Some ways your practice of yoga can improve your life

If you are a health for yoga practitioner, you probably know at least some of the benefits of yoga. You will find that your sleep quality improves and you feel more relaxed. But if you’ve ever tried to explain the benefits of yoga to a beginner, you’ll know that explanations like “stimulates the flow of life” fall on deaf ears. 

Coincidentally, Western science is beginning to uncover some understanding and support for how this ancient tradition works to improve health and well-being. Once you understand them, you’ll be more motivated to work on your practice and better understand why others want to do it. 

Increased flexibility:

Increased flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga with workout. In your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, much less backbend. But if you keep at it, you’ll gradually notice that you’re relaxing and eventually you’ll be able to do seemingly impossible poses. You will likely notice that aches and pains begin to disappear. This is no coincidence. Tight hips can put pressure on the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shin bones. Tight hamstrings can flatten the lumbar spine and cause lower back pain. Additionally, when muscles and connective tissues such as fascia and ligaments become loose, poor posture can occur. 

Strengthen your muscles:

Strong muscles don’t just make you look good. It also protects us from conditions like arthritis and back pain and helps prevent falls in the elderly. Strengthening your muscles through yoga improves your flexibility and balance. If you just go to the gym and lift weights, you can gain strength at the expense of flexibility.

Correct your posture:

Your head is like a bowling ball: large, round, and heavy. When you are balanced with a straight spine, your neck and back muscles have to do much less work to support it. However, as you move forward a few inches, those muscles begin to put pressure on you. It’s no wonder that bending your head forward and holding down a bowstring for eight to 12 hours a day can be tiring. And fatigue may not be the only problem. Poor posture can lead to back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. When you fall, your body may compensate by flattening the natural inward curvature of your neck and lower back. This can cause spinal pain and osteoarthritis. 

Prevents wear and tear on cartilage and joints:

Whenever you practise yoga, you are maximising the range of motion of your joints. By “sticking and wetting” areas of cartilage that are not normally used, it may help prevent degenerative arthritis and reduce disability. Articular cartilage is like a sponge. It receives fresh nutrients only when fluids are drained and new supplies can be absorbed. Without proper nutrition, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear down and the underlying bone can look like a worn brake pad. 

Protect your spine:

Intervertebral discs – Shock absorbers between vertebrae that prevent movement that can herniate or compress nerves. This is the only way to get nutrients. Practising balanced posture with frequent backbends, forward bends, and twists can help keep your discs flexible. Long-term flexibility is a known benefit of yoga, especially as it relates to spinal health.

Improves bone health:

Weight-bearing exercise practices is well-proven to strengthen bones and help prevent osteoporosis. Many yoga asanas require you to lift your own weight. Others, such as Adho Mukha Svanasana and Urdhava Mukha Svanasana, strengthen the bones in the arms, which are particularly susceptible to fractures due to osteoporosis. An unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, found that yoga practice increases bone density in the spine. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help maintain calcium in bones. 

Boost your immune system by draining your lymph:

Contracting and stretching your muscles, moving your limbs, and moving back and forth in yoga poses will increase lymph flow. The lymphatic system fights infections, destroys cancer cells, and helps dispose of toxic waste from cell function. 

Increase your heart rate:

Regularly bringing your heart rate into the aerobic range reduces your risk of heart attack and reduces depression. Not all yoga is aerobic, but doing intense yoga or taking a flow yoga or ashtanga class will raise your heart rate into the aerobic range. But even yoga exercises that don’t significantly increase your heart rate can improve your cardiovascular health. Research shows that practising yoga lowers your resting heart rate, improves your endurance, and increases your maximum oxygen uptake during exercise. This all reflects good aerobic conditioning. One study found that people who were taught only pranayama were able to exercise more with less oxygen.

Lowers blood pressure:

If you have high blood pressure, you can benefit from yoga. Two studies on people with high blood pressure published in the British medical journal The Lancet compared the effects of savasana (corpse pose) with the effects of simply lying on the couch. After three months, savasana was associated with a 26-point reduction in systolic blood pressure (top number) and diastolic blood pressure (bottom number – the higher the initial blood pressure, the greater the reduction). 

A healthy lifestyle makes this possible:

Move more and eat less. This is a saying of many dieters. Yoga helps with both. Regular exercise helps move your body and burn calories, and the mental and emotional aspects of the practice energise you. Pay attention to eating and weight issues on a deeper level. Yoga helps more. It can encourage mindful eating. One of the benefits of yoga is how the practice resonates with other areas of life. 

Lowers blood sugar levels:

Yoga lowers blood sugar levels and increases LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Yoga lowers blood sugar levels in diabetics in several ways, including lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, promoting weight loss, and improving mood. Under the influence of insulin. Lowering blood sugar levels reduces the risk of diabetes-related complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness. 

Improves concentration:

A key element of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have shown that practising yoga regularly improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practise Transcendental Meditation show a greater ability to solve problems and to acquire and remember information, which is probably played over and over again like an endless loop of tape. This is because you are less distracted by thoughts and can walk.

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