Pedro Franco Yogi and yoga benefits tried by neuroscience: “The practice of breath strengthens the nervous system and helps to manage stress better, on an emotional level, makes more present and less reactive”

Back to International Yoga Dayproclaimed in 2014 by the United Nations on June 21, the largest gathering on the lawn of the Civic Arena Gianni Brera in Milan organized by YogaFestival. This year’s message is Hope-Speranza to give confidence in the possibility of change and harmony, both individual and collective in this historical moment marked by global uncertainties.

The practice will be led by an international guest who comes from Brazil, Pedro Franco. Yogi with thirty years of experience, physiotherapist and martial arts expert, offers a practice that has called PredanandaPrema means unconditional love and ananda bliss, inspired by the tradition of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, and which teaches in his university of yoga. The institute is called Premananda Yoga School and operates in synergy with Souful Yoga Universitya platform of international certification active in Brazil, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, With teachings that connect the depth of Indian spiritual disciplines with a clinical and scientific understanding of yogi To apply them to rehabilitation, emotional regulation and recovery from addiction. Pedro Franco raises the benefits on the body and mind, tried by the latest neuroscience studies, Taanto who created a program 21-day neuro-Rigenery for Alcohol dependence, which integrates Kriya, breathing techniques, meditation and restorative practices based on neurosciences. Through the Atma Institute, also Pedro Guida social projects which bring yoga to prisons, hospitals, centers of recovery from addictions and police departments. These initiatives offer targeted practices for marginalized or high stress populations, promoting yoga as a path of healing, awareness and service.

«My yoga is very inclusive, universal, and adapts to everyone. It goes from the therapeutic work for well -being, up to the most intense training and also to the most spiritual and deep aspects of yoga.
Premananda is my name of initiation, which comes from the Saraswati tradition, the same linked to music, arts, mantras and wisdom. This is what I carry in my way of teaching: a mix of practical and technical tools that combine all these things, “he says.

The most recent evidence of the benefits on the mind that has yoga come from some researchers who even hope that it may be a promising way for athose who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to face their symptoms. It has also been shown that the mental state of sick people with the mental state Multiple sclerosismore than psychotherapy and finally meditation and awareness, an integral part of yoga practice, it seems that they can induce changes in brain networks which are important for metacognition, meta-content and regulation of emotional responses to stress.

Can you explain the link between yoga and neuroscience?
«Yoga is an ancient system, with its philosophy and techniques such as meditation, self -awareness and the search for the transcendent. And it serves precisely to combine body, mind and spirit, it is based on practices refined over the centuries. Neuroscience, on the other hand, is a modern science that studies the nervous system and today it also gives us the scientific evidence of the benefits of yoga, showing how the
nervous system is connected to the rest of the body. Thanks to concepts such as neuroplasticity (i.e. the ability of the brain to change and adapt), science confirms that practicing yoga regularly – for example by controlling breath and concentrating the mind – really brings benefits. Studies show that yoga helps emotional balance and cognitive functions, therefore it is natural to think that yoga and neuroscience are disciplines that complete each other: yoga offers ancient techniques that stimulate the ability of the nervous system to heal and adapt “.

Courtesy YogaFestival

What are the therapeutic effects of physical and mental yoga?
«Yoga is good for everything: body, mind and soul. On a physical level, it makes you stronger, flexible and improves balance. It also helps to breathe better, sleep better, be more straight and even to digest better. On a mental level, it helps to put order in thoughts, to concentrate and see things more clearly. The nervous system is also strengthened, so stress is better managed. From an emotional point of view, yoga teaches you to be more present and less reactive: you feel more stable, less anxious and more connected both with yourself and with others. Through the breath, the
Movement and awareness, yoga brings you back to what is truly essential. As Swatmarama yogendra says: “The mind is the king of the senses, and breath is the king of the mind.” Yoga is not just stretching, it is a daily way to listen to the heart, heal and transform it ».

Courtesy YogaFestival

What a social objective you want to achieve with the training of your students
At Soulful Yoga University?
«Through yoga, I want to transmit and cultivate in my students those universal values ​​and principles that help health at 360 degrees – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual – creating a positive impact that goes far beyond the mat. Soulful Yoga University is changing and it will soon be called Premananda Yoga School, because it is the name of the method that I created by combining various aspects of yoga, and which has taken hold since 2010, when I was on the Board of Directors of the Yoga Society of San Francisco. This vision of mine, very open and universal, led me to create the Premananda Yoga method, which adapts the practices and techniques to the needs of each student, both from a therapeutic and spiritual point of view, thus bringing more awareness into people’s lives. This approach has created a great connection and followed, both in Brazil and in the rest of the world, and that is why we want to keep the name Premananda Yoga School ».