Yoga is an exercise that connects your body and mind through breathing techniques, meditation and physical poses. You may already know about the spiritual benefits of yoga but do you know that it is one of the best exercises for keeping fit?
Yoga is older than 5000 years and generations of yogis have found it to be the best form of exercise for physical, mental and spiritual health. Most people that want to lose weight or maintain their fitness levels don’t realize that practicing yoga could be the key to their success.
Keep reading for more information on these 9 health benefits of yoga and why you should join a class.
1. Increase Your Physical Fitness
One of the main benefits of yoga is its positive effect on your fitness and weight loss goals. In a lot of the poses, you must shift your body weight using strength, poise, coordination and power. This can lead to toned arms, shapely legs and chiseled abs.
Some intense versions of the practice such as Bikram Yoga can help you burn 300-400 calories per hour. The good thing about yoga is that it is a low impact exercise so it’s a great exercise for those nursing muscle injuries. Consider trying a group fitness class for yoga if you’re just beginning and need extra support.
2. Improve Your Focus and Concentration
The ability to focus is one of the main markers of excellence. Andrew Carnegie is quoted as crediting his ability to focus on a task for more than five minutes as the reason why he was able to become the richest man of his time. The modern world has so many challenges and distractions that an average person can only focus on one thing for a few minutes.
Improve your focus ability by taking up a yoga practice. Yoga trains you to be mindful of the present moment and focus on your body and breathe. This mindfulness translates to other areas of your life as after a few days of the practice you will find your thinking becoming clearer.
3. Strengthens Immunity
Another benefit of yoga is that it can boost your immunity. It is essential to have the highest possible immunity so that you avoid getting ill from communicable diseases. Stress is a major cause of inflammation and lowered immunity and yoga is a proven stress-buster, so it improves your body’s ability to stave off diseases.
Are you classified as a high-risk person due to an underlying illness or do you always catch the flu during the cold season? Then starting a personal yoga practice could reduce your susceptibility to illnesses.
4. Help Your Posture
Improper posture can have long-term consequences for your life. If bad posture is allowed to go unchecked for years, you may end up with arthritis, inflammation, and aches and pains in your back, neck and other body parts. The poses that you do in a yoga class strengthen and stretch your muscles which will lead to improved posture with consistent practice.
5. Pain Relief
Another popular benefit of creating a healthy habit out of doing yoga consistently is that it is a great way to reduce muscle pain. Body aches and pains may come from athletic injuries, slips and falls, or chronic pain due to illnesses like arthritis. Yoga can help to reduce pain because of the stretching done at each session.
In fact, some yoga poses are specifically for reducing body aches and pains. Practicing regularly can lead to long-term and permanent improvements.
6. Sleep Better
The National Sleep Foundation recommends Yoga as a way to sleep better. Sleep deprivation can reduce our productivity and increase our chances of getting depressed. So, getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep is a must for optimal health.
Practicing yoga can help you fall asleep faster as well as sleep longer. Additionally, if you wake up at night, practicing Yoga will help you return to sleep faster. Great sleep quality had positive effects on your body such as improved strength, improved physical looks and better mental health.
7. Reduce Stress And Anxiety
The mindfulness aspect of yoga can also help promote mental health by reducing your stress and anxiety. Numerous studies have shown that practicing Yoga could reduce the amount of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your body.
Usually, we get anxiety attacks when we worry about situations that may happen in the future. Yoga helps prevent such thoughts by directing our focus to the present moment. Having to concentrate on our thoughts, breath, and physical movements and poses take our thoughts away from anything else and focus us on the present moment.
8. Improve Your Flexibility and Balance
Yoga is a great way to improve your flexibility and balance. Many people see the complicated poses yogis do and get discouraged by the practice because they aren’t as flexible. Anyone can increase their flexibility with consistent yoga practice.
If you find yourself unable to bend down to pick something from the floor, then that is a sign that your flexibility could be improved by a yoga practice. When it comes to balance, yoga also helps improve it by strengthening your feet and ankles. Having great balance is important especially as you grow older due to the reduced possibility of slips and falls.
9. Increase Bone Strength
Women can benefit from yoga because the practice can help them fight off osteoporosis. A 2015 study found that yoga practitioners had better bone density than non-practitioners. The increased bone strength may be as a result of all the poses that need the person exercising to hold their body against gravity. The resistance leads to increased muscle and bone strength.
Try a Yoga Class to Personally Experience the Benefits
Yoga is one of the oldest forms of exercise and is proven to have numerous mental, physical and spiritual benefits as described above. But all this is theory until you put it to the test yourself.
Start a daily routine to reap the long-lasting benefits of yoga in your life. If you’re ready to get started on a yoga journey or looking to enhance your practice, check out our class schedule list today.
It’s cool that you point out that Pilates can help you lose weight. I want to lose 10 pounds this year, so I’m thinking about signing up for a Pilates class soon. I’m going to look for a good business in my area that offers Pilates classes.
I am glad that you mentioned how yoga can decrease anxiety. My sister has been hoping to find a way to reduce her anxiety and improve her spirituality. I will recommend that she find a reputable place to take yoga classes.
That’s a good point I hadn’t thought of before! If you’ve got muscle injuries, yoga would be perfect for you. Besides swimming, yoga is just about as low-impact physical training as someone can get!
It’s interesting that you mention that doing yoga can improve your sleep. I want to start getting good sleep at night, so I’m thinking about attending a yoga class. I’m going to look for a reputable yoga class in the area that I can attend.
Thanks for sharing the great post with us. I think vinyasa yoga is actually one of the life-transforming exercises that should be adopted. I am enjoying my time with the help of your Blog. Thanks again for sharing a more informative and amazing blog. Best of luck to you!
Thanks for sharing this article about yoga. I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle this year. I’ll have to try out yoga.
Yoga is just about as low-impact physical body training as person can get! well you are better explaining article thanks for the information
Thanks for sharing this type of information because it is really helpful for all yoga lovers and they can also get benefits from yoga to relax their mind and build a connection their body to their mind.
I like that you mentioned that yoga can help reduce anxiety. I have been very stressed out working from home recently, maybe taking little yoga breaks will be a good idea. Thank you for the article on the benefits of yoga!
Hi, your article was very informative and I really appreciate that.
Good article. Do you know of any kind of yoga that can help with frequent headaches ?
Hey! This is a very good blog post. Thanks for sharing such informative things that help individuals. Do you think the regular practice of Yoga rejuvenates to being bliss beyond intoxication?
Dedinately love this information
Definately love this information
Such good reasons. Everyone should do yoga.
Awesome blog. Its really informative to know health benefits of Yoga. Although I read such blogs on iahas.com where they focused on health benefits of Ayurveda using its herbs and receipes . I am saying this as the full potentials of yoga can be achieved if it is compbined with Ayurveda. I will surely add your blog to my list
I’m glad that you mentioned that Yoga is an exercise that connects your body and mind through breathing techniques, meditation, and physical poses. My sister said to me that she wants to become a yoga teacher. I will surely share this post for her to find live online yoga classes.
Just want to say thank you for this valuable post, very informative.
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yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration,
It helped when you shared that yoga is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety. That’s probably why my mother wants to be a yoga teacher. I think she should enroll in yoga teacher training to develop her skills and widen her knowledge.
More than 90 percent of people come to yoga for flexibility, stress relief, health, and physical fitness.
More than 90 percent of people come to yoga for flexibility, stress relief, health, and physical fitness.
Yoga is good for health and we can stay fit and calm with the help of yoga. Thanks for sharing the great post with us.
Yoga helps us age more slowly by improving both our physical and emotional health. Yoga is similar to a magical drug that treats every aspect of our health. It’s a collection of all the things that can be included into a person’s daily routine to improve their quality of life. Thank you very much for this informative posting!! – Nidra Nutrition
https://www.nidranutrition.com
It’s a great read. It took me down to memory lane When I read your article about the benefits of yoga. I am also a yoga practitioner and Yoga enthusiast. Great to see your blog.
It’s a great read. I am also a yoga practitioner and Yoga enthusiast. Great to see your blog.
In today’s fast-moving world, fitness has taken its own domination. Everyone wants to be fit, healthy, flexible, and productive, but without investing too much time and without any strict diets. In this critereaYoga Meditation plays a big role. Only Yoga has the benefit to provide long-term fitness goals with complete peace of mind. So, choosing Yoga over daily gym could be a real masterstroke in today’s world.
Yoga is good for health and we can stay fit and calm with the help of yoga. Thanks for sharing the great post with us. So, choosing Yoga over daily gym could be a real masterstroke in today’s world.