Use Yoga to Raise Your Health Quickly – 5 Science-Based Health Benefits of Doing Yoga
We’ve all heard about yoga, about how it is a mental exercise as much as a physical one. It’s like the superfood of exercise.
Nowadays, with endless resources online, such as instructional YouTube videos, yoga is more accessible than ever, right in the comfort of your own home, but what exactly is all the hype about? Can it be as good for you as many others claim? Let’s find out if the facts check out.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a discipline that originated from India, incorporating stretches, poses, and breathing simultaneously to deliver a workout that is just as good for the body as it is for the mind.
Science has had its eye on this practice for quite some time now, and studies conducted have found its claims to be true. They have found physical, mental, and emotional benefits to yoga.
10 Reasons to Start Practicing Yoga
The top benefits of doing yoga come with making it a habit.
1. Yoga can Relieve Stress
Stress is a natural feeling of not being able to handle specific events and demands. We can stress about money, bills, work, and people. The list is endless.
When the body is constantly stressed, this can become very harmful to the physical and mental wellbeing of an individual. So how does yoga help?
Physically, yoga will reduce stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, which will help get the body out of fight-or-flight mode.
2. It Reduces Anxiety
People who practice yoga tend to report lower levels of anxiety. This may be related to yoga and its emphasis on being present in the moment and breathing.
In fact, one study found that after 10 weeks, over half the participants who practiced yoga just once a week no longer met the criteria for PTSD.
3. It Improves Cardiovascular Health
Your heart is essential to health, pumping blood, nutrients, and oxygen throughout your body.
Many studies have found that yoga has a positive effect on health. It reduces risk factors, lowering blood pressure in individuals with hypertension. It has also been found to lower blood sugar levels in people, especially those with type 2 diabetes, reducing the need for medication.
4. Improves Flexibility and Balance
Yoga is a series of stretches and positions that use various parts of the body. Many studies have found increased flexibility and balance in people who practice it when compared to people who do not.
This can be particularly helpful in older individuals with limited motion as it can be done slowly and gradually.
Best of all, you do not need hours in the gym to gain these benefits. Just 15 minutes a day can make all the difference.
5. Reduces Pain, Especially in the Lower Back
You get hurt, you feel pain, 0 out of 10 experience, would not recommend to a friend.
Pain is even more horrid when it is chronic, from injuries or arthritis. Pain is incredibly frustrating to live with, leading to mental and emotional health problems in day-to-day life.
Research is demonstrating that this practice can help manage and reduce pain, particularly in people with chronic pain caused factors such as osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel, and old injuries. Check out these easy yogi moves to help your low back today!
The Takeaway
Yoga can reduce stress, anxiety, and other detrimental feelings.
It has been shown to increase heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Not only that but yoga will help balance (time to walk a tightrope to test this one out), and flexibility, all while reducing pain.
There are many more benefits as wild as that seems, so all I can say is sign me up. Let’s find fitness that works, together.
