When it comes to yoga, the answer is (almost always) yes. Yes, yoga “works”. Yes, yoga is Actually a good workout. Yes, yoga can help lose weight.
Yes, you can do yoga!
Yoga and its benefits date back millennia, but this mind-body practice is rapidly gaining popularity — nearly 10% of American adults gave it a try.
“Yoga is about balance, in your body and in your life,” says Yoga52 instructor Micki Duran.
“You gain flexibility and strength. It will be easier for you to touch your toes or reach behind your back. You will walk taller and breathe easier. You will set more goals and complete old ones. You will gain patience and be more tolerant. You will find it easier to stay still. You will be more present,” she adds.
And that’s just a small sample of the benefits of yoga.
“I tell my students that yoga doesn’t just affect your muscles and bones – it affects all of your body systems,” says Anne SwansonMS, E-RYT 500.
From sleep to energy levels and from your brain to your balance, yoga has a lot to offer your body. and Your spirit.
“After the first class, you may experience the mental benefits of a calmer, happier state, and after a week you may begin to see your whole body tone up,” says Yoga52 instructor Marie Grujicic-Delage.
And it’s better.
“With continued and consistent practice, people often experience even deeper benefits,” including an improved overall sense of well-being and quality of life, adds Yoga52 instructor Brent Laffoon.
Whether you seek inner peace, life and mental balance, or simply better flexibility, yoga has a lot to offer.
Take a look at the benefits of starting a yoga program and practicing only a few times a week.
More people accept yoga for wellness only for a specific health reason, although health care providers are increasingly “prescribing” yoga.
There is no single practice for all the health benefits of yoga.
“The benefits are immense and varied and differ from person to person,” says Laffoon. “Everyone comes to yoga with their own unique circumstances, and part of the beauty of yoga is that it helps each individual learn to manage their own circumstances.”
At the beginning, yoga practiced for a torticollis may look different from yoga practiced for strength or stress relief, but there is more overlap than you might think.
“Yoga doesn’t have to be intense to help the body, or gentle to help the mind,” says Duran.
And while you may be drawn to yoga for the abs or core strengthit may be the mental benefits of yoga that motivate you to practice.
“If you can breathe, you can do yoga and experience its profound benefits,” Swanson says.
In short, yoga is good for life.
Here is an overview of the benefits of yoga.
1. Calms the nervous system
Yoga’s emphasis on the breath is key to this benefit.
“Yoga directly influences your autonomic nervous system, which is your body’s main control system,” says Swanson. “By calming the nervous system, ‘resting and digesting’ more often, your body can function optimally and have a greater capacity for healing.”
2. Reduces Stress and Builds Resilience
There have been important research in yoga to relieve stress. Yoga can be more effective than walking for stress management and if you stick with it, you may be able to recover faster from stress.
Yoga can help build resilience — our defense against stress.
“The more we practice, the more we learn to do things simply for the love and joy of doing them, not for a specific outcome, which often creates stress, discouragement, frustration, anger, even grief,” says Laffoon.
3. May Help Anxiety
In research on yoga for anxiety, many studies have shown a significant reduction in symptoms and measurable biomarkers.
When we practice, “the nervous system has the potential to shift from a ‘fight or flight’ response to a calmer ‘rest and digest’ response,” explains Sherrell Moore TuckerRYT 200.
Yoga has also shown promise for performance anxiety.
4. Improves Mood
As with any form of exercise, yoga “releases feel-good chemicals like adrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine,” says Moore-Tucker.
Yoga can also help change your perspective, which in turn can improve your mood.
Indeed, research shows that the majority of yoga practitioners believe that yoga has a positive impact on their lives. It’s something to feel good about.
5. Contributes to healthy aging
Although yoga is not a fountain of youth, it can help you age more gracefully. That same survey that observed the mood-boosting effects of yoga saw those benefits extend to those aged 87.
And the collective physical and mental benefits of yoga can also help improve quality of life in the elderly.
6. Aids in concentration and cognition
Yoga teaches you to focus on your form and your breath, which helps improve focus and concentration.
A 2015 research review found that yoga improves cognitive function, including concentration and processing speed.
“One of the ways yoga works is to teach people to slow down and pay more attention to their body and mind,” says Laffoon. “The combined effect is that people become much more in tune with themselves on all levels – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.”
7. Increases memory
In addition to concentration, yoga has been shown increase “grey matter” in key areas of the brain, counteracting the natural effects of aging,” says Swanson, the author of yoga science.
The brain of yogis and meditators too show less natural age-related decline in intellectual ability, and yoga and meditation have been shown to help reduce cognitive decline to a greater extent than memory training exercises.
8. Energy Aid
Those same chemicals that give you a mood boost also help with energy. Same two minutes of yoga can give you a boost of energy and self-esteem.
9. Helps you sleep better
One in three adults don’t sleep enough.
In research on yoga for sleep, the practice has been shown to help both Men and women catch more Z.
In fact, more than half (55%) of yoga practitioners declare sleep improvement (and that’s not counting the naps they take during savasana).
10. Increases flexibility and functional fitness
Just 10 weeks of yoga can dramatically improve flexibilityaccording to a study by International yoga journal.
The benefits of yoga extend far beyond the mat.
A 2016 study found that yoga is just as effective as stretching and strengthening exercises for improving functional fitness (real world), improving balance, strength, mobility and flexibility.
11. May help with weight loss
Yoga can help with weight lossand a 2016 research review found to be safe and effective in doing so.
Yoga box count as cardio – especially if you do vinyasa yoga — but research on yoga for weight loss shows positive effects same with restorative yoga.
12. Helps Build Strength
Yoga is a low-impact weight-bearing practice, and its ability to build strength is one of its most significant benefits.
Research on yoga for strength shows that it can help maintain and build muscle mass.
13. Promotes Bone Health
The weight-bearing aspects of yoga also help maintain and build bone density.
Research by Dr. Loren Fishmandoctor and yogi, found that even 10 minutes of daily yoga improved bone density in the spine and hip bones.
Another decade-long study showed that 12 minutes of yoga a day strengthened bone quality.
14. Keeps Joints and Connective Tissues Healthy
Yoga can help with alignment, flexibility, mobilityand overall joint and connective tissue health.
“Yoga can help increase the range of motion in all your joints, as well as build strength around them, so you feel better supported,” says Grujicic-Delage.
And studies specifically on yoga for knee pain show improvement in pain and stiffness.
15. Balance Aid
A well-rounded yoga practice can help “improve strength, flexibility, agility, balance, and fall prevention,” says Swanson.
Working on balance throughout your life can help prevent dangerous falls as you age.
Yoga can dramatically improve balance increasing proprioception (awareness of your body’s position in space) and strengthening your ankles and legs.
16. Supports Back and Spine Health
The benefits of yoga for your bones and muscles also apply to your back. The practice works your whole core, the main job of which is to support your spine.
“As you begin your practice, your muscles will strengthen and activate, and your spine will be better supported – you will have better posture as well,” says Grujicic-Delage.
A study scanned the spines of long-time yoga teachers and found that, compared to non-yogis, their spines showed less disc degeneration.
17. Helps relieve pain
Many studies suggest that yoga is effective in reducing neck and back pain. “Back pain is one of the areas where yoga shows the most promise,” Swanson says. “Research suggests that yoga is not only effective, but also cost-effective when it comes to back pain.”
For lower back pain, yoga has been found to help even severe chronic pain.
18. Supports Healthy Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Health
The benefits of yoga also extend to the heart.
Practice can help manage blood pressure and improve heart function” including heart rate variabilitywhich can be a measure of cardiovascular and nervous system resilience,” says Swanson.
19. May Help Improve Fertility Success
“Yoga can help with fertility,” says Duran, and a review of studies from 2017 found that the benefits of yoga for stress relief could be to thank.
While there’s no magic “fertility yoga pose,” the practice “produces clarity of mind, a more positive attitude, and more patience,” which can help couples improve their relationships. chances of conceiving — and the success of fertility treatments in particular, says Moore-Tucker.
How to start your yoga practice
So now you know: yoga is good for you. Are you ready to experience the benefits in your own life?
Commit to doing at least one full yoga class per week for a year (52 weeks).
You can do more than one, but the minimum to reduce stress, increase flexibility, reduce pain, and get strong is one 30-45 minute yoga class per week.
Yoga52 is a collection of 52 yoga classes for beginners to experts taught by five of the best yoga instructors in the world.
These classes can help you reduce stress, build strength and flexibility, and improve your balance while shaping your body like only yoga can.
