According to The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF) Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects 5.4 million Americans, and millions more world-wide. With the aging baby boomer population, it is predicted this number with reach over 16 million in the US alone by the year 2050. Carrying the brunt of this epidemic are women, both as caregivers and patients. Women in their 60’s are twice as likely to develop AD than their male counterparts (Khalsa, 2015b). ARPF has done extensive research on an exercise called Kirtan Kriya that, when done for as little as 12 minutes a day, can provide benefits to those suffering with AD, and their caregivers. Some of the Kriya’s benefits include: Improved cerebral blood flow, improved sleep quality, reversal of memory loss, reduction in stress and depressive symptoms, no side effects or costs, and significant activation in anatomical areas of the brain, to name but a few (Khalsa, 2015b). This paper will share what makes up Kirtan Kriya, starting with its roots in Kundalini yoga, and outline its components and benefits. Though briefly mentioned above, detailed research findings were not included simply due to paper length limitations. Should anyone be interested I would be happy to share my findings and their sources.
