Yogis have touted yoga’s physical and mental benefits for thousands of years. You don’t need to be a yoga expert to reap the benefits. Adding a few simple poses to your daily practice can make a huge difference to your health.
Yoga helps increase flexibility, strength, balance, endurance, and flexibility,” Linda Schlamadinger McGrath of YogaSource Los Gatos, California, is certified by Yoga Alliance. This non-profit yoga association certifies teachers and schools around the world. Yoga can also help you develop mindfulness by allowing you to pay attention to the feelings, thoughts and emotions associated with a particular pose or exercise.
There is also growing evidence that regular yoga practice can benefit people with chronic conditions such as MS, asthma, heart disease, and heart disease.
Yoga improves emotional health and relieves stress.
Yoga is a great way to increase energy and improve your mood. It is a popular form of stress management and relaxation. And studies have shown yoga interventions are linked to improved objective measures of stress levels in the body, like reduced evening cortisol levels, reduced waking cortisol levels, and lower resting heart rate, according to a review published in 2017 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Because yoga is an exercise that works both your body and mind, according to Manuela, MD, it can have emotional health benefits, a Stanford Health Care clinical associate professor of psychiatristiatry.
Yoga may help you get a good night’s sleep.
Kogon states that yoga can help you sleep better. As a lifestyle modification that can help with insomnia, it is recommended to do gentle yoga before bed. However, it can also be a great pre-bed routine for anyone.
Tamal Dodge, the founder of Yoga Salt Los Angeles, said that practising relaxing asanas (or postures) such as Uttanasana or forward fold (Uttanasana) can help you relax just before bedtime. “They will calm your body and, most importantly, your brain.”
Yoga May Help Your Hangover
Yoga may seem like the last thing you think of after drinking. But maybe it should be.
Kogon states that although she doesn’t know if yoga can help with hangovers, there is plenty of evidence to support it. She believes that yoga could help eliminate the harmful effects of alcohol through increased blood flow.
Yoga may help with chronic back pain.
Back pain can be eased by yoga, Kogon says. Yoga helps increase flexibility and muscle strength. Yoga is more effective than traditional care in treating chronic back pain.
Kogon suggests that if you have back pain, it is better to do gentler yoga-like Hatha and Iyengar than more strenuous practices to avoid injury. If you have a back condition or any other medical condition, it is good to consult your doctor before beginning any new activity.
Yoga helps fight heart disease.
The evidence is mounting that yoga can be beneficial to your heart. According to a 2017 review in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, several studies have shown yoga can reduce risk factors for heart disease. This includes high blood pressure in hypertensive patients.
Another study, which followed patients suffering from heart disease, found that yoga for eight weeks was more beneficial than regular treatment. It also increased patients’ exercise capacity, improved their health and improved their quality of life.
Yoga increases blood flow, gets oxygen to the periphery and relaxes blood vessels. This is good for heart failure patients. Kogon states that it reduces the burden on the heart.
It is well-known that exercise, meditation, and breathing exercises can help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Yoga, which combines all three, is a good option.
Gentle yoga movements can ease arthritis pain.
Regular exercise is a great way to keep your joints flexible and muscles toned. This is important for people who have arthritis and need to manage their pain. According to the Arthritis Foundation, yoga can be an excellent way to keep arthritis patients active. The gentle pace of yoga can be less stressful than other workouts. Yoga has been shown to reduce pain and improve joint function in arthritis patients of different types.
Kogon states, “We speculated that the increased flexibility, muscle strength, stress reduction, and muscle strength are moderating factors in arthritis pain.” Yoga may be able to alleviate symptoms. It is not clear that anyone’s yoga style is better for pain than another. It’s always a good idea for anyone with a medical condition to consult your doctor before you try a new type of exercise.
Yoga May Help Ease Asthma Symptoms
Although yoga has not been proven to cure asthma symptoms, there are some indications that it may help. In 2016, a review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, which included 15 randomised controlled trials, found yoga associated with improved quality of life and better management of symptoms for moderate asthma patients. More research is needed to understand how yoga works and whether it helps with asthma.