Why Practicing Yoga Benefits Your Health and Well Being

Yoga is more than just physical poses and meditation. It is a way of living that significantly changes your perception of life and improves your overall well being. It includes stretching and is a fun workout that involves spiritual practices such as meditation, prayer, and chants. As a result, anyone who practices yoga experiences numerous physical and mental, and health benefits. It is also known to deeply connect your chakras (centers of strength).

While the word ‘yoga’ comes from the root word ‘yuj,’ which means ‘to bind,’ it has numerous meanings associated with it. In any of these, the underlying meaning remains ‘connection.’ This suggests practicing any type of yoga helps create a connection between your body, mind, and spirit.

Yoga practice offers many physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages. It can help you stay fit, boost immunity, recover from illnesses, relieve stress, and improve sleep, among other benefits. Let’s discuss some of these in detail:

Yoga for Better Health

Overall, well being comprises physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life. Yoga is one thing that can help you stay fit in all 4 of these ways. It can reduce stress levels, boost physical energy and endurance, raise your spirits and maintain a healthy emotional balance. Let’s see some of the most common benefits of yoga.

1. Relieves Stress

A study reveals that stress is the second most cited reason that people choose to practice yoga. It can effectively reduce your stress levels and symptoms of psychological disorders like anxiety and depression. Yoga, especially asana, is a great way of dealing with stressful situations and moods.

It is not only the breathing exercises and meditation that promote a calm and positive mood. In fact, the physical aspect of yoga can significantly relieve mental tension and stress. On the other hand, yoga can also help with physical stress to induce stamina and increased energy levels. For instance, it can reduce walking and evening time cortisol levels and lower heart rate.

2. Improves Cardiovascular Health

One review by the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine reveals that practicing yoga can reduce heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure in hypertensive patients. This suggests that yoga can be beneficial for heart health.

According to another experimental study, patients with heart failure experienced improved heart health after practicing yoga for 8 weeks. Yoga comprises physical activity, meditation, and breathing exercises, so it should be no surprise that people practice yoga to improve their cardiovascular health. Yoga can increase the rate of blood flow to provide more oxygen to the peripheral system, relaxing blood vessels. This suggests that it is quite beneficial for heart failure risk, stroke capacity, and arterial pressure.

3. Combats Sleeplessness

Sleeplessness or insomnia can affect a person’s ability to fall asleep, along with the ability to stay asleep for a suitable amount of time. Many people in the US and around the world are unable to fall asleep and get an adequate amount of rest. As a result, it can lead to unproductiveness, exhaustion, and increased risk of psychological disorders.

Research suggests that practicing yoga before bedtime can significantly improve sleep cycles. It does this by relieving both physical and mental tension and stress to prepare the body for a restful night. Consistent bedtime yoga relieves body aches and mental stress and gets you in the right mindset to fall and stay asleep.

Yoga has numerous benefits for your emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health. The above-mentioned are the top 3 reasons that most people gravitate towards yoga. It can relieve mental and physical stress, improve cardiovascular health and help you sleep better.