'Yoga pill' that relieves stress as much as meditation could help chill you out soon

Experts looking into the science behind stress relief have uncovered new research that could pave the way for a pill providing the same benefits as yoga.

A breakthrough discovery of a brain pathway that helps to instantly reduce anxiety was made by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.

In the study, conducted on mice and published in Nature Neuroscience, they found a pathway between voluntary breathing and emotional regulation.

They found the brain pathway that regulates voluntary breathing (what we do when we are actively controlling our breath), which allows our minds to calm as we slow our breath.

In practices such as yoga and meditation, breathwork is an important part of achieving a relaxed state. While it has long been known that slowing down our breathing when stressed or anxious can help regulate our emotional state, it has never been understood how until now.

Experts found a group of cells in the brain’s cortex region that send information to the brain stem, which then sends a message to the lungs. This discovery has helped ground ancient practices, such as yoga, in science.

It opens up the possibility that a drug, dubbed a “yoga pill” by the authors, may be able to mimic this relaxed state and help treat anxiety.

“As a scientist, finding something never known before is always exciting,” Sung Han, senior author of the study, explained to the Los Angeles Times. “This top-down breathing circuit has been a longstanding question in the neuroscience field. It’s exciting to find the neural mechanism to explain how the slowing down of breathing can control negative emotions, like anxiety and fear.”

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