Keen on Teens!

Yes, you know that meditation can reduce stress, which research shows can damage brain cells and your ability to retain information over time. But the ancient practice can do more than just soothe your soul: It may also sharpen your memory. According to a University of Kentucky study, subjects who took a late-afternoon test after meditating for 40 minutes had significantly better scores than those who napped for the same period.

Even more surprising, when the subjects were retested after being deprived of a full night's sleep, those who meditated still scored better than their study counterparts. How could that be? Meditation, like sleep, reduces sensory input, and this quiet state may provide a time for neurons to process and solidify new information and memories.

Brain scans have revealed that meditation produces a state somewhat similar to non-REM sleep (which many specialists believe is the more mentally restorative sleep phase), in that many neurons of the cortex fire in sync, says Bruce O'Hara, PhD, a coauthor of the study. "However, unlike when you sleep, consciousness is fully maintained in meditation, so there is no grogginess upon 'awakening.'"

For regular, highly experienced meditators, the benefits to memory can be substantial. A 2004 University of Wisconsin-Madison study discovered that the brains of long-term Buddhist practitioners who have meditated every day for many years generated the highest levels of gamma waves a pattern of brain activity that's associated with attention, working memory, and learning ever reported in other studies.

Source: Nancy Kalish

And there came a time when the risk of remaining closed tight in a bud far outweighed the risk it took to bloom.

Anais Nin

New Twist on Yoga: Giggle While You Work

Go ahead and giggle. That's the message outrageous yogi Mary Kaye Chryssicas [chris-see-cus] tells teenagers as they twist and bend into poses and positions with names that sound like pig Latin and are awkward and embarrassing to do with a straight face. Yoga is serious stuff, but there's a huge benefit when you can make yoga more fun and approachable. Mary Kaye sees humor as the best way to get teens hooked. Chryssicas' book, Breathe: Yoga for Teens is packed with sage advice for kids struggling with poor body image, low self-esteem, issues of popularity, feelings of unworthiness and more plus an element of humor thrown in from Mary Kaye's hilarious diary entries. Teens connect with Chryssicas because she maintains a judgment free zone, where each individual is respected, nurtured and challenged. "I've got girls in my classes doing yoga for depression, for self-esteem, for weight issues, for attention-deficit disorders and other teenage issues," said Chryssicas. "Today's teen is stressed out beyond the norm, the focus on being the best, getting in to the best schools, they are on overload. In yoga, everyone is perfect." Chryssicas emphasizes how breathing is therapeutic -- it can change the way you react to stress. The benefits of yoga offer so much healing and calm energy for the anxiety and overload that kids experience today. "When you learn how to coordinate the breath with yoga postures, it has a way of calming the mind and allows the movements to release tension in the body," Chryssicas explains. "When my students aren't in a yoga class, and they are hit with the challenges of everyday life, I want them to remember, no matter where they are, no matter how low they get, they have the skills from yoga to turn things in their favor. Yoga is a way of life that kids can easily learn to adapt to their lives outside the studio." Chryssicas said. Breathe: Yoga for Teens, is available wherever books are sold. Get your copy at amazon.com now!

About Mary Kaye Chryssicas:

Chryssicas lives passionately, laughs often and dances wildly in Boston with her three bendy kids, a husband who can't touch his toes, and an untrained viszsla. She is also the author of I Love Yoga. When not teaching yoga, she is available for radio phone interviews and television appearances, teen seminars, speaking engagements and book readings and signings.