Health Benefits of Yoga

The benefits of Yoga continue to amaze all health enthusiast. These include weight loss, increased flexibility, and better cardiovascular health. Like all forms of exercise, Yoga improves cardiovascular conditioning and all of the benefits that come with an improved cardiovascular system. These include lower blood pressure and reduced cholesterol levels. These benefits have been shown to be obtainable even with modest amounts of Yoga. The mechanisms for how this occur is unknown. Something that may not surprise those that actively practice Yoga. However, the benefits of Yoga extent beyond the Physical benefits, and continue to have positive mental health benefits for active Yoga participants. These include stress reduction and increased mental clarity. And more mental clarity can help improve focus and productivity. These benefits can allow patients and Yoga practitioners to prevent many diseases; or at least to reduce their risk. Improving mental health can have a direct impact on the physical health and well-being of participants. Lower stress means lower Cortisol levels and the benefits that come with Cortisol level reduction. This has been found to make you happier and more energetic. This can further increase life expectancy and this health benefit is unquantifiable, both financially and personally.

Different types of Yoga and practice styles are better for certain people depending on their health condition and their health needs at that particular time. These Yoga practicing styles and moves can be characterized into different Yoga schools with different mediation techniques and breathing postures allow for users to almost customize their Yoga techniques. These adjustments allow for a variety of people to practice Yoga and to customize their workouts. Yoga can be made to fit to a variety of body types, including those that are not athletically conditioned enough for most exercises. And Yoga can done by people of all age groups, even the very elderly.

For weight lifters, Yoga can be used in place of stretching and can incorporating to any lifting regimen. Yoga has been used by even the most experienced bodybuilders to prevent injuries and to reduce Cortisol. Cortisol better known as the stress hormone. Low blood glucose also triggers the release of Cortisol into the bloodstream. Cortisol is a potent hormone that is heavily involved in metabolism of proteins and fats. High Cortisol can lead to lessen bone formation and plays a role in bone metabolism.

However, there are other benefits to practicing Yoga that many do not know about. These include improving posture and improving spine health. These health benefits can trickle down to other benefits that many do not recognize. Including improvements in back health and reduction in pain in the neck and increased bone health. Recently, Yoga has been shown to increase hand eye coordination and flexibility in those that do it regularly. The dynamic health benefits of Yoga are rare to find in any exercise and make it a perfect exercise for anyone! And an exercise that should be incorporate into everybody’s workout regimen.

General references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol

https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/count-yoga-38-ways-yoga-keeps-fit

https://osteopathic.org/what-is-osteopathic-medicine/benefits-of-yoga/