8 Reasons Why Yoga Is Good for Your Health

Practicing yoga regularly tends to have both physical as well as mental health benefits. (Image via Pexels/Nathan Cowley)
Practicing yoga regularly tends to have both physical as well as mental health benefits. (Image via Pexels/Nathan Cowley)

Yoga has gained popularity over the last decade for its many health benefits. It's not only about the physical poses, but yoga also includes several self-disciplinary practices, such as mantras, breathing work, chanting and meditation. Incorporating yoga into the lifestyle provides several health benefits involving both physical and mental aspects.

Yoga is an ancient practice that provides a much-needed retreat to people from stressful and chaotic lives. Certain yoga poses also help you become more focused and relaxed along with providing physical benefits.


Health Benefits of Yoga

Here are eight health benefits of yoga that might convince you to include it in your daily life:

1) Improved Flexibility and Balance

One of the major physical health benefits of yoga is improved flexibility and balance of the body.

Several yoga poses, such as tree poses and downward-facing dogs, help in enhancing the overall balance of the body. That makes everyday movements, such as bending and climbing, easier along with preventing injuries, such as back pain.

Furthermore, most yoga poses tend to increase the flexibility of the body. It's especially beneficial for dancers, athletes and people in the older age group.


2) Improved Heart Health

Yoga reduces the risk factors that are associated with cardiovascular diseases, such as blood pressure, blood sugar and stress levels.

Incorporating yoga into your lifestyle can help in reducing blood pressure in the body. So it's highly beneficial for people suffering from hypertension. It also help in maintaining blood sugar level, thereby improving heart health.


3) Better Sleep

One of the health benefits of yoga is that it helps in improving the sleep schedule along with the quality of sleep. Adding yoga to your lifestyle allows you to effectively manage your stress levels along with boosting your mood. That provides for a relaxed mental state and enhances the sleep schedule.

Additionally, yoga is also helpful in reducing anxiety and other mental health problems, which can improve the sleep cycle.


4) Effective Stress Management

More than half the population suffers from prolonged stress due to the increasing stress and workload. Therefore, stress relief is one of the most cited reasons by people for adding yoga in their daily lives. Studies have provided evidence that yoga asana is especially effective in lowering stress.

Rather than solely focusing on the physical aspect of yoga for stress management, you also need to incorporate the practice of meditation and chanting.


5) Increased Strength

Besides building flexibility and balance, yoga can also be considered an effective stress-building exercise. Yoga also plays a key role in building up strength in the body. Holding the pose for a longer duration can also help in toning the muscles and trimming body fat.


6) Better Body Awareness and Posture

Thanks to greater reliance on technology and staying indoors for longer periods, more people seem to have hunched postures.

Including yoga in your lifestyle can enhance the coordination and balance of the body, allowing you to improve your posture. Additionally, yoga can enable you to become a mindful eater, helping you with efficient management of calories and heightened body awareness.


7) Better Fitness and Weight Management

Yoga tends to have a positive impact on both the physical and mental health, helping maintain overall fitness. Practicing yoga regularly can help in building muscle strength along with endurance and cardio fitness.

Studies have also shown that yoga can help in the efficient management of body weight. It also helps shed fat along with burning a decent amount of calories. Additionally, yoga being a low-impact exercise significantly reduces the chances of injury.


8) Improved Lifestyle

Overall, the major health benefits of yoga pertain to improved quality of life by enhancing different aspects, such as health, work, stress level and sleep.

Enhanced physical and mental health by practicing yoga regularly can lead to a positive impact on life along with enhanced mental ability.


Bottom Line

As mentioned above, yoga can have an overall positive impact on your life. Yoga does not require hours of practice for doing various asanas; you can just include some easier poses and breathing techniques initially.

If you like the impact of these poses and techniques, you can progress to the more advanced poses. Remember that even the simplest of yoga poses can greatly benefit your health.

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Edited by Bhargav