Brain Health, Memory, Trauma, and Resilience

A Whole Person Approach to Well Being Through Yoga Therapy

By Christina Sanders RMT, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Accessible Yoga Teacher at Your Discovery & Journey – Yoga Therapy and Wellness

June offers an opportunity to bring attention to two important areas of health that affect millions of individuals and families worldwide. It is recognized as both Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month and PTSD Awareness Month, highlighting the importance of cognitive health, emotional well-being, and nervous system resilience.

While Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and post-traumatic stress disorder may appear to be very different conditions, they share several common themes. Both involve the brain and nervous system. Both can affect memory, attention, sleep, emotional regulation, and quality of life. Both impact not only the individual but also families, caregivers, and communities.

Most importantly, both remind us that caring for the brain requires a whole-person approach.

As a yoga therapist, I often speak about health as something that extends beyond the absence of disease. Health encompasses our physical body, emotional well-being, relationships, environment, purpose, habits, and capacity to adapt to life’s challenges. This perspective aligns closely with the modern understanding of brain health, which recognizes that cognitive and emotional well-being are influenced by multiple interconnected factors rather than a single intervention or treatment.

What Is Brain Health?

Brain health refers to the ability to think, learn, remember, communicate, regulate emotions, and engage meaningfully with life.

Contrary to older beliefs, the brain is not a fixed organ that simply declines with age. Modern neuroscience has demonstrated that the brain remains adaptable throughout life through a process known as neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize, adapt, and form new neural connections in response to experience, learning, movement, and environmental influences. This capacity for change continues throughout adulthood and older age, providing opportunities to support cognitive function and resilience across ones lifespan.

This does not mean that aging, injury, or disease can always be prevented. Rather, it highlights that our daily habits matter. The choices we make regarding movement, sleep, social engagement, stress management, and lifelong learning can influence brain health over time.

The Growing Importance of Brain Health

As populations age, the prevalence of dementia continues to increase worldwide.

The 2024 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care identified fourteen potentially modifiable risk factors that may influence dementia risk across the lifespan. These include physical inactivity, hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, social isolation, vision loss, and elevated cholesterol, among others. The report suggests that addressing these factors may help prevent or delay a substantial proportion of dementia cases.   

While not all risk factors can be modified, this growing body of evidence provides an encouraging message that there are meaningful actions individuals can take to support brain health throughout their life.

The Alzheimer’s Association similarly emphasizes physical activity, cardiovascular health, cognitive engagement, sleep, social connection, and management of chronic health conditions as important components of maintaining cognitive health.   

Stress, Trauma, and the Brain

Brain health is not only influenced by physical health. Emotional experiences and chronic stress can also affect how the brain functions.

When we encounter a perceived threat, the nervous system activates protective responses designed to keep us safe. These responses may include fight, flight, freeze, or other survival-based patterns. In the short term, these responses are adaptive and protective.

However, when stress becomes chronic, or when an individual experiences overwhelming or traumatic events, the nervous system may struggle to return to a state of regulation. This can contribute to difficulties with sleep, concentration, memory, emotional regulation, and overall well-being.

PTSD is one example of how traumatic experiences can affect the nervous system. Individuals living with PTSD may experience hypervigilance, intrusive memories, sleep disruption, heightened stress responses, and difficulty feeling safe within their own bodies.

Importantly, trauma is not solely a cognitive experience. Trauma can influence physiological processes throughout the body, affecting breathing patterns, muscle tension, heart rate variability, sleep, digestion, and emotional regulation.

This is one reason why body-based approaches are increasingly being explored alongside conventional mental health treatments.

Resilience: More Than Bouncing Back

When discussing brain health and trauma, the concept of resilience frequently emerges. Resilience is not the absence of difficulty, nor is it a personality trait that some people possess while others do not. Rather, resilience can be understood as the capacity to adapt, recover, and continue moving forward despite adversity.

Resilience is influenced by many factors, including:

• Supportive relationships
• Physical health
• Emotional skills
• Access to resources
• Meaning and purpose
• Self-awareness
• Stress management strategies
• Opportunities for rest and recovery

Like many aspects of health, resilience can be cultivated over time.

Where Yoga Therapy Fits

According to the International Association of Yoga Therapists, yoga therapy involves the individualized application of yoga practices and principles to support health and well-being. Yoga therapy is not a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, PTSD, or other neurological conditions and is it intended to replace medical, psychological, or rehabilitative care. Rather, yoga therapy may serve as a complementary approach that supports the whole person through individualized practices that can include:

• Therapeutic movement
• Breath awareness
• Relaxation techniques
• Meditation
• Mindfulness practices
• Lifestyle support
• Stress management
• Self-regulation skills

For some individuals, yoga therapy may focus on improving balance and mobility. For others, the emphasis may be on sleep, nervous system regulation, stress management, or reconnecting with the body in a safe and supportive manner.

What Does the Research Suggest?

Research examining yoga interventions for individuals with mild cognitive impairment and dementia suggests that yoga may be safe and potentially beneficial for cognition, mood, balance, and overall well-being, although higher-quality research is still needed.   

Similarly, research examining yoga for PTSD suggests that yoga may contribute to improvements in PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms when used as a complementary intervention alongside appropriate care. Recent systematic reviews have reported promising findings while continuing to emphasize the need for further high-quality research. These findings are encouraging because many yoga therapy practices are accessible, adaptable, low-cost, and can be modified for a wide range of abilities and health conditions.

Five Foundations for Brain Health and Resilience

While there is no single practice that guarantees optimal brain health, evidence consistently points toward several foundational areas:

1. Move Your Body: Regular movement supports cardiovascular health, circulation, balance, mood, and cognitive function.
2. Prioritize Sleep: Sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation, emotional regulation, learning, and overall brain function.
3. Stay Connected: Meaningful social engagement supports emotional well-being and may contribute to healthier cognitive aging.
4. Manage Stress: Practices that support nervous system regulation may improve resilience and overall quality of life.
5. Continue Learning: Lifelong curiosity, learning, and engagement help keep the brain active and adaptable.

Looking Ahead

Throughout this month, we will explore these topics in greater depth. Next week, we will examine the fascinating science of neuroplasticity and discover how movement, mindfulness, sleep, and daily habits may help support brain health throughout life.

References

Livingston, G., et al. (2024). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet Standing Commission. The Lancet, 404(10452), 572–628.   

Karamacoska, D., et al. (2023). A systematic review of the health effects of yoga for people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. BMC Geriatrics, 23, 104.   

International Association of Yoga Therapists. Contemporary definitions of yoga therapy.   

National Center for PTSD. Complementary and integrative health and PTSD.   

Nejadghaderi, S. A., et al. (2024). Efficacy of yoga for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.   

Alzheimer’s Association. Dementia risk reduction and public health.