Benefits of Yoga

Yoga has so many benefits, not only for the body but also the mind.

Often people view yoga practice as a form of gentle movement, with a focus on stretching and relaxation. But Yoga can be and is so much more. Through regular practice you can build internal and external strength, both physically and emotionally. Through the physical and mental practice you can propel your body and mind to achieve great things…Through consistent practise Yoga will not only benefit your health, it can be practiced and integrated into your lifestyle.

So why practice Yoga, what are the benefits?

HERE ARE MY CHOSEN TOP 10:

1. The first benefit of Yoga, which most people would expect, is increased FLEXIBILITY. With Yoga practice over time you will improve your flexibility, but don’t think you need to touch your toes. Yoga is not about how flexible you are, it is about focus, breath, anatomy and self-discipline; Yoga is a non-judgemental form of exercise. Some people are naturally more flexible than other and this can be due to a range of reasons such as joint structure, age, gender, connective tissue elastine and collagen characteristics, muscle bulk and weight training, previous injury and genetics.

2. The second benefit of Yoga is STRENGTH. Practising Yoga will build the strength of the muscles (and the bones) and the mind. The use of body weight will improve the strength of muscles throughout the body. Body weight is used in all inversions, arm balances, Vinyasa’s and every Asana pose. With regular Yoga practise, you will soon seen your body’s muscle strength improving, and feel/ see muscles you didn’t know you had! Through the practice you can also build your mental strength and focus, after time feeling calmer with strong mental clarity

3. The third benefit of Yoga is POSTURE. Bad posture over time can lead to serious health concerns, such as back pain, issues with digestion, cardiovascular problem and eventually could change the curvature of the spine. Slouched body language can also be perceived negatively and could contribute to your mood, showing signs of being unapproachable, lacking confidence or even be a sign of depression. Yoga enables the body to strengthen and stretch the back, the shoulders, the chest and the abdomen. Yoga poses to improve posture are heart opening poses, such as Camel pose, Cobra pose and Downward Facing Dog among others. These heart openers will help you stand taller, relieve back pain, improve your digestion and enable you to live with an open heart. These opening poses will not only improve your posture but also help you to open up emotionally, improving positive energy, discover a more positive outlook and help you to embrace the world around you. *

4. The fourth benefit of Yoga is improved DIGESTION. Not only does Yoga practise improve stress and anxiety levels, which can be the leading cause of gut issues, but Yoga can also alleviate the physical symptoms of poor digestion, easing symptoms such as bloating, gas and painful cramping. Twists are my go to poses for aiding digestion. They create an internal massage for all your digestive organs as well as helping to increase blood flow in the area. Practising gentle twists can help to elevate painful gas, bloating and can improve constipation. In addition to twisted poses, heart opening and back bending poses can stretch the back and the abdomen, stimulating energy and improved blood flow through your internal organs; they also help alleviate gas buildup. In addition, heart opening poses helps to open up emotional tension, such as stress and anxiety, which could be a cause of digestion issues. Restorative poses are also beneficial for the digestion. Poses such as Childs pose and the most restful pose of all Savasana, can help to calm your mind, which also calms you nerves and your internal systems. Practising Yoga helps to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, known as rest and digest, and deactivate your sympathetic nervous system which creates the fight or flight response caused by stress, this sympathetic state can reduce your digestive function. **

5. The fifth benefit of Yoga is REDUCED STRESS and improved mental health. Your nervous system is a wondrous thing! Our body has two modes our sympathetic mode and our parasympathetic mode. Our sympathetic mode is responsible for our reaction to danger. In this mode our body uses our energy, our iris’s dilate, our salivary glands stop secretion, our digestion stops, our heart beat and breathing increases and our liver increases its conversion of glycogen to glucose. This nervous system reaction occurs in the response to physical or physiological danger. It is an automatic reaction and not a conscious decision. This sympathetic nervous system was designed to become activated by the dangers that came with life or death decisions, known as the fight, flight or freeze. Historically it occurred in times of physical danger such as being confronted by an eight foot grizzly bear while foraging, do you fight, freeze or run? However, you won’t find yourself in dangerous situations such as that in modern day life (I hope), but you may experience this sympathetic reaction through other causes. For example a physiological reaction to a fear or a phobia or a physical reaction to a threat. Of course even today, this sympathetic mode is extremely important, as it keeps us aware of physical danger and protects us from harm through automatic body response. Unfortunately, psychological sympathetic stimulus is becoming increasingly common place, with people experiencing this reaction to perceived threats, not real threats. The perception of what could happen sadly creates irrational perceptions of threat and fear. Increasing the levels of stress and anxiety and keeping the body in a prolonged period of sympathetic mode which is not good for the heart, the digestion and the liver along with all other internal organs. This could be through the perceived threat, for example; “if I don’t finish this project on time I will lose my job”; or “if I go up on stage I will embarrass myself and I will be laughed at”; or “I can’t leave the house because something bad will happen if I do". These psychological sympathetic reactions can sometimes become debilitating and can have a huge effect on the quality of life for that person. It is important to note that the sympathetic mode is an involuntary response to a situation outside of our consciousness. But Yoga can help!! By practising Yoga, you help to activate your parasympathetic mode. This is the mode which enables your body to relax and your body preserves your energy rather than using it up. It is the opposite response to the fight, flight or freeze. Instead your pupils contract, your heart and breathing slow down, your salivary glands increase secretion, your gastric juices increase to improve digestion and your blood vessels dilate to improve blood flow. Through the practise of Yoga, meditation and Pranayama (breathing techniques) you can create a prolonged parasympathetic mode within your body, enabling you to become more relaxed, calmer, less stressed, think more rationally, and become healthier physically and emotionally. Although you cannot be in this parasympathetic mode 100% of the time, Yoga can help to increase the bounce back to a parasympathetic state.

6. The sixth benefit of Yoga is HEALTHY BONES and prevention of cartilage breakdown. Did you know that exercise, especially gentle exercise such as Yoga, can improve and in some cases over time reverse the effects of Osteoporosis (if detected early). 1 in 5 women over the age of 60 may have Osteoporosis, a disease which deteriorates the bone density and can lead to brittle and broken bones. Our skeletal system is so important and has many functions in our body including, support, shape, protection of our internal organs, movement, blood cell production and storage of energy, therefore strong healthy bones are essential. Regular movement of our skeletal system enables our bones to be impacted through gentle compression, when our bones more to the point of contact with other bone, muscle or fibrous tissue, and this gentle compression is good for us. The compression improves the density of our bones by created more layers, and the movements of our joints helps to reduce and prevent our cartilage breaking down; cartilage is found in our bone joints. Healthy cartilage has a high water content, and synovial fluid helps to nourish this cartilage. Arthritis is one condition in which cartilage is effected. The synovial fluid leaks and is therefore no longer able to nourish the cartilage in the bone joints. This can lead to parts of bones being exposed and cause chronic pain, inflammation and loss of mobility. However gentle Yoga, although it cannot cure Arthritis it can help improve the symptoms. Yoga can help to reduce pain, enable more movement and physical function of the affected joints and reduce joint stiffness.

7. The seventh benefit of Yoga is improved IMMUNITY. Stress within the body can effect our internal systems and increase chronic inflammation, weakening our immune system. Research indicates that regular practise of Yoga has a promising anti-inflammatory effect in the body, and as a result strengthens our immune system.

8. The eighth benefit of Yoga is HEART HEALTH. Movement of the body increases your blood flow and allows for more oxygen to travel to your cells. Yoga movements such as twisting and inversions can help improve the blood flow around your body and your internal organs. The practise also enables you to focus on your breath and lower your resting heart rate, increase your circulation and activate the parasympathetic regulation of your heart beat.

9. The ninth benefit of Yoga is BETTER SLEEP. Yoga has the ability to release tension in your body and lower the bodies cortisol level, which are often raised when suffering from stress, anxiety or depression. The activation of the parasympathetic nervous system allows the body to feel relaxed both in body and mind and as a result improves our quality of sleep.

10. The tenth benefit of Yoga is DISCIPLINE. Yoga is a non-judgemental exercise, and offers the time and space to let go of fears, emotions or situations which are holding us back from being. One of the main goals of Yoga practise is to attain self-discipline and self-awareness. In Yoga self-discipline is shown through the commitment to the practice. In the book of Patanjali Yogasutras, self discipline is known as “Tapas”, which means the willing to do work and the desire to learn.

* https://www.yogiapproved.com/yoga/yoga-poses-bad-posture/

** https://amp.mindbodygreen.com/articles/7-ways-yoga-can-aid-digestion-improve-your-gut-health--5839

I INVITE YOU ALL TO PRACTICE YOGA ALONG WITH ME XXX