Yoga Works—Here’s the Science to Shut Your Doubts Up (So You Can Go Deeper)
By Josie Steedman (Yoga Local Style)
“If you’re running on caffeine, cortisol and sheer willpower — this one’s for you.”
Let’s talk nervous systems, shall we?
(Stay with me — no white coat required.)
If your baseline lately has been tense jaw, shallow breath, and snapping at the cat, it’s not just you being dramatic — it’s your nervous system in overdrive.
But here’s the thing no one told us in school:
Yoga doesn’t just feel good.
It rewires your brain.
🧪 Here’s the science bit (brace yourself):
When you roll out your mat and actually do the thing — even if it’s 10 minutes of Yin or one slow round of Vayu Namaskar — your body starts talking to your brain. And the brain listens.
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- Cortisol (stress hormone)? Goes down.
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- Vagal tone (your chill switch)? Goes up.
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- Sympathetic dominance (fight/flight)? Starts to take a backseat.
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- Parasympathetic activation (rest/digest/restore)? That’s where we’re headed.
It’s called neuroplasticity — your brain’s ability to reshape itself. Yoga gives it something actually useful to shape around.
Think of your yoga practice as a daily software update for your nervous system. Except instead of draining your battery (looking at you, iOS 17), it charges you up.
🧘♀️ So what does that look like?
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- Less flying off the handle when your partner forgets to buy oat milk (again).
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- More spaciousness in your responses — a pause, a breath, a better choice.
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- Actually hearing your intuition instead of panic-squirrel brain.
All from making time to feel your breath, move your body, and slow the flip down.
🎧 Want to go deeper? Listen in…
Head over to the At Home Retreat space in the YL app and press play on today’s Law of Least Effort Audio.
It’s the perfect partner to this post — real, raw, and a solid reminder that less effort can = more transformation. (Yep, we’re unlearning the hustle too.)
“Flowers don’t try to bloom. They just bloom.”
— Nature, the OG guru
🌱 Real Talk Wrap-Up
The body keeps the score — but you can change the rules.
You’re not stuck with a wired, tired, worn-out nervous system.
You’ve got tools. You’ve got time (yes you do). You’ve got this app.
So the next time your brain says, “I don’t have time,” remind it:
Even five minutes of yoga is five minutes of nervous system rehab.
And if that’s not a good enough reason… well, maybe science just did its job. 😉
See you on the mat (or the rug, or the patch of carpet by the dog bed).
Big love,
Josie x
👉 P.S Want in to the At Home Retreat?
Sign up for a membership at www.yogalocal.co.uk — I’ll get you sorted and into the retreat space in no time.
