There are so many health benefits of yoga that are just waiting for you. For those who may suffer from stress, anxiety or depression, one of the things that may be recommended by a doctor is meditation. Meditation is an effective form of relaxation that allows the body to keep from tension.
Yoga, an ancient form of exercise, borders so closely with meditation in its form and purpose. This is a structured form of meditation that so many people may ignore.
It is common knowledge that the majority of people are impatient and easily wonder why they would waste time placing themselves in uncomfortable positions.
10 Health Benefits of Yoga
Here are the ten health benefits of yoga and why it is crucial for every mаn and woman.
1. Yoga Is a Stress Killer
Just like pure meditation, yoga allows you to detach yourself from the daily routine of hard and demanding work, studies, and family responsibilities and just turn off for one hour or so. It promotes relaxation through three aspects; body, mind, and breathing.
During this period you set your soul free from all that tension, all the worries and just concentrate on your inner self, a relaxed self. When you ward away all these worries and responsibilities within that hour, you are actually clearing up your mind.
Then are able to better reflect on the past while planning for the future in a relaxed manner that allows you to notice the enjoyment of the present moment.
2. Body Detoxification
Our bodies are subjected to a variety of toxins daily as we go about our everyday routines from place to place. Using the different breathing exercises in yoga, you let your body free of these toxins systematically.
These techniques also allow your body to improve its circulation of blood and the lymphatic fluid which may just help reduce your chances of getting cancer, especially of the breast that often results from accumulation of toxins in cases of poor circulation.
Yoga is therefore highly useful to pregnant women or those who are breastfeeding.
3. Brain Health
As we know, yoga is great for reducing the amount of stress on us. This also influences better brain health due to many other factors such as better flow of oxygen and control of breath.
Practicing yoga regularly can keeps the mind sharp by increasing the gray matter in the brain and increasing memory. Even more, yoga increases the overall brain wave activity and improve cognition.
What else does yoga do for brain health? It can help increase focus and memory, and to relieve depression, anxiety, and stress.
4. Increased Mental Awareness
As you go about your daily routine of a busy schedule, you may hardly get enough sleep, let alone time to reflect on things that matter to you. You find your days just fly by, and you sit there wondering where all the time went.
Yoga provides you that break from the unhealthy monotony of the same things done every day. During your yoga exercises, you are free of the busy routine and you may take the chance to reflect on the lifestyle you live, and figure out areas that need adjustment.
5. Increased Body Strength
With all the breathing techniques in yoga and effective detoxification of the body, coupled with a healthy sleep brought about by yoga, you are likely to have a great boost in your energy levels. Your muscles become stronger and are able to help you go about your duties in family or at work.
The increase in strength from regularly practicing yoga will also improve bone density, preserve lean muscle mass, stabilize the joints, and improve the resting metabolic rate.
With that in mind, it is important to highlight that these benefits can also reduce the risk of disease such as osteoporosis.
6. Improved Sleep
Stress often takes away one’s sleep. You turn from side to side when your mind is crowded. Experts say that sleep is a weapon, because it relaxes your body as a whole.
This means that if you cannot get it then you are missing an essential requirement in life. With yoga, you get rid of all that stressing mental activity that is likely to keep you from sleeping. Relaxed, you are able to get the needed level of sleep at night.
Some of the yoga poses that will help you to relax and get ready for sleep include the lying Butterfly pose, the corpse pose, and legs up the wall. Try these three yoga poses to improve your quality of sleep.
7. Restored Hormonal Balance
Women are often said to be delicate, this is however a lay term to refer to the hormonal nature of this gender. Women are highly controlled by hormones, which determine how they feel and behave as a manifestation of their inner processes.
This includes their emotions and mental states. Yoga helps keep the hormonal processes in the woman’s body in check. This may help them have better skin and achieve a smooth transition into menopause.
8. Weight Loss
What should not be forgotten is that yoga is a form of exercise, cool physical exercise. And physical exercise is a tool for weight loss and helps keep the woman in perfect shape.
Yoga will therefore guard you against all ailments associated with overweight and obesity such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. You will be able to tighten and tone your muscles and cut some of that belly fat.
Some yoga poses to try to burn some belly fat include the boat pose, plank pose, bridge variation, superman pose, upward plank pose, the half-moon pose, and many others. Try them all out to find which ones you like best and which you may get the best results from.
9. Improves Bad Posture
Paramedics will tell you that back aches may sometimes result from the way we sit on the computer for long hours. Have you ever noticed how many people sit or walk while hunched over?
The truth is that a slouched position may be unhealthy for your spine. However, yoga can train you to be able to maintain the recommended straight posture that can keep you from episodes of back pain when walking or sitting.
Some of the best yoga poses for improving or perfecting your posture include the mountain pose, the tree pose, cat cow pose, standing forward fold, and downward-facing dog pose.
10. Improved Memory for Studies and Work
Yoga helps boost your concentration that is healthy for studies and work. A crowded mind may easily forget important concepts and may not pay attention to details.
However, yoga trains you to listen to the instructor, a skill that may be later simulated into other areas including work and studies.
And as we learned earlier, yoga improves blood and oxygen flow to the brain which also impacts all aspects of an individual’s cognitive abilities.
So, what are you waiting for? Start practicing yoga today for a lifetime of health benefits.
Via: NetDoctor | ArtOfLiving
