There are many benefits of yoga and I've listed the top yoga benefits for you. A huge gigantium list!
(Probably the longest list of yoga benefits you will find online currently)
*insert cool emoji*
This simplified idea, yet challenging exercise is amazing in different ways! A common perspective is many see yoga as something only health nuts do or even don’t think it’s something that will change your life. I definitely thought that myself. Well I am here to prove this is something that should be incorporated in our daily lives. It doesn’t have to be an hour. It doesn’t even have to be half an hour. You can do this in your own privacy for 10 to 15 minutes a day and still recognize benefits.
The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuji,” meaning yoke or union. Yoga is an ancient practice that brings emphasis on both mind and body. It has been around longer than Master Roshi, from Dragon Ball Z. By the way, he is a little over 400 years old I think.
How much do you know of this practice?
Yoga is known and proven to come with many benefits for both mental and physical health. Many of these benefits have been experienced by many practitioners throughout history. This amazing practice isn’t just for certain people. It is easy to turn on the TV and see the beautiful lady with great hair, kids, and a fourteen story house doing yoga. All of a sudden, you get trapped into thinking that you are too out of shape or don’t have the flexibility yet for it. That is extremely far from true! Please erase those falsehoods and realize that anyone can do yoga anywhere. I mean….I don’t advise busting out a downward dog pose in the middle of the movie theater. But it still can be done almost literally anywhere.
Did you know there are different types of yoga?
Being there are so many different styles of yoga practices, it is possible for anyone to start. Hatha (a combination of many styles) is one of the most popular styles. It is a more physical type of yoga rather than a still, meditative form. Hatha yoga focuses on pranayamas (breath-controlled exercises). These are followed by a series of asanas (yoga postures), which end with savasana (a resting period). The goal during yoga practice is to challenge yourself physically, but not to feel overwhelmed. At this "edge," the focus is on your breath while your mind is accepting and calm. Deep stuff eh? Don’t just take it from me. Here are some words from experts and other profound researchers.
Wise words
“The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness, and harmony in both the mind and body,” explains Natalie Nevins, DO, a board-certified osteopathic family physician and certified Kundalini Yoga instructor in Hollywood, California.
“As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the body’s ability to heal itself,” says Dr. Nevins. “Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because it’s based on similar principles.”
What Family Doctor Melinda Ratini MD Says:
“There are many types of yoga, from the peaceful hatha to the high-intensity power yoga. All types take your workout to a level of mind-body connection. It can help you relax and focus while gaining flexibility and strength. Yoga can also boost your mood. Even though there are many instructional books and DVDs (such as Yoga Burn by Zoe Bray-Cotton or Yoga With Adriene) on yoga, it is well worth it to invest in some classes with a good instructor who can show you how to do the postures.
Chances are, there's a type of yoga that suits your needs and fitness level. It's a great choice if you want a holistic approach to mind and body strength. Yoga is not for you if you like a fast-moving, competitive workout. Be open-minded, since there are physical and mental benefits you can gain by adding some yoga into your fitness plan, even if it isn't your main workout.”
A random fun fact just appeared!
It turns out that practicing yoga actually facilitates a greater release of gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) from the thalamus; GABA acts as a sort of “grand inhibitor” of the brain, suppressing neural activity. This can mimic the effects of anti-anxiety drugs and alcohol—yep, doing yoga can make you feel like you just had a nice, relaxing cocktail!
Who is yoga for then?
When it is said that anyone can do it, we mean you, your sibling, pregnant women, your crazy cousin, your creepy neighbor, Lil Wayne, and once again YOU can and should do it! It doesn’t matter how much you weigh, what you look like, or if you prefer Star Trek over Star Wars. The point is that everyone has to start somewhere and is capable to some degree. And if you happen to have some type of deformity or amputation, you are still able to practice to some degree. You don’t have to have yoga pants either, but having comfort helps you by not inhibiting movement. A yoga mat is in the same category, but sometimes it is needed for a floor that is dirty or slick. Let’s take a look into what has been found and tested about yoga.
1. Improves Flexibility and Balance
Let’s get the most obvious fact out of the way first. Many people add yoga to their fitness routine to improve flexibility and balance. There is considerable research that backs this benefit, demonstrating that it can optimize performance through the use of specific poses that target flexibility and balance.
A recent study looked at the impact of 10 weeks of yoga on 26 male college athletes. Doing yoga significantly increased several measures of flexibility and balance, compared to the control group.
On the flip side, there were 66 elderly participants to either practice yoga or calisthenics, a type of body weight exercise. After a year, the total flexibility of the yoga group increased by nearly FOUR TIMES that of the ones that were in the calisthenics group.
2. Can Decrease Stress
This one may be a bit obvious to many because even if you haven’t practiced yoga, you may have seen someone else doing it, whether if it’s on TV or in person. And while watching, I’m sure you had noticed a serene feeling from just watching. Yoga is known for its ability to ease stress and promote relaxation.
In fact, multiple studies have shown that it can decrease the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone. One study demonstrated the powerful effect of yoga on stress by following 24 women who perceived themselves as emotionally distressed. These women were put through a three-month yoga program. It was shown that the women had significantly lower levels of cortisol. They also had lower levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression.
Another study of 131 people had similar results, showing that 10 weeks of yoga helped reduce stress and anxiety. It also helped improve quality of life and mental health.
When used alone or with other methods of alleviating stress, such as meditation, yoga can be a powerful way to keep stress in check. Imagine being able to keep yourself better under control, in stressful situations, and not even realize how well you conducted yourself, until moments later. Then you give yourself a pat on the back because you feel like you have leveled up in the area of both emotional control and situational recognition.
3. It Relieves Anxiety
There has been a good deal of research showing that yoga can help reduce anxiety. Many people begin practicing yoga as a way to cope with feelings of anxiety.
In one study, 34 women, diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, participated in yoga classes twice weekly for two months. It was shown that those who practiced yoga had significantly lower levels of anxiety than the control group.
Another study followed 64 women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by severe anxiety and fear following exposure to a traumatic event. Ten weeks afterwards, those that practiced weekly exhibited fewer symptoms of PTSD. But do you want to know the more surprising finding? The even more cool part is that 52% of these participants no longer met the criteria for PTSD at all. Crazy right?!
Although a bit mysterious, it’s not entirely clear exactly how yoga is able to reduce symptoms of anxiety. But what we do know is that it focuses on being present in the moment and finding a sense of peace, which could help treat anxiety.
4. May Reduce Inflammation
Of courses, it doesn’t stop at just improving your mental health. Some studies suggest that practicing yoga may reduce inflammation as well.
Inflammation is actually a normal immune response, and is used to help protect the body, but chronic inflammation can contribute to the development of pro-inflammatory diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Many don’t realize this, but inflammation has a good bit to do with these, especially cancer. It may be a shocker to some.
There was a study done in 2015 study which divided 218 participants into two groups: those who practiced yoga regularly and those who didn’t. Both groups performed moderate and strenuous exercises to induce stress.
It was found that the individuals who practiced yoga had lower levels of inflammatory markers than those who didn’t. Similarly, a 2014 study showed that 12 weeks of yoga reduced inflammatory markers in breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue. That really makes you think doesn’t it?
It should be stated that more research is needed to confirm the beneficial effects of yoga on inflammation, but these findings indicate that it may help protect against certain diseases caused by chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is nothing to play with. Just ask someone that is suffering from it, then after you ask them, you should refer them to this post.
5. Could Improve Heart Health
The heart gets lots of love and rightfully so! Just as the brain is supremely important and we can’t live without it, the same can be said for our heart. It is the organ that pumps blood throughout our body. It supplies the iron, oxygen, electrolytes, and even medications to our brain, lungs, legs, and that is just a name a few.
Voluntary participants over 40 years of age who practiced yoga for five years had a lower blood pressure and pulse rate than those who didn’t. Just think of how many people are currently on blood pressure medications. Maybe you are one. Just think if you can decrease the number of medications you are on. Even better is the thought of decreasing the number of medications you are on to zero!
High blood pressure is one of the major causes of heart problems, such as heart attacks and stroke. Lowering your blood pressure can help reduce the risk of these problems.
Of course, there has been a study done that followed 113 patients with heart disease, looking at the effects of a lifestyle change that included one year of yoga training combined with dietary modifications and stress management. The really cool part is that participants saw 23% decrease in total cholesterol and a 26% reduction in LDL cholesterol, which is the “bad” cholesterol. Additionally, the progression of heart disease stopped in 47% of patients.
We have to keep in mind that nutrition also had a helping hand, in these findings, so it is a little unclear how much of a role yoga may have had versus nutrition. But we do know that it can minimize stress, which is one of the major contributors to heart disease.
6. May Fight Depression
Some studies show that yoga may have an anti-depressant effect and could help decrease symptoms of depression. Guess what we are about to talk about again? If you guessed cortisol, then you deserve a cookie. Yoga may have an anti-depressant effect because it is able to decrease levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that influences levels of serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is often associated with depression.
Participants in an alcohol dependence program practiced, what is called, Sudarshan Kriya. This is a specific type of yoga that focuses on rhythmic breathing. After two weeks, you can probably guess what happened. Yes, most of these participants had fewer symptoms of depression and lower levels of cortisol.
It wasn’t just that study, but other studies have similar results that show some relation between practicing yoga and signs and symptoms of decreased depression. If you are someone suffering from depression and are on medications for it, that in combination with yoga is likely to help speed up the process of recovery.
7. Could Reduce Chronic Pain
This can be related to chronic inflammation, but this is a little more general because it includes inflammation, along with other ailments. Chronic pain is a persistent problem that affects millions of people and has a range of possible causes, from injuries to arthritis. But more and more research is showing that practicing yoga could help with many types of chronic pain.
In one particular study, 42 people were taken with carpal tunnel syndrome. Of these 42 people they would either received a wrist splint or did yoga for eight weeks. At the end of the study, yoga was found to be more effective in reducing pain and improving grip strength than wrist splinting. In 2005 another study showed that it also helped decrease pain and improve physical function in those that have osteoarthritis of the knees.
Although more research is needed, incorporating yoga into your daily routine may be beneficial for those who suffer from chronic pain.
8. Helps Improve Overall Quality of Life
Yoga is becoming increasingly common as an adjunct therapy to improve quality of life for many individuals.
A while back, a study was done which involved 135 seniors that 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. Chemo can be rough on the body for most everyone that undergoes it. 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. These findings are important because when someone is diagnosed with cancer, at times feelings of hopelessness, a sense of doom, and/or depression creeps in. This can help combat those negative feelings and help alleviate pains associated.
9. Could Promote Sleep Quality
Did you know that 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.
A study was conducted in 2005 where 69 elderly patients were assigned to either practice yoga, take an herbal preparation, or be part of the control group (where nothing was changed or done). The group that participated in tended to fall 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.
We have to remember that there are a few factors that affects our sleep and can increase disruptions during sleep, such as; stress, pain, anxiety, and depression. These of which can help to be alleviated. And it isn’t clear, but yoga has been shown to increase the secretion of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone, that is produced in our bodies, that regulates sleep and wakefulness.
Let’s have a word from Dr. Natalie Nevins, DO.
“Yoga is a healing system of theory and practice. The purpose of yoga is to create strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body. As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the body’s ability to heal itself. Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because it is based on similar principles.”
10. Could Help Improve Breathing
There is something called vital capacity, and it 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. This may not sound too flashy or important until you ask someone that has asthma, COPD, or any other type of respiratory issues.
Believe it or not, people with mild to moderate asthma, can help improve their breathing and lung function by practicing. Most types of yoga incorporate these breathing exercises, and several studies have found that practicing yoga could help improve breathing.
Improving breathing can help build endurance, optimize performance and keep your lungs and heart healthy. I mean….you won’t be able to have the lung capacity to inhale like Kirby, but you get the picture. Does Kirby even have lungs???
11. May Relieve Migraines
Migraines, migraines, migraines. You know ‘em and we hate ‘em. Migraines are severe headaches that affect an estimated 1 out of 7 Americans each year.
Traditionally, migraines are treated with medications to relieve and manage symptoms. However, increasing evidence shows that yoga could be a useful adjunct therapy to help reduce migraine frequency. Think of it as your other version of Excedrin. But don’t think of it as Esgic, since Esgic is a prescription and has a little extra umph to it.
Is there another study to help prove the amazing paragraph above? Of course there is! Let’s travel back to 2007 where a study divided 72 patients with migraines into either a yoga therapy or self-care group for three months. Practicing yoga led to reductions in headache intensity, frequency and pain compared to the self-care group.
But wait, there’s more! Another study treated 60 patients with migraines using conventional care with or without yoga. Doing yoga resulted in a greater decrease in headache frequency and intensity than conventional care alone. Let that marinate for a bit. It helped in both frequency and intensity of pain.
Researchers suggest that doing yoga may help stimulate the vagus nerve, which has been shown to be effective in relieving migraines.
12. Promotes Healthy Eating Habits
Have you ever heard of mindful eating? What about intuitive eating, is a concept that encourages being present in the moment while eating. That may sound strange at but, but let’s dive a little deeper. It’s about paying attention to the taste, smell and texture of your food and noticing any thoughts, feelings or sensations you experience while eating.
This practice has been shown to promote healthy eating habits that help control blood sugar, increase weight loss and treat disordered eating behaviors. When you are more mindful, you really pay more attention to what you eat and put in your body. Have you ever watched an anime and in it there is a character that seems to be hungry a lot, and this character will find almost any opportunity to eat or drink? Let’s not aim to be like this character, even if they don’t gain any weight or fat from it.
Because yoga places a similar emphasis on mindfulness, some studies show that it could be used to encourage healthy eating behaviors. One study incorporated yoga into an outpatient eating disorder treatment program with 54 patients, finding that yoga helped reduce both eating disorder symptoms and preoccupation with food.
Another small study looked at how yoga affected symptoms of binge eating disorder, a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating and a feeling of loss of control.
Yoga was found to cause a decrease in episodes of binge eating, an increase in physical activity and a small decrease in weight.
For those with and without disordered eating behaviors, practicing mindfulness through yoga can aid in the development of healthy eating habits.
13. Improves Balance
Many people add yoga to their fitness routine to improve balance.
There is considerable research that backs this benefit, demonstrating that it can optimize performance through the use of specific yoga poses that target flexibility and balance.
A 2013 study also found that practicing yoga could help improve balance and mobility in older adults. Practicing just 15–30 minutes of yoga each day could make a big difference for those looking to enhance performance by increasing balance.
14. Promotes Healthy Eating Habits
Mindful eating, also known as intuitive eating, is a concept that encourages being present in the moment while eating.
It’s about paying attention to the taste, smell and texture of your food and noticing any thoughts, feelings or sensations you experience while eating.
This practice has been shown to promote healthy eating habits that help control blood sugar, increase weight loss and treat disordered eating behaviors. Because yoga places a similar emphasis on mindfulness, some studies show that it could be used to encourage healthy eating behaviors.
One study incorporated yoga into an outpatient eating disorder treatment program with 54 patients, finding that yoga helped reduce both eating disorder symptoms and preoccupation with food. Another small study looked at how yoga affected symptoms of binge eating disorder, a disorder characterized by compulsive overeating and a feeling of loss of control.
Yoga was found to cause a decrease in episodes of binge eating, an increase in physical activity and a small decrease in weight. For those with and without disordered eating behaviors, practicing mindfulness through yoga can aid in the development of healthy eating habits.
15. Can Increase Strength
In addition to improving flexibility, yoga is a great addition to an exercise routine for its strength-building benefits.
There are specific yoga poses that are designed to increase strength and build muscle. A one study, 79 adults performed 24 cycles of sun salutations — a series of foundational poses often used as a warm-up — six days a week for 24 weeks. They experienced a significant increase in upper body strength, endurance and weight loss. Women had a decrease in body fat percentage, as well.
A 2015 study had similar findings, showing that 12 weeks of practice led to improvements in endurance, strength and flexibility in 173 participants. Based on these findings, practicing yoga can be an effective way to boost strength and endurance, especially when used in combination with a regular exercise routine.
16. Perfects Your Posture
Your head is like a bowling ball—big, round, and heavy. When it's balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forward-leaning bowling ball for eight or 12 hours a day and it's no wonder you're tired. And fatigue might not be your only problem. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.
17. Prevents Cartilage and Joint Breakdown
Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by "squeezing and soaking" areas of cartilage that normally aren't 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 like worn-out brake pads.
18. Protects Your Spine
Spinal disks—the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves—crave movement. That's the only way they get their nutrients. If you've got a well-balanced asana practice with plenty of back bends, forward bends, and twists, you'll help keep your disks limber.
When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of 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 dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.
19. Regulates Your Adrenal Glands
Yoga lowers cortisol levels. If that doesn't sound like much, consider this. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function. If your cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain.
Additionally, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call "food-seeking behavior" (the kind that drives you to eat when you're upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.
20. Lowers Blood Sugar
Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and boosts HDL ("good") cholesterol. Those with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, and improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, and you decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness. Have you ever watched Death Note? Do you ever wonder how L doesn’t get diabetes with all of the sugar he eats?
21. Maintains Your Nervous System
Some advanced yogis can control their bodies in extraordinary ways, many of which are mediated by the nervous system. Scientists have monitored yogis who could induce unusual heart rhythms, generate specific brain-wave patterns, and, using a meditation technique, raise the temperature of their hands by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. If they can use yoga to do that, perhaps you could learn to improve blood flow to your pelvis if you're trying to get pregnant or induce relaxation when you're having trouble falling asleep.
22. Gives Your Lungs Room To Breathe
Yogis tend to take fewer breaths of greater volume, which is both calming and more efficient. A 1998 study published in The Lancet taught a yogic technique known as "complete breathing" to people with lung problems due to congestive heart failure. After one month, their average respiratory rate decreased from 13.4 breaths per minute to 7.6. Meanwhile, their exercise capacity increased significantly, as did the oxygen saturation of their blood. In addition, yoga has been shown to improve various measures of lung function, including the maximum volume of the breath and the efficiency of the exhalation.
Yoga also promotes breathing through the nose, which filters the air, warms it (cold, dry air is more likely to trigger an asthma attack in people who are sensitive), and humidifies it, removing pollen and dirt and other things you'd rather not take into your lungs.
23. Increases Your Self-esteem
Many of us suffer from chronic low self-esteem. And sometimes we handle this by partaking in negatively—take drugs, overeat, work too hard, sleep around—you may pay the price in poorer health physically, mentally, and spiritually. But if you take a positive approach and practice yoga, you'll sense, initially in brief glimpses and later in more sustained views, that you're 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 class—you can access a different side of yourself. You'll 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 documented by repeated scientific studies. Yoga’s non-competitive nature encourages positive thoughts and self-acceptance. There’s a saying, "Yoga is a practice, not a perfect." When you fall in a pose, you simply try again. There is no "good" or "bad" in yoga — there is only what is. Let that soak in for a few moments. Accepting the present moment allows inner peace to flourish.
Consistency - It is one of the foundations of success.
Holding poses for long periods of time can help to boost self-esteem and grace even off the mat. It can also bring about an inner stillness in which your creativity can thrive.
Becoming aware of your body and mind helps you become more in tune with the world around you — and of your relationships with others. Thank about it. If you are more aware of yourself and things around you, you are better able to see things for what they are. You are so much more inclined to see things from the outside, looking inward. When we are in difficult situations, sometimes, it is hard to see from within. You have to either get someone else to help or navigate outside of the cloud of turmoil and drama to look at the whole picture. But as you learn to relax, breathe, and take care of yourself, you become more able to care for those you love. Yoga philosophy emphasizes compassion for others as well as for yourself, which can help to reduce melodrama and pretense in your interactions.
24. Supports Your Connective Tissue
As you read all the ways yoga improves your health, you probably noticed a lot of overlap. Many health topics are surprisingly interwoven. Change your posture and you change the way you breathe. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the great lessons of yoga: Everything is connected—your hipbone to your anklebone, you to your community, your community to the world. This interconnection is vital to understanding yoga. This holistic system simultaneously taps into many mechanisms that have additive and even multiplicative effects. This synergy may be the most important way of all that yoga heals.
25. Fertility Aid
In recent years, couples have increasingly turned to yoga as a means of decreasing stress and increasing their chances of conceiving a child. And though there are few studies that indicate that yoga benefits include enhancing fertility, it has been shown to reduce stress and could indeed play a role. So get to doing yoga and popping out babies, if that is your desire!
26. Hangover Relief
After a night of drinking, yoga may be the last thing on your mind, but Bethany Grace Shaw says it's exactly what you should do. "Yoga is a great way to detox your entire system," she says. "Yoga also helps with metabolism. The yoga poses 'shoulder stand,' 'plow,' and 'fish' work on the thyroid gland and improve metabolism, thus getting rid of a hangover faster. Reversing blood flow and bringing more blood to the brain creates balance in the body." A higher metabolism helps you burn fat, and the increased blood flow from yoga might even help blast cellulite away. And we know that cellulite is muy mal!
27. Can Help Ease Asthma
Fifty seven people with mild to moderate asthma participated in a study, adding an eight-week yoga session to their conventional care. Not just them, but researchers saw dramatic improvement of asthma symptoms. It is said that the breathing practice, known as pranayama, is an essential part of yoga, and such exercises have been shown to help ease the symptoms of asthma.
28. Multiple Sclerosis Help
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage or deterioration of the nerves. The loss of muscle function, coordination, and other issues that come with multiple sclerosis can be frustrating, but some research indicates that yoga might help with MS by improving both physical function and mood. A study of people with multiple sclerosis found that six months of weekly yoga classes improved fatigue to the same degree as six months of weekly traditional exercise classes.
29. PTSD Benefit
A study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found yoga could be an effective side treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This pilot study evaluated the effects of 12-session Kripalu-based yoga versus no yoga intervention in 38 women with symptoms of PTSD. Kripaul yoga is based on the philosophy that you should practice just as how you should live your life. Like all forms of yoga, breathing exercises (pranayama), poses (asana), and meditation are all equally important. You can think of those as a triad of yoga. When put together, they can act as a Triforce for your body. 🙂
But sometimes Kripalu yoga exercises require longer holds than usual. But the women randomized to the yoga group experienced greater reduction in PTSD symptoms than women in the control group. The results of this study hold promise for people with PTSD who have found little success with traditional psychotherapy.
BONUS-Weight management
Being that you made it this far, I decided to give you a nice little bonus. Think of it as finding another good item on your quest as your curiosity gets the best of you. While most of the evidence for the effects of yoga on weight loss is anecdotal or experiential, yoga teachers, students and practitioners across the world find that yoga helps to support weight loss. Many teachers specialize in yoga programs to promote weight management and find that even gentle yoga practices help support weight loss. We do not have to practice the most challenging and vigorous forms of yoga to lose weight. Yoga encourages development of a positive self-image, but always remember that nutrition plays a heavy part in the weight loss journey.
Sources
American Osteopathic Association. The Benefits Of Yoga.
Retrieved from https://osteopathic.org/what-is-osteopathic-medicine/benefits-of-yoga/
Rachael Link, MS, RD. (August 30, 2017) 13 Benefits Of Yoga That Are Supported By Science
Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-benefits-of-yoga#section13
Timothy McCall, MD. (August 28, 2007) 38 Health Benefits Of Yoga
Retrieved from https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/count-yoga-38-ways-yoga-keeps-fit
Yoga Alliance
https://www.yogaalliance.org/LearnAboutYoga/AboutYoga/Benefitsofyoga
And from experiences from your truly.
