The 50 Big Benefits Of Yoga You Need To Know
Wondering which exercise variety offers the best potential? What should you invest your time doing when you hit the gym?
While most people will go the conventional route and hit the weights or the cardio machines, it might be time to grab a yoga mat and practice your downward dog. Just know that Yoga is a sweat-fest and you'll need some kind of sports drink powder mix after.
Yoga, an often overlooked workout variety, offers a great many benefits that you may be unaware of.
Let’s look at 50 of the top benefits yoga can provide so that you can see why, for your next workout, it’s time you took part.
Namaste!
Less stress! Doing yoga just a couple times a week can go a long way towards helping combat your high stress lifestyle. As stress is linked to all sorts of issues such as heart disease to diabetes to depression, this will provide preventative care for each of these.
Improved immune health. With all the deep breathing you’ll be doing, you can rest assured you’re doing your immune system well. Feel stronger after each and every class you do.
Improved lymphatic drainage. Many yoga poses are excellent for flushing lymph out of your system, reducing that bloated, ‘puffy’ feeling you may have.
Improved muscular strength. Yoga on a regular basis will help to build muscular strength and power, without adding unwanted bulk.
Lowered blood pressure. If you’re at risk of high blood pressure, give yoga a try. Those who engage two or more times per week can experience a nice drop to their levels.
Improved body awareness. After doing yoga for a few weeks, you’ll have a greater sense of where your body is in space, which then means superior performance on any other activity you may do.
Decreased perception of pain. To go with the enhanced body awareness, most yogi’s will experience lower pain across any condition/injury they may be facing.
Improved posture. Sitting daily at a desk will take its toll on your posture – unless you do some yoga to help reverse that. Better posture can mean more energy thanks to increased oxygen flow coming into the brain.
Increased energy. Speaking of energy, yoga is a great way to re-awakening your natural source of energy. With each pose you do, you’ll bring more total oxygen to the muscle tissues.
Enhanced detoxification. Yoga can help to speed up the unwanted removal of waste in the body, bringing more energy and health in the process.
Improved weight loss results. When done with intense poses, yoga can be an excellent calorie burning activity!
Increased balance ability. As you get older, your balance won’t be what it used to be. Use yoga to help you regain control and prevent falls into older age.
Enhanced sleep quality. Those who do yoga tend to fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly than those who don’t.
Increased coordination. Want to be a natural at any activity you do? Try doing yoga. The increased level of coordination will make it that much easier to perform any task you attempt.
Decreased joint stiffness. By engaging in a regular yoga practice, you can keep your joints loose and lubricated, decreasing the risk of joint-related pain as you get older.
Enhanced flexibility. Yoga will increase your range of motion, allowing you to more easily complete any other activity you set your sights on.
Improved overall blood flow. With the deep breathing you’ll be doing while performing yoga, you can expect to get great blood flow to all you body tissues, speeding up recovery and healing.
Decreases cholesterol. Studies suggest regular yoga can help boost heart health and lower your cholesterol.
Improves digestive motility. Certain yoga poses can be great for improving digestion and the flow of food through the digestive tract.
Reduction in headaches/migraines. Lower stress and tension in the neck region can translate to less head pain in those who suffer.
Stronger spinal column. Building strength in your back muscles can help support a stronger spine, which can then be linked to lower risk of back pain.
Blood sugar stabilization. Engaging in yoga regularly can help to improve blood sugar levels and fight diabetes.
Enhanced self-esteem. Yoga can give you a greater sense of total body satisfaction, increasing your levels of self-esteem in the process.
Improved hormonal release.Studies suggest that yoga may help to regulate hormones in the body, ensuring optimal reproductive health.
Stronger connective tissue. With an ongoing yoga practice, your connective tissue will grow stronger, which will then help reduce the risk of joint pain later on.
Decreased food cravings. As yoga can help to stabilize the blood sugar and heighten body appreciation, most people note they experience fewer food cravings as a result of this.
Improved sexual performance. With all that flexibility training, need we say more?
Maintains a happy nervous system. Too much intense exercise can lead to nervous system fatigue. Supplementing a few sessions of yoga can help reverse this, keeping you on the positive side of overtraining.
Increases mental focus. As yoga is all about focus and forming the mental connection with your body, you’ll see your ability to focus increase, which can have positive benefits in many other areas of your life as well.
Decreases age-related cognitive decline. Learning new yoga poses on a regular basis can help to lower your risk for cognitive decline with age.
Improves patience. With it’s stress-lowering abilities, you’ll have greater patience for all things in life that frustrate you. You’ll also learn deep breathing techniques that can help you get through those tense times.
Enhanced mood. Find one person who doesn’t feel happier and more relaxed after finishing a yoga class.
Lowers anxiety levels. If you’re anxious about anything in life, yoga can help calm your mind and body, helping you feel calm and in control.
Provides a sense of inner strength. As you master the poses you perform, you’ll gain a sense of inner strength and feeling that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to.
Offers a natural lead into meditation. If you are getting involved in meditation, many use yoga as a way to naturally lead into this practice.
Provides a low impact form of exercise. If you can’t run or perform other activities due to their high impact nature, you can count on yoga for providing you with a safe alternative for your joints.
Improved recovery from exercise. Doing yoga on your days off from the gym may help to speed recovery, improving the rate of tissue repair and rebuilding while decreasing muscle soreness.
Provides an opportunity to connect. Taking a group yoga class is a great way to get to know other like-minded individuals who are also serious about their health and fitness.
Improved core strength. As your core contracts hard to help you balance in each pose you do, you can rest assured you’ll be on your way to flatter, firmer abs.
Is ideal for pregnant women. While you may have to step back from your other intense workouts while pregnant, yoga is a perfectly safe and feasible option when you’re growing a baby. Keeping fit can help you have an easier delivery and help get your pre-baby bod back faster as well.
Can be done equipment-free. Unlike many other forms of exercise, you don’t need any equipment to do yoga. Just you and an open space.
Is ideal for all fitness levels. Don’t think you need to be super fit to perform yoga. You can easily get started no matter what your current fitness level happens to be. It’s great for both beginners as well as more advanced individuals.
Improved cardiovascular conditioning. When done at a more intense pace, yoga can be a perfect way to strengthen your heart and build cardio fitness. Say so-long to boring sessions on the treadmill!
Allows you to go at your own pace. While some other fitness activities may stack you against others (such as that marathon race!), the only person you’ll be competing against in class is you.
Can boost your memory. Those who engage in regular yoga practice tend to have superior memory recall than those who don’t.
Slows aging. As yoga can help minimize stress and stress is linked to accelerated aging, you can rest assure that yoga class you take is helping to keep you looking younger.
Combats PMS. Women who take part in yoga may experience fewer PMS symptoms and of the symptoms they do experience, they’ll find they’re less intense.
Enhances muscular endurance. After holding those poses for minutes at a time in some cases, you can rest assured your muscular endurance level will skyrocket.
Can help alleviate arthritis. Studies suggest that yoga is one of the best natural forms of treatment for arthritis sufferers.
Is fun! Let’s not forget that yoga is a very enjoyable form of exercise that offers plenty of variety to combat typical workout boredom.