Health Benefits of Yoga

What is Yoga?

Yoga combines breathing exercises, meditation and poses (or asanas) which are designed to encourage relaxation and reduce stress. Regardless of your level of expertise, if you are practicing yoga regularly, you will feel better from head to toe. The health benefits of yoga are both physical and mental for people of all ages. If you are going through an illness, recovering from surgery or living with a chronic condition, yoga can become an integral part of your treatment and possibly quicken healing.

Health Benefits of Yoga

The health benefits of regularly practicing yoga include the following:

1. Improves flexibility and balance

Many people add yoga to their fitness routine specifically to improve flexibility and balance. In fact, improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class you will most probably not be able to touch your toes, but if you persevere, you’ll notice a gradual loosening of your muscles, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You will also probably notice that aches and pains begin to disappear. This is no coincidence as tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones, tight hamstrings can lead to back pain, and poor flexibility of muscles and connective tissue can lead to poor posture. A poor posture can in turn lead to back pain and knee problems.

Various studies have shown that yoga improves flexibility. For example, a recent study involving 26 male college athletes looked at the effects of 10 weeks of yoga. It was found that regular yoga significantly increased several measures of flexibility and balance, compared to a control group.

It has been found that only 15 – 30 minutes of yoga each day can significantly improve physical performance by increasing flexibility and balance. Improved balance usually means fewer falls. This is important for the elderly as fewer falls equate to more independence and delayed admission to a nursing home, or never entering one at all.

2. Builds muscle strength

Slow movements and deep breathing increase blood flow and warm up muscles, while holding a pose can build strength. Strong muscles protect us from conditions such as arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. Yoga has specific poses which are designed to increase strength and build muscle. Various studies have shown that regularly practicing yoga, in combination with a regular exercise routine, can effectively boost strength and endurance.

3. Reduces Stress

According to the National Institute of Health, scientific evidence shows that yoga helps with stress management, mental health, mindfulness, healthy eating, weight loss and sleep quality. It known for its ability to induce relaxation and thus ease stress. In fact, several studies have shown that yoga can reduce the secretion of cortisol in the body. This is the primary stress hormone which is usually released in times of increased stress.

A 10-week study involving 131 people with mild to moderate stress levels found that yoga was effective in helping to reduce stress and anxiety. It was also found to improve quality of life and mental health.

4. Relieves Anxiety

Many people begin practicing yoga to help relieve feelings of worry and anxiety. In fact, several studies actually show that yoga can help reduce anxiety.

A study involving 34 women diagnosed with an anxiety disorder participated in yoga classes twice weekly for two months. At the end of the study it was found that those who practiced yoga had significantly lower levels of anxiety than the control group.

5. Improves posture

Yoga helps to improve your posture. Ii is important to have a proper posture because when your head is directly above an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. If you move it forward several inches so that it is not aligned, those muscles will begin to be strained. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body compensates by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

6. Relieves joint pain

According to a John Hopkins review of 11 recent studies, gentle yoga has been shown to ease the discomfort of tender, swollen joints for people with arthritis.

Yoga moves your joints through their full range of motion which helps to prevent degenerative arthritis as it uses areas of cartilage which are not normally used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone.

Chronic pain affects millions of people and can have several causes, including arthritis. Several studies show that practicing yoga can help reduce many types of chronic pain. In fact, studies have shown that regularly practicing yoga can help reduce pain in participants with osteoarthritis of the knees.

7. May Reduce Inflammation

Acute inflammation is a normal immune response, but chronic inflammation can lead to chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Various studies suggest that practicing yoga may help reduce chronic inflammation

A 2015 study involving 218 participants studied the effects of regular yoga on chronic inflammation. The participants were separated in to two groups: those who practiced yoga regularly and those who didn’t. Both groups then performed moderate and strenuous exercises to induce stress. At the end of the study, the individuals who practiced yoga had lower levels of inflammatory markers than those who did not.

8. Improves bone health

It is well known that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps to prevent osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga involve lifting your own weight. Studies have shown that regular yoga increases bone density. In addition, the ability of yoga to reduce the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol may help keep calcium in the bones and so prevent bone resorption.

9. Increases your blood flow

The slow movements and deep breathing of yoga increase the blood flow and warm up the muscles. In addition, the relaxation exercises used in yoga can help the circulation, especially in the hands and feet. Yoga also gets more oxygen to the cells which enables them to function better. Twisting poses wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released. Inverted poses, such as the head-stand, hand-stand and shoulder-stand, encourage venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it is pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. Yoga also boosts the levels of haemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. In addition, it also thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by reducing the amount of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a reduction in heart attacks and strokes since these are usually caused by blood clots.

10. Improves immunity

When muscles are stretched and contracted, organs move around. Therefore, when you move through the various yoga postures you increase the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells and remove waste products from the cells.

11. Increases heart rate

When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take Ashtanga classes, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. Even if you follow yoga exercises that do not increase your heart rate very much it can still improve cardiovascular conditioning. Studies have found that regular yoga lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise, all of which are the result of improved aerobic conditioning.

12. Improves cardiovascular health

Regular yoga practice may reduce levels of stress and chronic inflammation, contributing to healthier hearts. Several of the factors contributing to heart disease, including high blood pressure and excess weight, can also be tackled through yoga.

People with high blood pressure can benefit from yoga. Studies published in the Lancet compared the effects of Savasana (Corpse Pose) to simply lying on a couch in people with hypertension. After three months, it was found that Savasana was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 15-point drop in diastolic blood pressure. In addition, it was found that the higher the initial blood pressure, the bigger the drop. High blood pressure is one of the major causes of heart problems, such as heart attacks and stroke. Lowering your blood pressure can therefore help reduce the risk of these problems

In addition, other studies which looked at participants who regularly practiced yoga for 5 years found that they had a lower blood pressure and pulse rate than those who did not. Yoga should be included as part of a healthy lifestyle as research shows that it may help slow the progression of heart disease.

13. May Fight Depression

Studies have found that regular yoga improves depression and leads to a significant increase in serotonin levels (the neurotransmitter usually associated with depression), and a decrease in the levels of cortisol and monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters). These changes lead to greater levels of happiness and better immune function.

14. Lowers blood sugar

Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Studies have shown that yoga reduces the blood sugar level in diabetics in several ways: it lowers cortisol and adrenaline levels, encourages weight loss, and reduces insulin resistance. Yoga therefore helps to improve diabetic control and reduce the risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness.

15. Helps you focus

Studies have shown that regular yoga improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation have the ability to solve problems and acquire and recall information better – probably because they are less distracted by their thoughts.

16. Induces Relaxation

Yoga helps you to relax, slow your breath, and focus on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight or flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic system is calming and restorative; it slows the breathing and heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines, thus inducing relaxation.

17. Improves Sleep Quality

Poor sleep quality has been linked to several conditions including obesity, high blood pressure and depression. Studies have shown that regularly practicing yoga can help to improve sleep.

A recent study looked at 69 elderly volunteers who were separated into three groups. The first practiced yoga, the second group took a herbal preparation and the third was the control group. It was found that the group who did yoga fell asleep faster, slept longer and felt more rested in the morning than the other groups.

Yoga may improve sleep through a variety of mechanisms especially as it has been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, chronic pain and stress, which are all common causes of sleep problems. Yoga has also been shown to increase the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

18. Prevents Gastro-Intestinal Problems

Various gastrointestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and ulcers can be exacerbated by stress. Yoga therefore helps in these conditions as it helps to relieve stress. Similar to any physical exercise, yoga can prevent constipation because moving the body stimulates the movement of food and waste products through the bowels.

19. Increases your self-esteem

Many people suffer from chronic low self-esteem which can lead to drug abuse, overeating or working too hard. These can lead to poorer health physically, mentally, and spiritually. As you regularly practice yoga it will increase your self-esteem as it will gradually make you feel worthwhile or, as yogic philosophy teaches, that you are a manifestation of the Divine. If you practice regularly with an intention of self-examination and betterment, not just as a substitute for an aerobics exercise, you can find a different side of yourself. You will experience feelings of gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness, as well as a sense that you’re part of something bigger. While better health is not the goal of spirituality, it’s often a by-product, as shown in several scientific studies.

20. Helps to reduce medication

If you are taking several medications for various conditions yoga may help you reduce them. Various studies have shown that people with asthma, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, and obsessive-compulsive disorder gradually reduced the dosage of their medications when they regularly incorporated yoga into their lifestyle.

21. Increases self-awareness

Yoga and meditation increase awareness. The more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions such as anger. Studies suggest that chronic anger is strongly linked to heart attacks. Yoga reduces anger by increasing feelings of compassion and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from situations, to remain steady in the face of unsettling events. You can still react quickly when you need to but you can take that split second to choose a more thoughtful approach, reducing suffering for yourself and others.

Multiple studies have confirmed the many mental and physical benefits of yoga. Regularly incorporating it in to your lifestyle can help improve your health, increase strength and flexibility and reduce symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety. Regularly practicing yoga for just a few times per week may be enough to have a noticeable effect.