Yoga may be usually perceived as a set of challenging physical poses involving flexibility. While this describes yoga at a certain level, yoga actually covers a wide range of practices. Yoga includes different self-disciplinary and contemplative practices, such as mantra, chanting, meditation, ritual, prayer, breathwork, and even selfless acts. Yoga came from the Sanskrit noun “yuj,” meaning “to bind” or “to yoke.” This word itself conveys many meanings, from astrology to marriage, backed up by the underlying theme, which is connection.
Moreover, the physical practice and postures that modern media perceive as yoga is called Yoga asana.
A concrete scientific basis on the benefits of yoga may still be in the works. But as far as evidence suggests,it has promising benefits to overall well-being. Here is a list of six benefits of yoga that you should know:
1. Yoga can help in improving your body’s flexibility and balance.
Flexibility and balance are essential aspects of physical health. These aspects help us even in everyday life’s simplest and most common movements, such as climbing up and down the stairs, reaching higher shelves, and picking things up from the floor.
Unfortunately, these physical aspects start to deteriorate as we grow old. So, these regular movements may come as difficult in the future. This is why yoga can sometimes be recommended for adults and even athletes who need these physical aspects the most.
2. Relieve stress.
With more advanced times and workload, people inevitably experience stress more and more each day. Following this, burnout has also become more common.
Fortunately, with the different components of yoga, including (but not limited to) meditation, auditory rituals, breathwork, and yoga asana, you can relieve stress and lessen tension and burnouts.
3. Yoga helps improve mental health.
Depression affects 19.4 million adults in the United States. Depression is also one of the most common mental health disorders globally and anxiety. Moreover, this number does not include those still not diagnosed, meaning this number of affected individuals could be more.
According to a meta-analysis study in 2017, yoga was shown to reduce symptoms of depression, regardless of type. Whether it is breathing-based or movement-based, yoga displayed significant positive results in improving depressive symptoms.
On the other hand, yoga asana and Nidra (guided meditation) have also been studied to reduce anxiety symptoms, and both showed positive results.
Mental health is not only about clinical mental disorders. It also comprises self-perception, such as self-esteem and body image. These aspects of the self affect primarily adolescents and young adults.
Of course, yoga can also help improve perceived body image and self-esteem of the said age groups and reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, obsession, and depression of patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by self-induced starvation due to self-induced starvation the fear of gaining weight.
4. Yoga has been shown to be able to improve sleep.
Nowadays, it is very difficult to get enough and proper sleep, to the point that our sleeping schedule and body clock are affected. Thus, the occurrence of insomnia when talking about sleep always comes into the picture.
Fortunately, scientists have seen that yoga can improve how people fall asleep and stay deeply asleep. Experts say these effects may be due to the mental calming that yoga exercises bring.
Aside from relieving anxiety, yoga Nidra is also said to help improve sleep.
5. It helps in promoting physical wellness inside and out.
Aside from flexibility and balance, yoga might also help increase your strength as some types of yoga focus on this aspect. This strength pertains to physical health and refers to a more robust immune system, bone health, posture, body awareness, cardiovascular, and even brain function.
Yoga was also seen to improve the physical health of different populations, be they children, adults, or individuals with breast cancer. Patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis could also benefit from yoga as it has been studied to improve bone health. Still related to bone health, just a mere 12 minutes of yoga may significantly improve patients’ bone health with these conditions.
However, these studies do not include bone density as a factor, making it still inconclusive.
Along with yoga comes discipline, which significantly improves body awareness and posture. Studies have shown that people who do yoga become more aware of their mobility, thus, enhancing their movements in such a way that they employ proper posture and alignments even in doing everyday tasks.
Moreover, it is said to improve cardiovascular functions due to “yogic breathing” or Pranayama. This practice is characterized by controlling the pace of breathing, leading to significant findings regarding positive changes in a person’s stroke capacity, heart rate, arterial pressure, and heart contraction.
In line with this, yogic breathing may also influence the brain’s control center for the heart and lungs, improving their functioning. After all, yoga is a mind-body exercise, which also prompts the brain areas that control executive functioning, motivation, neuroplasticity, and attention to improve their functioning.
6. Yoga may have the ability to improve your quality of life.
Quality of life is defined as the perception of an individual on how they are positioned in life, considering the context of value systems and culture, aligned with expectations, goals, concerns, and standards. Some factors that affect this are creativity, relationships, opportunities, learning, health, and material pleasures.
For several years, research has shown that quality of life is an essential aspect of a person’s lifespan and the likelihood of a patient to improve his or her health. In line with this, studies have shown that yoga can help improve the quality of life of those experiencing chronic diseases and pain.
The bottom line
Despite current evidence that supports yoga in improving overall health, these studies are still inconclusive and will still require more verification. But so far, the data regarding the benefits of yoga have been leaning on the positive side, which makes it a must-try, especially if you want to experience one of the benefits mentioned above. Suppose you are ready to start your yoga journey, In Balance Wellness can teach you the different yoga styles in their relaxing facilities. They also have massages that will make you leave all the stress behind! You may browse and book their services on their website.
