Yoga Benefits

The benefits of yoga are extensive and being clinically proved by scientific study day by day. Not only does yoga affect the physical aspects of the body, it addresses the mind and spirit as well. Daily practice is  a great way to help relieve the stress of your day and can bring a sense of well-being to your life. Practice can be as long or as short as you wish and fit it into your daily life. Here are the top ten benefits of yoga.

1. Stress Relief

Yoga can help reduce the effects of stress on your body, it encourages relaxation through breath work,  movement and meditation and  can lower the amount of cortisol in your body.

2. Pain Relief

Daily practice of yoga can help ease the aches and pains of the body. Many people with  serious diseases have reported less pain after  daily yoga practice  such as asanas or meditation.

3. Better Breathing

You will learn to take deeper, slower breaths which  will help to improve your lung function and set off the body’s relaxation response. This can be one of the most powerful benefits of yoga.

4. Flexibility

You will notice your level of flexibility will increase, which will help with your range of motion. The postures benefit the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your body to help you become more flexible.

5. Increased Strength

Yoga poses use all the muscles in your body and help you increase your strength level from head to toe. You strengthen your muscle attachments close to the bones, which increase the support of your skeletal system as well.

6. Weight Management

You will see the benefits of yoga begin to affect your scales. Daily exercises are always recommended, but yoga helps reduce the level of cortisol in your body. This aids in weight loss and fat burning.

7. Improved Circulation

Yoga will help improve your body’s circulation. In turn you will see the benefits of yoga with lowered blood pressure and pulse rates.

8. Cardiovascular Conditioning

Even the most gentle style of yoga will help to lower your resting heart rate and increase your overall endurance. This is one of the important benefits of yoga to help improve the amount of oxygen taken in during practice.

9. Focus on the Present

You can have greater coordination, memory skills, reaction times, and improved concentration skills by utilising yoga in your day to day routine.

10. Inner Peace

What more could you wish for. This is one of the primary reasons that people do daily practice of yoga. This is one of the most important benefits of yoga.

The benefits of yoga are very far reaching indeed. There is no one other exercise avenue you can take that will address all of these issues in one simple session. For those of you that think yoga is too hard, I encourage you to try one class. You may find it is just what you are looking for.

 

“The goal of yoga is to encourage us to be a little better than we were before. We become better by making an effort and practising patience. When we do this we will not see ourselves beset by so many problems. Our efforts may change in intensity, but over a period of time we will gradually progress. We must actively seize any opportunity that helps us progress.”

The Heart of Yoga, Desikachar 1995 p105 Thoughts on the Yamas and Niyamas