10 Major Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga is an ancient mental, physical and spiritual practice. Over time, people have discovered a lot of health benefits of yoga. It can do a lot more than just help you burn calories and strengthen your muscles.

So, thanks to yoga, you can…

1.   Improve your flexibility!

Moving and stretching helps your body to become more flexible. As we age, our body decrease their flexibility. This is especially true if you spend a lot of time sitting on the front of PC or are otherwise living a sedentary lifestyle. Yoga can help you reverse the process and make your body more flexible.

2.   Increase muscle tone!

You can expect to see increased muscle tone if you practice yoga regularly. Yoga helps you shape long and flexible muscle of your legs, arms, back and abdomen.

3.   Breathe properly!

Most of us take very shallow breaths, which is not good for our health in the long run. Oxygen feeds our cells, tissues and organs, and proper exhalation is helping us cleanse our body of carbon-dioxide. With yoga pranayama exercises, you can focus on the breathing and take deeper breaths. This process helps you improve your breathing and is beneficial for your entire body.  

Apart from that, this breathing exercise is helpful for those who are suffering from various allergies and nasal passages. You can use mat to doing this types of pranayama exercise which can helpful for physical and mental health.

4.   Improve your posture!

Working long hours in front of a computer can take its toll on your spine and make you feel tired at the end of the day. Practicing special asanas from yoga could help you improve your body posture and relieve that pesky pain in your neck and your back. So, thanks to health benefits of yoga, you can undo at least some of those harmful habits we all sadly have nowadays.

5.   Boost your metabolism!

 Yoga helps to keep you fit and retain the vitality of your body. Apart from that, it motivates you to eat healthy food and various asanas that apply gentle pressure on your stomach improve your digestion. When you combine these factors, your metabolism gets boosted which is beneficial for your health and your beauty alike.

6.   Increase your blood flow!

Yoga exercises help you regulte blood flow to all parts of your body.  Yoga asanas with handstand helps venous blood to flow back to your heart where it can be pumped back and be oxygenated by your lungs.

7.   Lower your blood sugar!

Yoga is not only a good ally to have when you wish to lower your blood sugar levels, but it can also help you lower the bad cholesterol level in your body. Apart from that, it can promote good cholesterol levels, which encourages weight loss.

8.   Sleep better!

Yoga helps decrease stress levels and which can promote a regular sleep pattern. A relaxed body can get a deeper and better sleep. This is vital for your overall health and wellbeing. So, as you can see, more health benefits of yoga coming to the rescue! 🙂

9.   Reduce stress!

There are number of studies that show how physical activities help reduce the stress. These studies also applied for yoga because it involves physical activity. Yoga requires concentration that can help melt away your daily troubles during the practice. Increased stress levels are not only bad for your sleep patterns mentioned above, but they also keep your cortisol level elevated, which is bad for both your weight and your health in general.

10. Increase your self-confidence!

Practicing yoga can improve both your mindset and the connection between your mind and your body. During yoga practice, you learn to make small movements that improve your posture, help you relax your muscles, and breathe deeper as mentioned above. All of this makes you feel better in your own skin. Over time, you feel comfortable with your body which can help to boost your self-confidence. Furthermore, gaining flexibility and advancing in yoga, being able to effortlessly bend or keep a balance in a position that seemed impossible a few months ago – all these things give you a sense of accomplishment.

In conclusion…

Yoga is a safe way to increase your physical activity. You can reap a lot of health benefits of yoga as well – if you practice it regularly. If you’re trying yoga for the first time in your life, you should consult with a qualified trainer or join yoga classes in order to avoid injuries.

Resource URLs:

https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/yoga/yoga-benefits/top-ten-benefits-of-yoga/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/yoga-benefits-beyond-the-mat/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3482773/

Author’s Bio:

This article is shared by Akshay Sharma. He is a blogger and writer of the Happiness Creativity Blog. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.