We all have days where we feel anxious or stressed out by work, school, family responsibilities – but with a little time spent on our mats each day, it is possible to find calmness amid chaos.
Yoga is great for the mind, body, and soul. It can be used to help you stay in shape physically or just to relieve stress from your everyday life.
Yoga is a form of exercise that helps increase flexibility, strength, and balance. Find out 15 amazing reasons why yoga is important for everyone!
15 Benefits Of Yoga For Your Mind And Body!
Yoga is said to have a wide range of health benefits, including both mental and physical health. We bring you the benefits of exercise and yoga to highlight its significance.
1. Yoga Improves Flexibility
Most athletes – from football players to gymnasts – benefit from a certain degree of flexibility. Being flexible not only makes you more balanced and less injury-prone, it actually gives you a strength that can’t be developed through other forms of training.
Yoga stretches your muscles. It aids in strengthening your lower back, shoulder girdle, legs and arms so that they can handle the pressure. The muscles of the lower body are engaged by standing postures, while inversions, such as downward dog and arm balances, strengthen the upper body. Hence, yoga helps increase your flexibility.
2. Yoga Promotes Healthy Eating Habits
Yoga is all about the presence of the mind. It’s all about paying attention to the taste, aroma, and texture of your meal while you’re eating. Pay special attention to any feelings, thoughts, or sensations that may arise during your meal.
According to a study, yoga can influence people’s eating habits. It was found that yoga may help improve body awareness and mindfulness when it comes to food choices.
If you have been trying to keep a diet for some time now but you have been unable to stick with it then it might be the right time to add yoga to your life.
3. Yoga Promotes Weight Loss
Losing weight is not easy. Binge-eating and junk food are very tempting and it is a chore itself to resist them. Yoga can help because it increases energy expenditure!
For example, spending 30 minutes in a hot yoga class equals burning 200 calories! Not only will yoga increase your heart rate and calorie consumption, but it also tones your muscles, which helps create a calorie deficit.
Yoga is believed to be highly beneficial for those who are attempting to slim down. According to 2016 research, people who use yoga develop mindfulness. They are better able to resist unhealthy foods. They may also become more attuned with their bodies.
4. Yoga Strengthens Your Heart
A consistent yoga practice will help you develop a strong heart while protecting from strained muscles and tendons.
Yoga is known to improve heart health by strengthening the various muscles which are involved in respiration and blood circulation.
Aerobic exercise is an important component of weight loss. By improving the heart’s stroke volume and lowering resting heart rate, yoga gives your cardiovascular system a boost that can help you feel better during all activities – even those not done on the yoga mat.
According to one study, people over the age of 40 who practiced yoga for five years had lower blood pressure and pulse rate than those who did not.
Deep, controlled breathing during yoga exercises reduces stress hormones, which can increase risk factors for cardiovascular diseases like hypertension or coronary artery disease if left unchecked.
Related Video – What Yoga Does To Your Body And Brain:
5. Yoga Reduces Stress
Yoga, when done properly, helps you relax. Deep breathing is essential for relaxing muscles. It can increase blood flow and warm up muscles. The more muscles are stretched, the better they can relax.
One of the most important benefits of yoga is that it helps people reduce stress. Yoga uses techniques that help raise the level of oxygen intake in your body. The more oxygen enters your system, the easier it becomes for you to relax.
Yoga’s meditative process helps clear your head of anxiety, anger, and sadness. The more issues you can resolve within yourself, the less those emotions will eat away at your mental health.
6. Yoga Fights Depression
Studies have shown that yoga can lower the risk of depression. The breathing exercises help improve mood. It’s a powerful way of fighting depression.
People with mild to moderate depression are known to benefit from yoga because it teaches relaxation skills and provides structure to their daily routine.
Yoga helps manage stress which plays a major role in developing depression. It decreases cortisol levels that influence levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter often associated with depression.
7. Yoga Helps Relieving Migraines
Every 1 in 7 Americans suffers from migraines. Traditional treatments for migraines include medicines to treat and manage symptoms. However, we can relieve it by yoga too.
Regular practice of yoga helps in reducing the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraine headaches. Different types of yoga can help relieve symptoms associated with migraines.
Yoga may help reduce migraine severity and frequency by stimulating the vagus nerve.
8. Yoga Enhances Breathing
Regular practice of yoga is beneficial for strengthening the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, thus enhancing their ability to function efficiently.
Yoga works to increase your respiratory capacity by forcing you to inhale and exhale deeply. By stretching the rib cage, the lungs can expand more, bringing in extra oxygen that would not have been possible otherwise.
This increases your overall lung function, allowing you to take deeper breaths throughout the day.
9. Yoga Promotes Better Sleep
Yoga plays a huge role in promoting better sleep as it engages all parts of the body during practice. In addition to physical exercise, yoga presents a way to calm the mind.
Yoga has been found to increase the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness.
Practicing mindful yoga takes your focus off any worries or stressors of the day so that before bedtime, only positive thoughts are allowed in your head. This can serve as a nice reset button after a long day at work or school.
10. Yoga Reduces Inflammation
People who have chronic inflammation are at risk of developing obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and several autoimmune diseases.
Yoga can help reduce inflammatory chemicals in the body and decrease the risk of pro-inflammatory illnesses. Regular yoga practice helps decrease such cytokines that can lead to swelling.
Regular practice of Hatha Yoga will reduce the level of c-reactive protein in your body – a potent marker for inflammation.
11. Yoga Helps In Anger Management
Yoga focuses on deep breathing techniques which help calm the mind. Regular practice of Kundalini Yoga and Bhakti Yoga can help calm the mind and ease anger.
Breathe in and out for a five-count consistently. If your attention is drawn to anything else while you’re doing this, bring it back to the breathing. This is an amazing calming technique!
Yoga can help you manage your anger issues if you practice it regularly. The soothing techniques of meditation and deep breathing relax the nervous system, reducing your irritation. Hence, you can handle your mood swings and anger better with yoga.
12. Yoga Delays Premature Aging
Regular practice of yoga helps delay the onset of aging and rejuvenates your cells.
It detoxifies the body through increased circulation, sweat production, and tissue repair. Improved flexibility leads to less wear and tear on the joints. More blood is pumped throughout the body which accelerates the skin regeneration process. It’s like the fountain of youth!
Aerobic yoga classes twice a week for six months result in improved skin hydration, increased blood flow, and lower levels of cortisol.
Taking up yoga at an early age prolongs your life expectancy by reducing free radicals that cause cell damage. It can help you look younger, live longer, and feel better.
13. Yoga Improves Immune System
Yoga helps make your cells stronger to fight off harmful bacteria and viruses. It boosts your immunity, keeping you healthy by preventing infections.
Regular practice of yoga enhances the body’s immune system by stimulating lymphatic drainage. This process flushes out toxins from the body.
Yoga stimulates your thymus gland to produce greater amounts of thymosin – a hormone that boosts immunity and helps you fight harmful bacteria and viruses.
14. Yoga Increases Strength
Traditional yoga poses work to increase body strength. It tones your muscles by increasing blood flow that brings more oxygen to the tissue, making it stronger.
Yoga helps build lean muscle mass which creates increased metabolic activity in fat cells. It counteracts the loss of muscle mass at a cellular level.
According to a 2015 study, after 12 weeks of yoga training, 173 people experienced gains in endurance, strength, and flexibility.
It increases bone mineral density by stimulating osteoblasts, the cells which produce new bone. Yoga helps reduce your risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
15. Yoga Boosts Quality Of Life
People who are searching for ways to improve their quality of life should look into adding yoga into their daily schedule since it has been associated with an increase in positive moods and well-being.
A few years ago, the Journal of Clinical Oncology published a study that showed yoga was linked to improved quality of life in women with breast cancer.
Yoga helps you become more flexible and relaxed which ensures your organs are functioning efficiently. Yoga can help those with chronic diseases because it also improves the overall appearance of a person’s body.
It is important to note that yoga has been associated with enhanced mood states, reduced stress, increased flexibility, and better quality of life.
Importance Of Yoga – Conclusion
Yoga is an ancient art that has become popular in the Western world over recent years.
It helps you take a step back and reconnect with yourself to balance both mind and body health. It is time to try something new for the sake of your overall well-being!
So when you feel like your world is spinning out of control, try adding yoga to your daily routine.
References
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090803185712.htm
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2016/2914745/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15255625/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15165407/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12467090/
- https://motherhoodcommunity.com/how-to-boost-immunity-by-practicing-yoga/
- http://www.varcitystudios.com/community/2020/2/11/7-benefits-of-yoga-that-are-supported-by-science
- https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.2017.35.15_suppl.527
A sophomore in engineering, I’m a budding writer and an adventure enthusiast. My passion leads me on to try my hands on different things. I enjoy music, food, and good company. Making my way through life in my own ways, you’ll find me holding a camera and capturing what this world has to offer.
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