Bhakti Yoga and the Brain

Summary

June 11, 2021, 19 min

How Bhakti Yoga, prayer, Metta and the Cute Baby Meditation all activate the left amygdala, framed as brain weight lifting. OM Japa shrinks the right amygdala, Hakalau and quiet grow the right hippocampus, and the Enlightenment Pathway ends in expansion and bliss, the hallmarks of samadhi.

In this video

Teaches

Bhakti YogaLeft amygdalaCute Baby MeditationEnlightenment Pathway

Discusses

Ishta DevataNeuroplasticityHakalauRight hippocampusOM Japa in the ChakrasRight amygdalaMettaSamadhiPrayer

Mentions

Caudate nucleusRalph Waldo EmersonTodd MurphyChakrasVisualizationGranthisMichael Persinger

Key moments

00:00What part of the brain Bhakti Yoga activates 01:10Bhakti means devotion, and it activates the left amygdala 01:50Two emotion chips: Data from Star Trek and the two amygdalas 03:55Bhakti with an Ishta, a symbol for the Oversoul 05:29Cute Baby Meditation as weight lifting for the left amygdala 07:36Use it or lose it: taxi drivers and the right hippocampus 08:24Hakalau and the two weights: spaciousness and bliss 10:02OM Japa in the chakras shrinks the right amygdala 12:58Letting it go instead of blowing up shrinks the right amygdala 13:34Metta, and the yogi who only does OM Japa and grows quiet 15:20Charge jumps from the right hippocampus to the left amygdala 16:02Testing a true samadhi: expansion and bliss 17:40Prayer, Metta and Bhakti all activate the same part of the brain