There are several benefits of yoga. From blood pressure to back pain, anger to depression & anxiety, yoga is one of the most powerful ways to heal from these conditions. In this article we've consolidated 15 awesome benefits of yoga. While the list of benefits is unending, you will realize that there's a lot to be gained from yoga.
The term yoga is originally a sanskrit word, meaning 'to yoke'. This means a union of body & soul, perfect harmony of breath & movement.
Undoubtedly, yoga can provide surprising benefits to your mind & body. Yoga has been around for centuries, in the recent past it has gain a lot more popularity. Seems like everyone from young, old, health freaks to celebrities are practicing yoga to gain it's benefits.
There are several benefits of yoga. From blood pressure to back pain, anger to depression & anxiety, yoga is one of the most powerful ways to heal from these conditions.
In this article we've consolidated 15 awesome benefits of yoga. While the list of benefits is unending, you will realize that there's a lot to be gained from yoga.
1. Stress Relief
Practicing yoga everyday helps to relieve stress in life, because it helps to focus on our breathing & calming our minds & body. While we focus on our breath & poses that allow us to relax, it naturally lowers our stress levels.
2. Increased Strength
The more you practice Yoga, the stronger you become. This progresses naturally.
There are poses that need a certain amount of physical strength to perform them. When we say 'strength' we don't mean the typical term strength. For example, a typically strong person may lift a heavy weight at once but can't hold a particular position for a longer time.
3. Increase In Flexibility
This is one of the most obvious benefits of yoga. Even for those people who think yoga is off their limits, should definitely keep practicing different forms of yoga which will eventually increase your flexibility. The key is to hold your poses for longer. This will help your muscles to relax & elongate more.
4. Yoga Helps Recover From Addictions
It's not easy to quit smoking, drinking or any other form of addiction. Recovering from any sort of addiction is a long & difficult journey. Researchers in India offered drug addicts a yoga therapy program or a conventional de-addiction program. Few weeks later, the yoga group showed a significant improvement, self-confidence & optimism as compared to the traditional programs.
5. Age With Grace
Research indicates that certain lifestyle changes can delay aging & prolong your youthfulness. Yoga simply boosts your youth hormones, tightens your skin, increases your bone density & repairs damaged tissues. It even boosts metabolism & prevents muscle loss.
6. Weight Control
Yoga helps in relieving stress & lower your cortisol levels. Cortisol levels are what actually increases weight. So, as you lower those levels, you'll naturally start to lose some weight & be able to keep your weight in control. Practicing yoga makes you more aware of your body & you will start making the right food choices that will support your practice. You will start noticing that certain foods make you feel better than the others.
7. Yoga May Help Manage Diabetes
Researches revealed that practicing yoga regularly promotes a significant improvement in sugar levels. Yoga helps certain key factors like glycemic control, lipid levels & body composition. It helps in lowering blood pressure without any further medication & keeps type 2 diabetes at par.
8. Yoga Relieves Osteoarthritis Pain
If you suffer from osteoarthritis pain & if stairs make you shudder, yoga might really help you. Studies show that even older people with serious knee issues, stiffness & pain showed significant improvement after practicing yoga regularly. The results are really impressive.
9. Improves Digestion
While practicing certain yoga poses, the twisting & crunching helps your intestines to function better. This in turn, improves your digestion.When you twist & crunch, your intestines move things along & increases the circulation in those body parts resulting a better flow & digestion.
10. Helps Sleep Better
Since yoga helps in relieving stress to a great extent, it naturally helps you in getting a peaceful sleep. Yoga calms your mind & body, increases blood flow to your brain & helps you get better sleep
11. Yoga Helps Improving Balance
There are a bunch of yoga poses that require certain degree of balance. Practicing everyday helps improves co-ordination of mind & body resulting in balancing better.
12. Treat Bronchial Asthma
While you perform certain yoga poses & practice breathing techniques, you'll naturally start feeling better even without any medical assistance. Some studies conducted in the British Medical Journal, shows that yoga can actually be considered as a treatment for people with asthma.
13. Lowers Heart Diseases & Helps Stroke Recovery
Recovering from strokes is a challenging process. Yoga practice is extremely beneficial for mental & physical exercise for patients trying to recover from strokes. Yoga improves metabolism, reduces obesity & keeps blood pressure in control. Once you start practicing yoga regularly, you' ll start noticing significant improvement in your body. It's a great way to even improve your cardiovascular health in the long term.
14. Stretch Memory Muscles With Yoga
Studies conducted in India found that yoga's physical movement can translate to spatial memory. The studies tested children's memory before & after attending yoga sessions. The young children showed more than 40% increase in their memory score as compared to the children who didn't practice yoga.
15. Prevention Of Alzheimer's Disease
When you start getting old, your hippocampus shrinks. It is a natural process, yet it is one of the early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Luckily, yoga can prove to be a great help here. Research shows that the MRI reports of seniors' brains before & after yoga therapy showed an increase in hippocampus size.
So here's the conclusion - Yoga is one of the best things that you'll ever encounter. You don't necessarily have to practice it everyday, but definitely aim to do it if possible. It has tons of benefits even outside the above given list of fifteen that we have showcased. Try to do your own research online & you'll find a lot more information about yoga & it's benefits.
