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Physical and Mental Benefits of Practicing Yoga

yoga asanas

It's June 21st. Happy International Yoga Day! The theme set by United Nations for this year is “Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home”. The coronavirus pandemic has more than ever before reinforced the need for home practice. Thanks to modern technology, platforms like YouTube and Zoom allow yogis to practice together online. Online yoga classes are also offered on dedicated yoga teaching platforms like AloYoga and Omstars.

And like this year's theme says, practice yoga to boost your health and overall well-being. Like B.K.S. Iyengar said, "health is a state of complete harmony of body, mind, and spirit. When one is free of physical disabilities and mental distractions. The soul opens." Yoga makes us conscious of the duality in us; we are body and mind, never one or the other. We then begin to make choices that enhance our being holistically. Is this food, job, relationship, or lover good for me wholly? Yoga offers many mental and physical benefits. I'll discuss a number of physical and mental benefits of yoga below:

standing yoga split

Corrects posture

You’re said to have correct posture when your skeletal structure is vertically aligned. Your body is said to be vertically aligned when your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles come into a vertical line when you stand. Poor posture can result in neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain, inefficient breathing and a change in spinal curvature. A number of yoga poses and sequences can correct poor posture over time.

posture chart

Eases pain

Yoga poses and meditation have proven effective in reducing pain in people with chronic conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, fibromyalgia and back pain.

Improves bone health

Studies have shown that practicing yoga can increase bone density if done properly and consistently. Lower bone density increases the risk for bone fractures, the reverse being true with higher bone density.

yoga backbend

Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown

You move your joints through their full range of motion while practicing yoga, which can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability.

Lowers blood pressure

Studies published in the British medical journal The Lancet, revealed that after three months of practicing corpse pose, there was a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure.

Helps you focus

The meditative and breathing exercises done in yoga calm the mind and body, and keep distracting thoughts at bay. This lets you focus on your posture, breath and body. This concentration id translated beyond your yoga practice into your day-to-day activities, and when you’re performing mental tasks.

Helps you sleep deeper

Restorative yoga, yoga nidra (a guided form of relaxation) and pranayama (breathing techniques) turn the senses inward, thereby providing downtime for the nervous system.

Increases blood flow

Yoga improves blood circulation in the body, bringing more oxygen to your cells – which function better consequently. Yoga twists bring fresh blood to your organs, while inversions reverse blood flow from the lower extremities of the body to the heart.

chair pose

Lowers cortisol levels

Yoga reduces the levels of cortisol – the stress hormone – in the body, and is thus helpful to chronically ill persons who have high levels of cortisol, like those suffering from hypercortisolism – Cushing’s syndrome and Cushing’s disease, depression and type 2 diabetes.

Increases your heart rate

Some yoga styles are quite athletic in nature and helps you burn calories by increasing your heart rate. Sun salutations for example classify as moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity.

Lowers blood sugar

By exercising the body’s muscles, yoga increases glucose uptake by muscular cells, which in turn lowers blood sugar levels. Yoga practices like asanas, pranayama, mudras, bandha, meditation, mindfulness and relaxation also reduce blood glucose levels.

yoga squat

Other physical benefits of yoga include:

  • Making you happier.
  • Relaxing your system.
  • Boosting immunity.
  • Building muscle strength.
  • Improving flexibility.
  • Improving your balance.
  • Protecting your spine.

As reported by Psychology Today, the mental benefits of regular yoga practice include:

  • An enhancement of social wellbeing through a sense of belonging.
  • An improvement in the symptoms of depression, attention deficit and hyperactivity, and sleep disorders.
  • An improvement in the symptoms of schizophrenia when done alongside drug therapy.
  • An improvement in workplace well-being and resilience.
  • An increase in the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity.

Namaste, guys!


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