Yoga practice is associated with significant increases in gray matter volume in the insula.

“So, it appears that it's not just the performance of the yogic movements, but the overcoming or the kind of pushing into the end ranges of motion and to push through discomfort to some extent, of course, we want people doing that in a healthy, safe way, but that allows yoga practitioners to build up the structure and function of these brain areas that allow them to cope with pain better than other individuals, and to cope with other kinds of interoceptive challenges, if you will, not just pain but cold, not just pain but discomfort of being in a particular position to do that.”