03/09/2026
✧ Have you wondered why yoga asanas, breathing practices, and meditation support you in feeling better?
✧ Your nervous system has a major role in it. Your brain, spinal cord, and body nerves constantly talk to each other using electrical and chemical signals.
✧ These chemical signals are called neurotransmitters. They pass messages between your nerve cells to influence how you move, feel, and how to respond to inner and outer information.
✧ There are more than 100 types of neurotransmitters that have been identified by scientists, including famous ones like dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins.
✧ The key one for relaxation seems to be GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid).
✧ GABA is your brain’s natural calming chemical. It blocks stress signals to lower anxiety, relax muscles, and balance your emotions. When GABA is too low, anxiety can spike.
✧ Yoga asanas and breathing exercises can directly boost your GABA levels. This naturally lifts your mood and relaxes your nervous system.
✧ The study that supports this is named “”Effects of Yoga Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety, and Brain GABA Levels: A Randomized Controlled MRS Study” (Streeter et al., 2010)”
✧ It is the first study to demonstrate that a drug-free, behavioral intervention—yoga asana—directly correlates with increased GABA levels and improved mood and anxiety scores.
✧ Mental health isn’t one-size-fits-all! If you need support with low mood or anxiety, please chat with a medical professional. Keep in mind that this study looked at generally healthy individuals, so it didn’t track unique personal backgrounds or everyday life factors.
