Top 10 to Yoga
In communities of people that don’t explore yoga, it is often written off as simplistic and sub-par to strength training. Yoga can actually enhance strength and conditioning, and is a different school of practice altogether. While yoga can enhance muscle strength and tone, it can also do so many more favorable things for the body that contribute to overall holistic wellness.
(My personal) Top 10 favorite benefits of yoga include:
1) Increased flexibility - It isn’t surprising that practicing yoga can help increase flexibility. Many sports teams require a yoga class for their athletes in order to improve performance and minimize injury. While regularly practicing yoga can improve flexibility, any person can do it. There are so many levels of yoga, and beginners will benefit just as much as well-seasoned yoga veterans, and will improve as they go.
2) Protection from Injury - We already know that yoga can improve flexibility when regularly practiced, but it can also improve bone health while strengthening muscles and the spine. The tendons and ligaments are also worked, which makes them less susceptible to breakdown.
3) Improved Athletic Performance - Yoga can improve lymphatic flow and circulation, which is crucial for recovery. Yoga increases strength and endurance, and allows muscles to process metabolic byproducts more quickly, which increases recovery rate and speeds healing and re-growth.
4) Improved Immunity - Yoga can help lower the stress hormones that compromise the immune system, while also stimulating the lymphatic system to oust toxins from the body. This creates more oxygenated blood for various organs, causing optimal function.
5) Decreased Stress - When practicing yoga regularly, researchers have found lower levels of inflammation and significantly decreased cortisol levels, leading to decreased stress. Higher levels of BDNF (Brain-derived neurotropic factor) were also found, suggesting that yoga could also have a positive effect on the brain as well.
6) Weight Loss - There is scientific evidence suggesting that yoga may help manage stress, improve mood, curb emotional eating, and create a supportive community, all of which can help with weight loss and maintenance. Yoga also burns calories, which increases muscle mass and tone.
7) Reduces Inflammation - Regularly practicing yoga has proven to reduce cytokine levels in the blood, as well as other compounds known to increase inflammation as a result of normal aging and stress.
8) Cardio and Circulatory Health - A particular type of breathing done in yoga (pranayama) has been shown to improve several bodily systems. In particular, the cardiovascular system benefitted from controlled breathing. In subjects studied, heart rate, stroke capacity, arterial pressure, and contractility of the heart all changed favorably when performing yoga with controlled breathing.
9) Improves Balance - Balance is necessary for everyday life, and yoga can help make balancing safer and easier. Yoga has been proven to improve balance and overall form in athletes, and though more research is necessary, may help older populations improve balance for better quality of life.
10) Yoga May Help Improve Sleep - When measuring sleep, researchers study how quickly subjects fall asleep, and their ability to stay asleep. Yoga has been shown to improve how quickly people fall asleep, and how deeply they stay asleep. This could be in part because of the stress and anxiety relieving effect of yoga, and also the aftereffects of exercise in general.
After all that, I think it’s safe to say that adding yoga to your routine in some facet will benefit you. This is not an exhaustive list, so I would encourage you to do more research and determine whether or not yoga is for you!