Improve Your Health With Yoga | 7 Health Benefits

Maurice Roberson

Let’s face it. When you think of Yoga, a few questions likely pop into your mind. Does this even count as a workout? Is Yoga just for women? What are the health benefits? Am I even flexible enough to start yoga?

For some people, yoga may just be an excuse to throw on a nice gym outfit and meet up with friends at a Saturday morning class (and that’s OK). Yoga is about living a healthy lifestyle.

Yoga is creating the connection between body and mind. This article is going to walk you through the main mental and physical benefits of Yoga and how it can improve your overall quality of life.

7 Main Benefits of Yoga

Whether you are an NFL linebacker or a substitute teacher implementing a yoga practice can positively impact your life. Yoga is a very inclusive form of fitness that can be implemented by almost everyone of all shapes and sizes.

The benefits of yoga include improving your overall health parameters such as better blood flow, weight loss, reduction in chronic pain, improved flexibility, muscle tone, and reduction in high blood pressure to name a few. Let’s discuss 7 of the main benefits of yoga.

1) Increased Balance & Flexibility

Reach down with your legs straight and see if you can touch your toes. If you can’t, don’t get frustrated as the majority of people are right there with you. Flexibility is a critical but often overlooked physical characteristic.

Being able to bend down to grab furniture, play with your children, or just perform exercises in a full range of motion will improve your quality of life. By practicing yoga you will find areas on your body that need improvement and significantly improve flexibility.

Balance is another important characteristic to maintain in life especially as you age. Falling is one of the leading causes of death amongst the elderly population. A study on the impact of somatic yoga effectively demonstrated that fall risk was reduced through utilizing yoga exercises.

2) Get Rid of Nagging Back Pain

From past injuries or just through the process of aging, many of us deal with back pain in our daily life. Yoga is a great way to combat that chronic non-specific lower back pain that just won’t go away. Studies have even shown that back pain can be reduced in 3 to 6 months when implementing a yoga practice vs those not utilizing exercise.

Give yoga a shot to drop that low back pain. Not only has it shown to be effective but it will likely be cheaper than many of the other medical alternatives.

3) Injury Prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure. In this scenario, yoga is the prevention. Throughout our lives, injuries often occur inside and out of the gym when we put unexpected stress on our bodies or move in unfamiliar ways.

Yoga is known to increase your range of motion. The more pain-free range of motion that you have in any movement minimizes the chances of getting injured. By improving your overall mobility you are reducing the chance of injury before it even occurs.

4) Reduction in Stress & Anxiety

Your boss is pushing you hard to work extra hours. Your children are struggling to make friends at school. You’re not happy with the way you look. The point is, no matter who you are we all have some level of stress and anxiety.

It should be known that stress is more than mental. The stress hormone cortisol is considered to be the silent killer and should be minimized to live a long healthy life.

Yoga p and breathing exercises can be a great way to reduce overall stress. Because nearly 7% of adults in the US suffer from some form of major depression, yoga can be a game-changer. A study performed on 38 San Francisco area adults showed significant reductions in depression severity with just eight weeks of hatha yoga intervention.

Yoga’s ability to teach deep breathing and mindfulness is a great way to improve your stress management.

5) Increase In Mental Focus

As we go through our daily lives we are overloaded with external stimuli. Apps such as Tik Tok consist of 10-second video clips requiring very little of our attention span.

As you are reading this article your cell phone likely sent an email or social media notification. The point is that we are often overloaded with distractions.

Yoga can improve your ability to be present at the moment with your focus narrowed in on the task at hand. Try holding a difficult or even gentle yoga pose for an extended period. You will find yourself in a meditative state with your energy channeled to the task at hand.

Practicing yoga has been shown to increase memory and overall cognitive ability. A study performed that the University of Illinois on Hatha yoga, which utilizes specific breathing exercises, has shown significant increases in cognitive performance from yoga vs that of standard stretching and toning exercises.

Gaining the ability to focus solely on one task and enter into a state of deep work is a superpower in the age of social media.

6) Enhance Sleep

Yoga and meditation practices can enhance your control over your mind and body relationship. Practicing yoga allows you to utilize the body to control the mind and deliberately turn your thoughts off. Starting to practice yoga can also improve your ability to control your overall mood and level of alertness.

Yoga Nidra is a form of gentle yoga that does not involve any movement. Yoga Nidra is a form of non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) in which you lay still while listening to a script. This allows you to tap into a deep form of relaxation.

If you ever feel as if you haven’t gotten enough sleep or woke up not feeling rested. Try implementing a 10-20 minutes session of yoga Nidra.

7) Reduction In Inflammation

The benefits are not limited just to your mind, but also on a physical level as well! The practice of yoga has been shown in several studies to reduce inflammation and help prevent the development of pro-inflammatory diseases.

Studies suggest that by practicing Yoga you can lower inflammatory markers which will keep harmful substances at bay so they don’t do damage later down the line when it comes time for healing or fighting against illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, or cancer.

Does Yoga Help Reduce Belly Fat?

The good news is that yoga can absolutely assist in weight loss. If performed correctly, yoga works your full body and can burn a significant amount of calories.

Although traditional cardio and weight training will likely be more effective when it comes to total calories burned and lean body mass-created. I think you will be surprised by the puddle of sweat left on your mat after your first class.

Most Popular Yoga Poses

Attending a yoga class can be a great way to learn the basics of yoga. Your yoga instructor will teach you all of the basic movements and ensure you have proper form. Let’s review some of the most popular yoga movements for beginners.

1. Mountain Pose – Beginner pose focused on standing posture
2. Raised Hands Pose – Full body stretch with emphasis on the core and shoulders
3. Standing Forward Fold – Stretches posterior chain from hamstrings to lower back
4. Cobra – Stretch and strength lower back muscles
5. Upward Facing Dog – Deep back bending posture
6. Downward Dog Pose – Full body stretch which lengths hamstrings and posterior chain muscles
7. Warrior 1 – Focus on stretching the chest and shoulders
8. Warrior 2 – Strengthens and tones the lower body
9. Triangle Pose – Therapeutic pose which strengthens and stretches the lower body
10. Childs Pose – Grounding posture which counterbalances other back bending poses

Hot Yoga | Whats the Point?

Hot yoga is a popular practice where the studio is heated to usually between 80-100 Degrees Fahrenheit. The poses utilized will vary depending on the studio you attend. Think of performing your yoga session in a sauna. The benefits of exercising in such elevated temperatures can include:

• Increased in calories burned
• Increase in overall flexibility
• Body can produce heat shock proteins and sweat out toxins such as heavy metals
• Increase insulin sensitivity (decrease risk for diabetes)

Is Yoga Better than Going to the Gym?

Going to the gym and performing resistance training with weights is not better or worse than yoga. Yoga and weight training can complement each other in a well-planned fitness routine. Picking between yoga classes and weight training is individual and dependent upon your goals.

For example, if your goal is to maximize muscle gain and upper body strength. You should favor resistance training with weights. Practicing yoga can build strength and muscle, but not as efficiently as weight training.

However, if your goal is to improve longevity, reduce chronic pain, enhance flexibility, increase mindfulness, and reduce overall life stress yoga may be the best option. Yoga’s benefits on physical and mental health are extensive.

When it comes to choosing a physical activity you must pick what is best for YOUR goals and lifestyle.

Can Men Do Yoga?

Men can absolutely practice yoga. There is a common stigma that yoga is not alpha. Tell your buddies that you have been practicing yoga and you may even get a few laughs.

The physical and mental benefits of yoga apply to both men and women.

Your buddies won’t be busting on you when you have the flexibility & exercise capacity of a teenager well into your later years. The facts are that there is nothing more manly than keeping your full physical function, maximizing your mobility, reducing high blood pressure, minimizing your chance of heart disease, and eliminating chronic low back pain.

If many of the top athletes from the NBA, NFL, and MLB have practiced yoga then you ignore your buddies’ jokes and make yoga a regular practice in your own life.

Yoga Equipment | Just the Basics

Yoga does not require expensive and complicated workout equipment to get started. Let’s review the basic equipment you need to begin your journey.

1) Clothing

Grabbing the right outfit is step one on your path to yoga master. You should choose flexible and form-fitting tops and bottoms.

Excessively baggy clothing will hinder your ability to execute poses with a full range of motion.

2) Yoga Mat

If you are serious about taking up yoga, buying your own yoga mat is a must. For hygiene and convenience purposes, all beginners should invest in a quality yoga mat that meets their budget.

Yoga mats provide a grippy surface that allows you the stable footing needed to perform various movements and maintain balance.

3) Yoga Block

Yoga blocks are a great tool to utilize during your yoga routine. The blocks can be used in various poses to simulate a raised floor height, provide stability, or increase the range of a stretch.

Try out some of these poses using your yoga blocks!

Yoga | Know the Risks

This is more than a benefits of yoga article. Everyone should know there are potential risks and consult your doctor before implementing any new exercise or regular yoga practice. Only your doctor can provide medical advice.

Injuries can occur if you attempt advanced yoga postures too early in your development. Start with beginner classes utilizing only your own body weight to build a strong foundation.

Yoga is no doubt safe compared to various other forms of exercise such as sprints or weight training. However, this does not mean we should throw caution to the wind!

Get Started Today

If you’ve been meaning to start a fitness routine, but can never find the time or motivation to do so on your own, consider giving yoga a try.

Yoga has many mental and physical health benefits that will make it worth your while. Not only is it an excellent way to relieve stress and improve mobility, but also builds strength and balance skills as well.

Look up local yoga studios in your area and get started with this full-body workout today!

About Post Author

Maurice Roberson

Maurice is a former college athlete who rowed comparatively for years. After college, Maurice became a strength-building & conditioning expert with a passion for bodybuilding. Maurice has competed in amateur bodybuilding shows and has over 12 years of experience as a personal trainer.

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