Health Benefits of Yoga

You’re familiar with the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” right? Well, if you’re concerned about your health and well-being, you may want to eat that apple in the lotus position.

New studies, spurred on by the ever-expanding popularity of this ancient practice, are showing that yoga might have more going for it than we originally thought. When practiced often and correctly, yoga can offer the following benefits:

Help our bodies reduce the effects of everyday stress
Increase our ability to cope with the aging process
Strengthen the mind and our emotional wellness

But despite the scientific studies and statistics that back these claims, there are still skeptics that wonder how a series of bodily contortions can help you cope with the physical demands of 12-hour workdays, or sooth your spirit after a painful divorce. And, ask the skeptics, what about the claim that yoga can help counteract the aging process?

The answers to these questions are actually fairly simple. Take stress for example. Anyone that’s ever been stressed out knows the signs: clenched muscles, headache, racing heart, etc. These symptoms of stress can take a toll on your body in the long-term, and ultimately speed the rate that your body ages.

Let’s say you have tense shoulders from hunching over a computer all day. Now imagine what would happen if those muscles received no relief. Sure they’d ease up a little when the work day was done, but at 9:00 a.m. the next morning, the tension would rushing come right back. Your shoulder muscles, over time, will become more and more accustomed to this stiffness, eventually becoming rigid. You’re left with limited agility and mobility – both unwelcome signs of aging.

The gentle stretches involved in asanas (yoga poses) can relax the soft tissues in the body that have hardened up through the body’s natural response to stress and strain, while calming your racing heart through relaxed, deep breathing.

Life’s daily stresses can also take a toll on your emotional health. It’s no secret that a person confronted with stress every day can experience some of the following symptoms:

depression
anxiety
fatigue
sleeplessness
illness
nervous tension

And even if you have the most laid-back job in the world, chances are that the floundering economy and rising gas prices have caused you some amount stress and unease. These factors can affect your physical and mental health if allowed to continue unchecked.

Along with being a great activity for physical health, yoga can be a valuable mental outlet. Through yoga practice, you’ll improve your circulation, learn to increase your focus and control your breathing, (which will loosen up your body and mind), and help you free yourself from the emotional constriction that stress can cause.

So if you feel like it’s time to do something about the achy muscles, racing heart, and supercharged stress levels that you’ve been dealing with, consider yoga. Not only can you achieve the physical fitness your body craves, but a regular yoga routine can ease your mind and improve your mental well-being.