Why Yoga?  

I have shared about the importance of balancing your autonomic nervous system for brain health. 

How does this work? 

The autonomic nervous system is the part of our nervous system that controls the automatic functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, breath rate. 

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts:  

the Sympathetic (flight/flight) and Parasympathetic (rest/relax) Nervous Systems.   

I like to think of them like two halves of the yin/yang symbol (hence the choice of emoji, did you get it  😉) or like the balancing of a see-saw.  

The two parts need to be in balance for optimal health, and we need both parts. 

All too often, with excessive stresses of modern living, we can get stuck in flight/flight.   

In fight/flight mode, there is an excess of cortisol hormone in the body. This can 

– affect your brain — eg causing difficulty concentrating, poor memory, muddled thinking 

– cause weight gain – the so called “belly fat” (visceral fat) 

– cause migraines  – some experience it during the ramping up (e.g. Monday Migraines), or during the come-down (e.g. Weekend/Holiday Migraines) 

– affect your sleep – which in turn makes it more difficult to cope with day-to-day challenges, contributing to a vicious cycle

How do you break this cycle?

There are a few strategies I cover in my migraine programmes. 

Sleep can help!

Sleep? 

Yes, that golden nugget again – as mentioned in my last newsletter ☺️  

Regular, good quality sleep is one of the foundations for a healthy resilient brain, a balanced autonomic nervous system, and in preventing migraines. 

”Focusing on my sleep has been a transformation” – says Ellie on my Mastery over Migraines Mentorship.  

So, Why Yoga?

This is one of the ways I teach mindful movement and breath-work.   

I love teaching Yoga –  I used to teach the 7am class at a Yoga Studio, before going to work in the hospital, and also on weekends.  My students would get a deep sense of relaxation as a result of the mindful movement, breathwork and my favourite finish with a body-scan meditation.  

I also thank Yoga, because it led to my long journey & deep dive into Mind-Body work and Mindfulness.

Here we are 15 years later, with me delivering Mindfulness in Neurological research! 

Yoga can be a remarkable way to settle and balance your Autonomic Nervous System. 

Yoga can also be a useful toolkit to settle you body for sleep

A Yoga Tip for Sleep

On Tuesday this week, we had a yoga session for the Mastery over Migraines Mentorship. 

This inspired me to share a Yoga tip in this week’s [TT] newsletter, to help your sleep.

Try this one tonight and let me know how it helps your sleep?  

It works well as part of a wind-down routine. These are some feet-up poses with variations — laugh a bit but maybe not too loudly at my amateur drawings here! 🤣 

1. Feet up against the wall, variations of feet on a chair, or on floor with knees bent. 

2. In this position, take 10 cycles of slow long breath, with an exhale-focused breath. You may place one hand on the belly and one hand on the chest to observe the movement of your breath.

Let me know how this works for you? 

Wishing you good breath, good rest, good sleep cycles, for your brain health (and reducing migraines!) 

Dr Sui Wong MD FRCP etc bit.ly/DrWongBio

PS – are you ready to take action, to kickstart a better sleep habit? See my instagram post for some visuals on this:  link