Top 10 Benefits of Yoga for Physical and Mental Health

Yoga is a low-impact exercise that mainly focuses on bringing the mental and physical aspects of health together. It involves multiple physical movements, postures, calming meditation, and deep breathing techniques.

Although it is now considered a type of workout used to prevent or reduce the severity of diseases like heart problems, chronic pains, and muscular stiffness, it was initially an integral part of a spiritual health regime. So, it also helps in the improvement of mental health as well.

Here we have made a list of the top 10 benefits of yoga for physical and mental health to give you the motivation to start practicing yoga. Also, we would help you see if these benefits hold any evidence or if are they just bluff. So, read the information given below to know more about it.

Benefits of Yoga for Physical Health

Following are the top evidence-based benefits of yoga for physical health.

1. Improved Cardiovascular Health

Like any other exercise, yoga builds up cardiovascular strength and plays a major role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are mainly caused by high blood pressure, a sedentary lifestyle, and dyslipidemia.

Yoga prevents such diseases by increasing the stamina and strength of heart muscles, reducing heart rate, decreasing blood pressure, mobilizing high-density lipoproteins, and increasing the level of low-density lipoproteins. Moreover, it also controls the level of cholesterol and body weight.

So, yoga can be used to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the general population and decrease the severity of cardiovascular symptoms in people with such diseases. [1]

2. Alleviating Chronic Pain

Yoga strengthens the muscles and joints of the body. It stretches the back and relieves acute pain. Additionally, it works gradually to reduce the severity and frequency of chronic pains, especially in people with arthritis. It does so by helping people adapt to pain and change their behavior toward chronic pain. [2]

Migraine is another painful situation affecting a large number of people worldwide. While many people have only one episode of this headache in several months, others suffer from migraine often. Yoga reduces the frequency and intensity of migraine by reducing tightness and stress. [3]

3. Better Posture and Balance

Yoga involves almost all muscles of the body depending upon different asanas. It stabilizes the core of the body, tones the muscles, improves the health of the bones, boosts physical coordination, and ultimately allows you to stand firmly on your feet. So, it improves balance and prevents the risk of falling, especially in the older population. [4]

Additionally, it has so many postures that involve the alignment of your body and its supervision. So, yoga gradually helps to improve overall posture. And as it builds core strength and stamina, it allows you to keep your back straight without being tired.

4. Enhanced Flexibility and Joint Movements

Yoga is a low-impact exercise in which a person shifts from one pose to another smoothly while stretching, contracting, and relaxing different muscles of the body. Depending on the pose and the muscle group being used in that pose, yoga enhances the flexibility of the muscles effectively. [5]

Yoga relaxes the tight joints, builds the strength of the muscles, improves the health of the bones, and allows a wide range of joint movements. Additionally, the improved alignment and neuromuscular coordination add to the efficiency of yoga in improving joint mobility.

5. Reduced Inflammation

Inflammation is an essential presentation of many chronic diseases like arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and atherosclerosis. This inflammation is caused by the release of inflammatory mediators like TNF, INF, IL-6, CRP, and cortisol.

Yoga reduces the level of such inflammation-causing chemicals in the body, especially IL-1, IL-6, and CRP. It also ameliorates the stress that stimulates the release of inflammatory mediators. Consequently, the inflammation subsides. [6]

Benefits of Yoga for Mental Health

Here are a few proven effects of yoga on mental health.

1. Management of Stress and Anxiety

Yoga is a relaxing exercise. It focuses on breathing deeply and focusing on your breaths instead of the surroundings. So, you tend to forget stressful situations for a while. Moreover, when you relax, you are able to find solutions to the conditions causing stress.

It is helpful in treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder as well by helping you become more aware of your strengths and defeat the fears making you anxious. So, yoga can be used as an effective alternative treatment for anxiety and stress without any side effects. [7]

2. Wards off Depression

Yoga is an excellent option to fight your depression, especially when medicine and therapy do not seem to be working out. During depression, the level of the stress hormone, cortisol is increased in the body. So, you feel more sad, stressed, and anxious. Furthermore, things do not seem to go your way and add to the depression.

Yoga reduces the level of such hormones and chemicals, lets you take better control of your thoughts, makes you focus on the positive aspects of life, and wards off depression. So, it is considered an ancillary treatment for people with transient or chronic depression. [8]

3. Better Quality and Quantity of Sleep

Poor sleep results from stress, increased level of cortisol, a restless mind, and excessive use of alcohol or nicotine. Yoga works against the mechanism causing insomnia or reduced sleep quality and duration. Additionally, yoga improves sleep in people with chronic diseases like cancer. [9]

First of all, yoga causes physical exertions that divert your mind away from mental issues. Then it activates the relaxing parasympathetic system of the body through deep breaths.

And lastly, it reduces the level of wakefulness-causing hormones and increases the level of the sleep hormone, melatonin in the body. As a result, sleep becomes deeper and its duration also increases. Moreover, the time period of restlessness before sleep decreases significantly.

4. Mindfulness and Better Mood

One of the major focuses of yoga is mindfulness. When you look carefully, yoga is an activity that brings your attention to the breathing and movements of your body. Furthermore, yoga involves meditation that helps you establish a connection with your inner self. So, Several types of yoga asanas like hatha yoga are helpful in mindfulness. [10]

In addition to making you more mindful and relaxed, yoga boosts your mood as well. It increases the release of happy hormones like endorphins and neurotransmitters like GABA which plays a role in producing a sense of calmness and brightens up the mood.

5. Helping with Burnout

Burnout is a condition that occurs when one works and works and works with no breaks and a period of relaxation in between. Additionally, constant peer pressure, responsibilities, and constant stress add to burnout. Consequently, our mental and physical health deteriorates.

It is now becoming common because we just cannot find time for ourselves. So, in such conditions 10 minutes of yoga every day can help you get over burnout and prevent it as well. [11]

Yoga balances the flow of energy through the body, brings body, mind, and spirit together, and allows you to take time to think about your life priorities. It also restores your energy and recharges you to tackle upcoming difficulties without feeling overwhelmed. Moreover, you can manage it with your busy schedule as it does not require hours for self-retaliation.

References

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