7 Health and Wellness Benefits of Yoga

Yoga can make you healthier mentally and physically by helping you sleep better, reducing stress, making your heart stronger, and more.

Yogis have been talking about the mental and physical benefits of yoga for thousands of years. You don’t have to be a yoga expert to get the benefits. Adding a few poses to your daily routine can improve your health in many ways you might not expect.

“Yoga helps improve flexibility, strength, balance, and endurance on a physical level,” says Linda Schlamadinger McGrath, founder of YogaSource Los Gatos in Los Gatos, California. She is certified by Yoga Alliance, the largest nonprofit yoga organisation in the world that accredits schools and teachers. “Also, yoga can help you become more mindful by making you more aware of the feelings, thoughts, and sensations that come with a certain pose or exercise.”

A growing body of research also suggests that daily yoga practice may help people with a number of long-term illnesses, such as asthma, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS). There has been a lot of work put into that material, but it is not as well known as yoga itself. This is what we know.

1. Yoga May Help Ease Asthma Symptoms

There is no proof that yoga can fix asthma, but there is some evidence that it might help with the symptoms. A review of 15 randomised controlled studies found that people with moderate asthma who did yoga had better quality of life and were better able to control their symptoms. That being said, more study is needed to find out how yoga helps and if it improves lung function, which is what causes asthma in the first place.

Some breathing movements help relax the muscles in different parts of the lungs that get tight and tense during an asthma attack, so Kogon thinks it makes sense that yoga would help with asthma symptoms. “Having an asthma attack can be very upsetting. “Controlled breathing lowers stress, which in turn helps keep breathing in check,” she says.

People with arthritis need to keep their weight down, their muscles toned, and their joints flexible in order to deal with the pain. Yoga can be a great way for people with arthritis to stay active because the slow pace of the moves can be easier on the joints than other types of exercise, says the Arthritis Foundation. Research has shown that people with different types of arthritis who do yoga have less pain and better joint function.

Kogon says, “We think that the increased flexibility, increased muscle strength, and decreased stress are changing factors in arthritis pain.” It makes sense that yoga might help with the symptoms. There isn’t strong proof that one type of yoga is better for pain than another. Of course, if you already have a health problem, you should always talk to your doctor before starting a new level of exercise.

More and more research shows that yoga is good for your heart. Research shows that for people with high blood pressure, yoga may help lower known risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure.

Another study that followed people with heart failure found that adding eight weeks of yoga to their regular treatment made them able to exercise more, improved their heart health, and made their quality of life better overall compared to people who didn’t do yoga in addition to their regular treatment.

“Yoga makes the blood flow faster, which is good for people with heart failure because it brings oxygen to the body’s edges and relaxes the blood vessels.” Kogon says, “It makes the heart’s job easier.”

Meditation, breathing exercises, and physical movement are all known to help lower the risk of heart disease on their own, so it’s not a surprise that studies have found that yoga, which combines all three, does the same.

“Yoga can help ease back pain because it makes you more flexible and stronger,” says Kogon. According to new research, yoga is a better way to treat chronic back pain than the normal way of treating back problems.

If you have back pain, Kogon says to choose softer types of yoga like hatha or Iyengar over more intense ones to avoid getting hurt. Remember that if you already have a back problem or another medical issue, you should always talk to your doctor before starting a new type of exercise.

Doing yoga may be the last thing on your mind after a night of drinks, but it should be.

There aren’t any scientific studies on yoga’s ability to help with hangovers, but Kogon says there is a lot of personal proof that it does. The higher blood flow that comes with yoga might help counteract the harmful effects of drinking, she explains.

Beginner poses are best, and if you start to feel sick, slow down.

Kogon says that the relaxation that comes with yoga can help you sleep. People with sleeplessness are told to do gentle yoga before bed as a lifestyle change that can help them sleep better. However, anyone can enjoy this before bed.

Yoga Salt founder Tamal Dodge says that doing asanas (postures) that make you feel calm, like forward fold (Uttanasana) or lying on your back with your feet up the wall can help you unwind right before bed. The most important thing is that they’ll help calm your mind.

As with any exercise, yoga can give you more energy and improve your mood. A lot of people do yoga because they think it helps them relax and deal with stress. There is research from 2022 that shows that both yoga and awareness can help people feel less stressed. Additionally, studies have shown that yoga treatments are connected to better objective measures of stress levels in the body, such as lower cortisol levels in the evening, lower cortisol levels when awake, and a lower heart rate at rest.

Manuela Kogon, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford Medicine and an internal medicine doctor at the Stanford Centre for Integrative Medicine in Palo Alto, California, says that yoga can help with mental health because it works both the body and the mind.

“Yoga practice is more than just moving,” says Dr. Kogon. “It’s dynamic movements that are linked to breath.” “Paying attention to your body posture can take your mind off of bad thoughts.”

She says that people with and without mental health problems can gain. Studies have shown that yoga can help people who are depressed and have schizophrenia.

Conclusion:

The versatility of yoga becomes evident as it contributes to enhanced flexibility, strength, and balance while simultaneously promoting relaxation and stress reduction. The practice’s mindfulness components foster mental clarity, emotional resilience, and an overall sense of inner peace.

Moreover, the positive influence of yoga on respiratory health, cardiovascular function, and the immune system highlights its comprehensive impact on physical health. As a tool for managing chronic conditions and preventing illness, yoga stands out as a valuable and accessible practice for individuals of all ages and fitness levels.

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