Health Benefits of Yoga Practice

Recently, I wrote about the healing benefits of a restorative yoga practice.  What I didn’t mention is that those are only a small part of what you can experience when yoga becomes a part of your daily life. No other form of exercise has a more profound effect on you as a whole… physically, mentally or spiritually.

Yoga for the Body

• A regular yoga practice increases your heart strength. Studies show that yoga lowers your resting heart rate, increases your cardiovascular endurance and improves your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise.
• Yoga slows your pulse rate. A strong heart beats slowly since it works more efficiently to circulate blood and oxygenate cells.
• Yoga reduces blood pressure. Two recent studies showed that people suffering from hypertension who practiced yoga saw a major drop in blood pressure.
• Yoga improves lung efficiency.  Yogis breathe deeply and slowly, improving the flexibility of the rib area, shoulders and back, allowing the lungs to expand more fully. Increased lung capacity improves oxygen flow throughout the body.
• Yoga improves blood circulation. Deep breathing and muscle relaxation allows oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood to move more freely throughout the body for healthier organs, skin and brain.
• Yoga helps the immune system. As the body moves in and out of yoga poses, stretching and contracting muscles, the lymphatic system is engaged, pumping lymphocytes (immune cells) throughout the body to protect against infection, destroy cancerous cells and dispose of toxic waste.  Yoga poses that twist and compress organs help massage and rejuvenate immune organs and channels. The practice of Yoga also generates balanced energy – vital energy required by the immune system.
• Yoga lowers cortisol levels.  Stress causes the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol into the body. High levels of cortisol compromise the immune system and are also linked to memory loss, depression, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and overeating.
• Yoga is known to ease pain. Doctors prescribe yoga and meditation to help in the treatment of chronic conditions such as back pain, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and fibromyalgia.  Studies show that patients with chronic pain conditions who practice yoga tend to require less medication to control their pain and sometimes are able to free themselves from pills completely.
• Yoga builds strength. Yoga uses the weight of the body, particularly in standing poses, balancing poses and inversions, which require sustained isometric muscle contractions, which builds strength and tones muscles. Strong muscles not only look good but they protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain and help prevent falls.
• Yoga increases flexibility. A balanced practice puts all of your joints through their full range of motion, stretching muscles and massaging all the soft tissues in your body.  Stretching increases flexibility, helps prevent injury, and reduces lactic acid build up which causes stiffness, tension, pain and fatigue.  Posture and balance improves, as does the ease of moving your body through daily tasks.
• Yoga balances metabolism, resulting in the ability to maintain a healthy weight and control hunger.  An efficient metabolism helps control cravings for food, caffeine, alcohol and drugs.
• Yoga balances your body chemistry.  Yoga practice lowers cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, sodium levels and triglycerides in the blood and increases natural antioxidants produced by the body.
• Ongoing studies show that yoga helps to prevent,  treat or reduce the symptoms of a multitude of diseases, such as heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, Type II diabetes,  multiple sclerosis, cancer, muscular dystrophy, migraines, scoliosis, chronic bronchitis, epilepsy, sciatica, OCD, and more.

Yoga for the Mind.

• Yoga is a mood enhancer.  One study found that consistent yoga practice improved depression and led to a significant increase in serotonin levels and a decrease in the levels of enzymes that break down neurotransmitters and cortisol. Another showed that meditation heightened activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that correlates with greater levels of happiness and better immune function.  Some researchers believe these changes are a result of yoga’s boosting oxygen levels to the brain.
• Yoga reduces stress and anxiety by encouraging you to relax and focus on the present with the slow, mindful breathing that is tied to every movement and to meditation. This type of breathing decreases blood pressure by shifting blood flow away from the nervous system and increasing the flow of blood to the intestines and reproductive organs – what Herbert Benson, M.D., refers to as the “relaxation response.”
• Yoga increases our ability to focus. Some studies suggest that yoga my have a positive effect on learning and memory.  It’s often life’s distractions that inhibit concentration and our ability to stay on task. Improved blood circulation to the brain, as well as the reduction in stress, helps the mind stay calm and focused on the present.

Yoga for the Spirit.

• Yoga encourages self acceptance. Focusing inward and realizing through your yoga practice that perfection is not the goal, allows self acceptance to begin. Yoga teaches that you are a manifestation of the Divine, that you are a part of something bigger. If you view your yoga practice as more than just an aerobic workout, as an opportunity for betterment and self-examination, you’ll experience feelings of gratitude, empathy, forgiveness and acceptance.
• Yoga gives you peace of mind. Yoga slows down the mental loops of frustration, regret, anger, fear and desire that can cause stress. Stress is implicated in a great number of health problems — high blood pressure, digestive problems, insomnia, migraines and so much more.  Learning to quiet your mind will help you live a longer and healthier life.
• Yoga helps you break free from destructive emotions. Hostility and anger are strongly linked to high blood pressure and heart attacks.  Yoga reduces anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind.  It allows you to step back from the drama of your life, allowing you to remain steady and in control when faced with difficult situations and unsettling events.
• Yoga creates a balance within you so that you may live a life of peace, good health and harmony.

There’s no doubt that practicing yoga will change you. If you haven’t tried it, take a class and share your experience.  If you already practice, I hope you’ll share a story or two about how yoga has affected your life.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Yoga Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.