Table of Contents
*This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
If have ever done yoga, you probably know that it provides plenty of health benefits. It’s an antique practice that connects in a unique way your mind, body and spirit through asanas, meditations and controlled breathing. Grab yourself a nice yoga mat and head below for 5 surprising health benefits. [no_toc]
Stress Reduction
Even if you are practicing yoga for a few minutes every day you can reduce stress significantly. This is mainly because yoga places emphasis on living better in the present moment, which helps you forgetting about the past events and anticipate a bright future. When you perform yoga, various brain chemicals such as endorphins are released, putting you in a better mood. Keep in mind that chronic stress can lead to weight fluctuations, poor digestion, weakened immune system and more. Yoga helps to relieve stress by helping you become more focused and relaxed.
Relaxes the Mind
If you want to live a happy and peaceful life, you need to have peace of mind. In fact, yoga slows down the mental loops of anger, frustration, regret and fear. You just need to concentrate on your exercise and you will soon realize that the only way to find peace is to search for it within yourself. Just find a few minutes daily and take a mini-soul vacation to feel relaxed and peaceful. This will give you more energy and you’ll be able to perform all your daily tasks more happily. So, if you learn how to cultivate your inner peace, you will be more likely to live a healthier and longer life.
Fights Food Cravings
Yoga can help you to slow down your food cravings and make better choices each time you want to eat. This is because yoga practice is associated with mindfulness, which is a combination of physical and emotional sensations. By practicing it you can actually strengthen the connection between your body and mind.
Improves Sleep
Yoga can improve the quality of your sleep. By practicing it you may feel more relaxed and therefore you can have a more peaceful sleep. In fact, yoga can provide relief for the stressful modern life. For example, if you practice yoga for a number weeks on a daily basis the quality of your sleep will be definitely improved. However, keep in mind that certain yoga exercises, like yoga nidra, savasana and pranayama may boost your nervous system.
Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
There is no surprise that yoga helps to lower the risk of a heart disease. Even a gentle yoga exercise can provide cardiovascular benefits to your body, by lowering resting heart rate and improving the oxygen uptake. Various yoga poses and meditation help your heart to work better by improving the entire circulatory system and increasing blood flow throughout the body. There aren’t any specific yoga poses that will lessen your chance of heart disease – all kinds of yoga poses could be effective.
When you practice yoga, make sure that you are in good shape to start; reduce the lights in your room, do some stretches prior to starting and if you want, grab some comfortable earbuds and listen to some relaxing music. Yoga is great exercise for both body and mind that can make you feel good, live happier and most importantly it offers you amazing health advantages.