Benefits of Yoga

There are many Benefits of Yoga such as Builds Strength and Endurance, Improve Heart Health, Promotes Proper Posture, Improves Mood and Concentration… Scroll down to discover more

For a practice that dates back to 5,000 years ago, it’s amazing how yoga has managed to maintain its popularity and widespread use up to now. Over 11 million Americans do yoga and that number shows no sign of letting up; more and more are choosing yoga as their preferred routine for fitness and meditation. Among the main reasons for this popularity are yoga’s versatility and the wide range of benefits it offers. Read on to find out what these benefits of yoga are.

Increases Flexibility

Stretching is a major component of yoga poses, whether it be yoga for beginners or the more advanced types. Yoga increases flexibility because yoga poses stretch the muscles, which releases the lactic acid that cause muscle pain, stiffness, and tension. It’s also known to increase joint lubrication which results to wider range of motion in the joints. Aside from muscles, yoga poses also stretches all the soft tissues in your body. One study showed that participants gained up to 35% increased flexibility, especially in the trunk and shoulders, even after only 8 weeks of doing yoga.

Relieves Stress

A lot of yoga poses require not just flexibility to bend and stretch, but also a sense of balance and inner focus so you can hold the positions while you inhale and exhale. There are even specific ways on how to do yoga that will employ techniques to calm the mind and get rid of mental clutter, which is often the source of stress. Combine that with calming patterns of breathing, you will get to clear your mind by focusing on your breathing. This lowers the levels of hormone neurotransmitters and boosts oxytocin, a hormone that’s responsible for creating a feeling of relaxation.

Benefits of Yoga for Helping Improve Breathing

Pranayama, or yogic breathing, is a practice in yoga that focuses on controlling the breath through breathing exercises and techniques.

Most types of yoga incorporate these breathing exercises, and several studies have found that practicing yoga could help improve breathing.

In one study, 287 college students took a 15-week class where they were taught various yoga poses and breathing exercises. At the end of the study, they had a significant increase in vital capacity .

Vital capacity is a measure of the maximum amount of air that can be expelled from the lungs. It is especially important for those with lung disease, heart problems and asthma.

Another study in 2009 found that practicing yogic breathing improved symptoms and lung function in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma.

Improving breathing can help build endurance, optimize performance and keep your lungs and heart healthy.

Could Promote Sleep Quality

Poor sleep quality has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure and depression, among other disorders .

Studies show that incorporating yoga into your routine could help promote better sleep.

In a 2005 study, 69 elderly patients were assigned to either practice yoga, take an herbal preparation or be part of the control group.

The yoga group fell asleep faster, slept longer and felt more well-rested in the morning than the other groups .

Another study looked at the effects of yoga on sleep in patients with lymphoma. They found that it decreased sleep disturbances, improved sleep quality and duration and reduced the need for sleep medications .

Though the way it works is not clear, yoga has been shown to increase the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness .

Yoga also has a significant effect on anxiety, depression, chronic pain and stress — all common contributors to sleep problems.

Promotes Weight Loss

This is one of the benefits of yoga that draws a lot of people to its practice. Many start doing yoga as a way to get fit, tone muscles, and shed off pounds. As mentioned, yoga has been proven effective in lowering the body’s cholesterol levels. So if you combine this with the physical exertion and exercise involved in yoga, and you will be on your way to having a healthy lifestyle. Will yoga alone help you lose 15 pounds in 2 weeks? No. But what it can do is provide you with a healthy fitness routine that simultaneously works your muscles and calms the mind and soul.

Improves Lung Capacity

Yoga isn’t just about being able to do the yoga poses, and it sure as hell isn’t just about shedding fats to look good in yoga clothes. Proper practice of yoga means also making sure you’re doing deep and proper breathing. This is why it comes as no surprise that regular yoga practice improves lung capacity so you can take deeper and longer breaths. Your oxygen intake when you do poses even in yoga for beginners classes can be compared to other aerobic exercises such as running and cycling. With a regular yoga routine, your lungs will be conditioned to expand to increase capacity.

Improves Quality of Life

Yoga is becoming increasingly common as an adjunct therapy to improve quality of life for many individuals.

In one study, 135 seniors were assigned to either six months of yoga, walking or a control group. Practicing yoga significantly improved quality of life, as well as mood and fatigue, compared to the other groups.

Other studies have looked at how yoga can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms in patients with cancer.

One study followed women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Yoga decreased symptoms of chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting, while also improving overall quality of life.

A similar study looked at how eight weeks of yoga affected women with breast cancer. At the end of the study, the women had less pain and fatigue with improvements in levels of invigoration, acceptance and relaxation .

Other studies have found that yoga may help improve sleep quality, enhance spiritual well-being, improve social function and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with cancer.

Promotes Proper Posture

If you read up on how to do yoga, you will notice that a lot of the poses require that you stand tall or sit with your back straight. This is partly based on the concept of keeping the energy flow within the body unrestricted, which is easier to do when the body is at its natural alignment. By doing yoga regularly, your mind and body becomes conditioned to maintain proper posture even when you’re not doing yoga. So not only does yoga promote proper posture, it also consequently improves spinal health by helping the spine retain its alignment.

Relieves Stress

Want to know more about Benefits of Yoga

Dr. Yoga: A Complete Guide to the Medical Benefits of Yoga (Yoga for Health)

More details on Amazon >>>

From the Integral Yoga Cardiac specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center and president of the United Yoga Council-a complete program for discovering the specific head-to-toe, health-issue-by-health-issue benefits of yoga.

Anyone who has experienced the deep mind-body satisfaction that regular yoga practice instills will tell you: Yoga is good for your health. Yet, as Nirmala Heriza reveals in this guide to the health benefits of yoga, the rewards are far more deeply grounded in medical science than has previously been understood.

The Various Styles, Techniques and the Benefits of Yoga for Men

More details on Amazon >>>

Yoga is an essential practice in a man’s life. This is because it is more than just keeping a man fit, it takes care of everything that makes up a man. Men are not appreciated as they should, and that load of responsibility men carries every day can sometimes lead to a total breakdown. Nonetheless, to get through every day and assist you in getting mentally and physically stronger, yoga is usually considered as one of the initial prescriptions. This book is going to guide you through the various styles and benefits of everything you would need to know about yoga.

Discover the Tremendous Benefits of Ancient Yoga Techniques To: Relieve Stress, Improve Health, Prevent and Heal Ailments, Achieve Inner Peace

More details on Amazon >>>

The book is a result of 22 years of experience of the author in teaching Yoga techniques of Asanas, Pranayama and Meditation. It contains testimonials of several individuals from various walks of life regarding the benefits they have obtained during these years using these techniques.

This book emphasizes the importance and power of conscious breathing in the ancient hatha yoga techniques of asana, pranayama, and meditation for general health improvement, stress reduction, and prevention and treatment of stress related ailments. With easy to follow instructions and illustrations, you are ready to practice these techniques to boost your energy levels; improve concentration, will power, endurance, and tolerance; and relax during stressful situations. These techniques are also very effective for relieving chronic back pain, headaches, insomnia, depression, colds, heart and respiratory ailments, and many other common health problems.

The book is clearly organized to help beginners not only understand these basic, yet powerful yoga techniques, but also incorporate them into their daily practice. Advanced practitioners, athletes, professionals can also easily adopt routines specific to their physical need and preference with greater awareness towards the importance of conscious breathing.

Bikram Yoga: Poses And Their Benefits (J.D. Rockefeller’s Book Club)

More details on Amazon >>>

Bikram yoga is a type of yoga which originated in India and became popular in the early 1970s. The founder of this yoga, Bikram Choudhury is also the pioneer of the Yoga College in India. He was born in the year 1946 in Kolkata and started practicing yoga at a very young age. Bikram Choudhury was a renowned champion of the All-India National Yoga Championship and is also known for his singing and writing talents.

Bikram yoga allows the body to completely stretch out and sweat from all pores. It is a good technique to relief stress, pain in joints, body aches and heals chronic injuries. It also tones up your body, helps to reduce weight, lower blood pressure, revitalizes your body and increases life span.
Practicing Bikram yoga doesn’t have any side effects apart from the body being dehydrated due to excessive sweating. Therefore, it is advisable to drink plenty of water before you start the yoga session and even after to maintain the liquid in your body.
In this e-book I’ll show you how to perform the postures and why it is beneficial for your health to start practicing Bikram yoga today. Actually, this Bikram yoga benefits not only your body but also your mind and soul. When you start to practice this series of poses, by the end of it, you will feel unusually peaceful, complete and calm. You will be free of all tension and stress and will learn to relax in a totally wholesome way.

Unlock the Ancient Benefits of Yoga for Weight Loss, Stress Reduction and Inner Peace

A Preview:

* What is Yoga? – This is all about the definition of Yoga, its origin, it’s fundamental limbs, and the common disciplines of yoga.

* Multiple Benefits of Yoga – Now we are going to show you the four main benefits of Yoga – Physical, Mental, Psychological, and Spiritual.

* Yoga and Weight Loss – Yoga helps to lose weight as it’s a complete package of good lifestyle and proper healthy eating habits. It is superior to other forms of strenuous exercises and hard-core workouts, as it retains freshness and energy of our system.

* Different Styles of Yoga – This portion shows the seven fundamental styles of Yoga.

* Practicing Yoga at Home – This topic of Yoga study centers on the instructions on how to practice yoga within the comforts of our very homes.

* Yoga Equipment and Clothing – This portion discusses necessary equipment and clothing in practicing yoga.

* 7 Great Poses Asana or body position is closely associated with Yoga. Asana or Yoga poses are marked as the mastery of sitting still. Yoga is a form of physical exercise but its modern day version inculcates various transformations. Asana maintain the vitality and flexibility of the practitioners and thus, promotes over-all wellness. Yoga is also popular as Alternative Medicine in West, while it is believed to be spiritual self-mastery meditation skill, in the East. There is a group of classic 84 asanas in Yoga preached by Lord Shiva, mentioned in the ancient and classic text of yoga.

What are you waiting for? If you are still reading this you are obviously motivated to start getting to know the health benefits of Yoga in our lives today!