Brain plasticity and yoga

There is a lot of great information available right now on brain plasticity. On just how changeable the brain is and what we can do to influence new neuron growth. Many previously held assumptions about the brain are falling by the wayside. All helpful in their own way, but as it turns out this brain of ours is fantastically malleable, more able to build new, more desirable connections than we imagined. So two things come to mind, Einstein and yoga. Einstein famously said something to this effect: 'A problem cannot be solved in the same consciousness that created it'. If something, some problem, is created from a certain consciousness, whether personal or cultural, it cannot be solved without a change in consciousness. And confirming this idea brain science says: 'Neurons that fire together wire together'. There is a physical relationship in this dynamic of problem and solution. How do we get beyond our conditioned response? Patanjali's 4th yoga sutra says: 'Vrtti sarupyam itaratra : In states other than yoga the mind, or self, is identified with its contents'. In other words yoga recognizes the need for a change in consciousness and calls that change yoga. So neurology is just beginning to catch up with the 5,000 years of accumulated yoga knowledge! What is yoga that it speaks of, promises, a place of separation from the status quo of our mind? And is that even possible? Can we create new relationships in mind and body through yoga? Neuroscience says yes we can. And through the inquiry of yoga we may come to find the very act of witnessing our own consciousness a great place to start.