A research paper from ARPF’s Pink Brain^TM Project was recently presented by Dr. MaGloria Borras Boneu, MD at the 15th European Congress on Menopause and Andropause in Valencia, Spain. The Pink Brain Project was a randomized study, conducted at UCLA under the direction of Helen Lavretsky, MD. It involved women over 60 with mild cardiovascular risk factors, obesity, or memory complaints. Half were in the memory training program and half in a weekly group Kundalini Yoga class and daily Kirtan Kriya meditation practice for 12 weeks at home. 

Brain gray matter volume was assessed in both groups before and after the study, and the yoga and meditation group demonstrated a statistically significant increase in brain gray matter volume compared to the memory training group. Practicing Kirtan Kriya revealed many improvements in cognitive function and whole-body wellness.

Dr. MaGloria Borras Boneu, MD at the 15th European Congress on Menopause and Andropause in Valencia, Spain.

Dr. Borras Boneu presented this research in the Menopause and Climacteric category, which included 106 topics in total. She chose the Complementary Medicine subtopic. Interestingly, this was the sole poster focusing on yoga and meditation across the entire congress, even within the broader lifestyle section. It can be surmised that even with the proven benefits of Kirtan Kriya, the research world has yet to catch up on the huge importance of lifestyle intervention techniques.

“I’m very excited about using non-drug approaches to healing and borrowing and learning from ancient techniques that have been used for thousands of years, like yoga, meditation, and sound healing.” – Helen Lavretsky, MD, Primary investigator