchal culture, wherein all qualities assigned masculine, dominate. Yoga, for me, has forced me to better activate my right brain. This puts one out of sync with culture and that can cause feelings of alienation but it puts me in sync with myself and my moods are happier. It is interesting that yoga is gaining in popularity in our youths during a time when the US has unprecedented spending on war, a masculine dominating activity. All the universe seeks balance and eventually the US culture will have to embrace those qualities that are feminine (in men and in women and in our environment) in order to see people heal and learn to value our Earth.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thanks for this site. I hope you continue to post and share your experience, strength, and hope.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Hey, bi-polar/hyper-mania runs through my family, and I have the hyper-manic aspect of the disease. I have not chosen medication as I’m more concerned with the physical side effects I might encounter. I have always had great physical health and I didn’t want to put that in jeopardy. I do use yoga to give me clarification on my emotions and how to keep a balanced life. Anodea Judith wrote a great book on chakra developement that I use daily to keep myself in balance and to be aware of the behaviors and signs of excess and deficiency (the two key symptoms of bi-polar better known as Mania and Depression)
I also believe that the subtleties of our bio-chemestry can be altered by the people we encounter everyday and their personal level of attunment with the chakra system. Understanding is a major problem for people with bi-polar. Not many people understand what it feels like or how we feel. It is hard for people to understand our emotional processes, if we get angry, upset, fall in love, or get sad, how do we get out of those feelings without hurting ourselves or others? Our emotions can get intense, yet we still need a healthy harmless process to go through. Yoga offers a real solution. It is a practice which means you have to keep practicing, it is life long which gives us a committment that may not be there for us in any other form, and it gives us a gentle pace knowing that life moves in it’s own time, organic, biorythmically, not set to anyone’s timeclock or deadline.
I hope this helps.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
what a lot of crap!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Not crap. There is a lot of bio-chemistry going on, as Lisa stated. Also the continued dedication to it does mean you have to stop and recognize something other than your own mania and depression. This is very interesting site.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Thanks for your comments, even negative ones. I’ll get back on this project now that there appears to be interest.
By the way, please don’t bother commenting if you have little more to offer than a thinly veiled promotion, I will delete your comment.
Otherwise, keep it coming — your participation in this project is greatly appreciated!
July 20th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I am interested in knowing more about how yoga helps bipolar people. I have two very close family members that I suspect have this disorder. They do take medication to control depression and anxiety but it does not quell negative feelings. What yogic exercises exactly does one do? What proven or reliable and harmless natural ways are there? Please let me know if any one has more information.
Thanks.
Kay
July 21st, 2008 at 8:51 am
Hi there
Hey…. keep this site rolling dear… I was diagnosed with “potentially” having bipolar years ago..
I’ve managed to balance out my emotions to some extent through therapy, determination - and an insight to the fact that it is basically all about balance…
I KNOW that yoga is a brilliant therapy for bringing balance into people’s lives… and I came across your blog simply because I firmly believe that YOGA is a great therapy for sufferers of bipolar and I wanted to know if there was anyone out there who agreed…. or who I could join and help….
You’ve hit on something here… please do keep it up - and if I can be of any help at all - then don’t hesitate to get in touch…..
July 21st, 2008 at 10:14 am
@ Tina: Thank you and welcome!
@ Kay: Stay tuned.