How a spot of yoga can limber up your memory

AS you get older, do you find yourself missing appointments or forgetting where you put the keys? Yoga may help.

Scientists have found yoga and meditation sessions are more powerful than brain training exercises in combating memory loss.

They compared the two approaches in a group of 25 volunteers over the age of 55 who had reported memory problems such as failing to remember names and faces.

After three months, both methods were equally good at improving verbal memory skills, which help people remember names and word lists. But the yoga provided added benefits such as enhanced visual-spatial memory, which helps us remember locations and navigate while walking or driving.

Eleven participants received weekly hourlong memory training sessions and performed exercises such as crossword puzzles. The other 14 were given an hour-long yoga session once a week and practised meditation for 20 minutes a day.

Lead researcher Harris Eyre, from the University of Adelaide in Australia, said: ‘We’re converting historical wisdom into the high level of evidence required for doctors to recommend therapy to their patients.’

The form of yoga used, known as Kundalini, focuses on breathing and chanting. It incorporates Kirtan Kriya meditation, which involves hand movements and visualisation methods, and has been used for hundreds of years in India to aid older adults’ memory.

Volunteers practising yoga and meditation were also less likely to be depressed and anxious, the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reported. Co-author professor Helen Lavretsky, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said: ‘When you have memory loss, you can get quite anxious about that and it can lead to depression.’