Hello everyone!
Many people think about yoga, but never put their ideas into practice. They don’t know which direction of yoga to choose, they can’t find a good instructor, they can’t find time for classes, or they’re just too lazy.
In this article, we will look at what benefits you will get from yoga once you start the practice. What effect yoga has on the soul, body and mind.
After yoga came to the Western world and began to gain more and more followers, scientists began to study how yoga affects the physical and psycho-emotional state of a person. The data in this article is based entirely on scientific research.
So let's go.
YOGA IMPROVES FLEXIBILITY
The development of flexibility is one of the first and quickly felt effects of yoga. During first class, many people can't even reach their toes, let alone bend back. But with regular practice, the impossible becomes possible, and practitioners perform exercises that they could not even dream of before.
YOGA DEVELOPS MUSCLES
Strong muscles are much more than beautiful body. They help prevent diseases such as arthritis, back pain, improve metabolism in the body. In addition, doing yoga, you develop strength in balance with flexibility.
YOGA IMPROVES POSTURE
Poor posture leads to many health problems. Fatigue, drowsiness, headaches and back pain, decreased performance, curvature of the spine, poor digestion - this is not a complete list of consequences. Therefore, it is very important that yoga helps to improve posture.
YOGA IMPROVES JOINTS
At each yoga class, you work out absolutely all the joints of the body, improving their elasticity and preventing diseases such as arthritis, arthrosis and inflammation of the joints.
YOGA STRENGTHENS THE SPINE
In yoga, special attention is paid to working with the spine. It is not for nothing that in Eastern culture it is called the “Trunk of Life”. Backbends, forward bends, twists contribute to the supply of nutrients to the spine and the development of its flexibility.
YOGA STRENGTHENS BONES
Exercises using own weight bodies strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis. This principle is applied in many yoga postures.
YOGA IMPROVES BLOOD CIRCULATION
Yoga exercises work in such a way that when performing twisting asanas, old blood is squeezed out of internal organs and joints, and when you come out of the pose, new oxygenated blood flows to them. Inverted postures promote blood flow from the legs and pelvis to the lungs, where it is also enriched with oxygen.
Yoga helps increase hemoglobin levels and increases the number of white blood cells that deliver oxygen to tissues, which helps thin the blood. This reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
YOGA STRENGTHENS THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
The contraction and stretching of muscles during asanas promotes the movement of lymph in the body (a clear, viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This allows lymphatic system fight infections better, destroy cancer cells, and remove toxic waste from cells.
YOGA IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
Performing asanas, as well as aerobic exercise, significantly reduces the risk of heart disease and helps to get rid of depression. Studies have shown that yoga practice stabilizes the heart at rest, improves stamina, and promotes oxygen to the internal organs.
YOGA NORMALIZES PRESSURE
Dr. Debbie Cohen of the University of Pennsylvania studied the effects of yoga on blood pressure in 58 volunteers aged 38 to 62.
The participants were divided into 3 groups. Members of the first focused on diets, weight loss and hiking. The second group of volunteers did yoga, and the third group was given a diet.
As a result, the second group recorded a more significant decrease in blood pressure than the first - from 133/80 to 130/77. But the results of the participants in the third group, contrary to expectations, did not differ too much from the results of the second group.
YOGA REGULATES THE ADRENAL FUNCTION
Yoga helps lower cortisol levels, a hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. It is a stress hormone and with any physical or psychological stress, its level rises, which allows you to concentrate, increase attention. All organs in response to elevated level cortisol begin to work in an enhanced, emergency mode. People whose hormone levels are elevated are overweight and love to seize all the stress with something tasty.
YOGA MAKES A PERSON HAPPY
Studies have proven that yoga helps to get rid of depression. When performing asanas, the level of serotonin (hormone of happiness) increases significantly, which contributes to good mood and improving overall well-being.
YOGA REDUCES WEIGHT
We often hear: if you want to lose weight, eat less, move more. Yoga helps shape healthy lifestyle life without imposing rules and counting calories.
The practice of yoga works on the physical and emotional planes. Performing asanas is movement. And the stabilization of the emotional state of mind relieves overeating and contributes to the choice of healthier food.
YOGA REDUCES BLOOD SUGAR
Yoga lowers blood sugar and bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. Studies have shown that this occurs as a result of a decrease in cortisol and adrenaline levels, which in turn contributes to weight loss and improved sensitivity to the action of insulin.
YOGA IMPROVES CONCENTRATION
One of the main components of yoga is concentration on the present. Research has revealed that regular classes yoga improves coordination, reaction, and even IQ scores. People who practice meditation show the ability to solve problems faster, remember information better, and recall events in memory. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they are not weighed down by an endless stream of extraneous thoughts.
YOGA HELPS YOU RELAX
Yoga helps to calm down, slow down breathing and focus attention on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic. It promotes recuperation, lowers heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases circulation in the digestive and reproductive systems, and has a relaxing effect.
YOGA IMPROVES BALANCE AND COORDINATION OF MOVEMENTS
With regular yoga practice, the ability to feel your body and its location in space increases and balance improves. With good balance, you will be less likely to stumble and fall. For older people, this is especially important, as they get more independence, they can take care of themselves.
YOGA DEVELOPS BODY CONTROL
Some advanced yogis have the ability to completely control their body, which confuses scientists. Stories are known of yogis who could hibernate, go without food and water for a long time, stop their heart, fall asleep in one minute. By doing yoga, you too can learn how to relax and fall asleep when you're struggling with insomnia, or mentally increase blood flow to your pelvis when you're trying to get pregnant.
You can read more about the possibilities of yogis in the article "Incredible abilities of yogis".
YOGA RELIEVES MUSCLE TENSION
Have you ever noticed that you hold the phone or the steering wheel in a stranglehold? Or wrinkle your forehead when you think or work?
These unconscious habits lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, pain in the joints, arms, wrists, shoulders, neck and face. As you practice yoga, you begin to notice which parts of your body are tense and learn to relax those muscles.
YOGA SOOTHES
The rhythm of modern life makes us constantly on the move, our brain works 24 hours a day, even during sleep. Naturally, our nervous system is constantly tense. Yoga helps to calm down and relax. Restorative practices such as shavasana (dead body posture), pranayama (breathing practices) and meditation allow the nervous system to rest. And as a result, they improve sleep and reduce susceptibility to stress.
YOGA IMPROVES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Asanas and pranayama improve performance immune system, although scientists are inclined to believe that meditation brings the maximum benefit to immunity. Meditation stimulates the immune system when necessary: it increases the level of antibodies during vaccination, or vice versa reduces the function of the immune system when it is required, for example, to reduce too high immunity protection, in autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and others.
YOGA INCREASES LUNG CAPACITY
Yogis try to take fewer breaths, but deeper ones, which helps to calm nervous system and is more efficient breathing. Moreover, it helps to improve lung function and provide more oxygen to the blood.
YOGA IMPROVES INTESTINAL FUNCTION
Such gastrointestinal diseases, like ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, can be complicated by stress.
Yoga like any other physical activity, relieves constipation and theoretically reduces the risk of colon cancer, because it helps food move faster in the intestines. Twisting postures are said to be particularly helpful in relieving constipation.
YOGA GIVES PEACE IN THE SOUL
Yoga helps to calm the ever-wandering mind, relieve feelings of anxiety, reduce susceptibility to stress, soften such overwhelming feelings as fear, anger, irritation, regret, the result of which is again stress.
Stress, in turn, is the cause of various health problems, ranging from migraines and insomnia to high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, eczema, and heart attacks. Thus, be calm and live happily ever after.
YOGA INCREASES SELF-ESTEEM
Many people suffer from too low self-esteem. If you solve this problem with drugs, overeating, hard work, or promiscuous sex, you will pay for it with your physical and mental health. If you practice yoga, gradually your attitude towards yourself and others will begin to change, you will begin to experience feelings of gratitude, compassion and forgiveness, you will discover yourself from a completely different side, and you will also feel like a part of something Bigger.
YOGA RELIEVES PAIN
Yoga can help relieve pain. Asanas and meditation have been shown to reduce pain in people with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic conditions, according to a number of studies.
YOGA GIVES POWER
Yoga will change your life! By practicing yoga, you will soon realize that without making any effort, you will become better fed, feel more energetic, think positively, cope with life's difficulties more easily, and even be able to get rid of bad habits that have haunted you for years.
WITH YOGA NO MEDICATION IS NEEDED
If your medicine cabinet is more like a pharmacy, it's time to take up yoga. A study of people with asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes found that yoga helped them reduce their medication dosages, and in some cases stop taking them completely. Can't save money for yoga, maybe cut down on pills?
YOGA TEACHES TO LOVE
Perhaps love cannot overcome all obstacles, but it definitely helps in the treatment of diseases. By giving love to your family, friends, and community, you are helping yourself first. With regular yoga practice, you will become friendlier, kinder and calmer. In addition, yoga philosophy advocates telling the truth and taking only what you really need.
YOGA CLEANSES THE BODY
Yoga also includes cleansing practices - kriyas. Exists a large number of various techniques, ranging from fast breathing exercises before cleansing the internal organs, such as the intestines.
YOGA TEACHES TO HELP YOURSELF THROUGH HELPING OTHERS
Karma yoga (helping others) is inseparable from yoga philosophy. By helping others, you help yourself. Helping others gives your life a new meaning, and your own problems seem less terrible when you see what others have to face.
YOGA WILL HELP YOU BECOME THE OWNER OF LIFE
Most people who are treated with traditional medicine passively receive help from doctors. By practicing yoga, you take responsibility for your life into your own hands. Yoga gives you the tool to change and you can feel better from the start of your practice.
EVERYTHING IS INTERCONNECTED
Surely, reading all these points about the benefits of yoga, you noticed that one follows from the other. Change your posture and you will change your breathing. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the most important yoga lessons. Everything is interconnected.
Starting to practice yoga, you will understand that not only your health and appearance will change, your perception of yourself and the world around you will also change. Most likely, more conscious and interesting people will appear in your environment. New goals and plans, new hobbies and interests will appear, the very course of life will change.
Start practicing yoga as soon as possible and get all 33 benefits.
With sincere sympathy, Olesya.
Yoga has been practiced for over five millennia. Generally speaking, yoga improves not only physical abilities human body but also contributes to the spiritual development of man, his enlightenment. Plunging into meditation, mastering asanas and practicing pranayama, yoga students achieve unity of the soul, mind and body, learn to direct their internal energy exclusively to creation.
So yoga has a beneficial effect on:
- Human health, the state of his physical body;
- inner spiritual world.
Let's look at each and these aspects in more detail.
Vegetarianism as an integral part of yoga practice: what is the benefit?
First of all, we note that it is impossible to simply visit the hall for yoga classes, and then, leaving it to live, without taking into account the basic truths of the ancient teachings. What does it mean? This means that yoga is a philosophy of life, a way of eating and a style of behavior.
If you really decide to change your life and do yoga, pay attention to your diet. Since yoga requires a serious, disciplined attitude, you will need to study the sources and comprehend some of the truths of Yama. The main such truth is ahimsa, i.e. non-violence. So, in order to cleanse your karma and body, you must refuse to eat meat. Meat food can easily be found as a full-fledged replacement among plant products. That is, in order for yoga classes to bring successful results as quickly as possible, it is recommended to switch to vegetarianism.
The benefits of being a vegetarian are:
- Acceleration of metabolic processes of the body;
- Slowing down the aging process of the body;
- Prevention of diabetes;
- Prevention of cardiovascular diseases;
- Oncology prevention.
And most importantly, a person is cleansed of the negative that pollutes his karma.
How useful is yoga? Of course, practice
Everyone knows that the main ways to work on yourself, your body, are mastering and, as well as meditation.
The sages say: "Until the flexibility of the spine disappears, a person is young." And it's completely justified! After all, not a single property of our body, in the sense of physiology, disappears as quickly as flexibility. Regular, correct and conscious performance of asanas can not only maintain the flexibility of your body, but also return it, no matter what age you are.
So our first conclusion: yoga maintains the elasticity of muscles and ligaments, and also provides joint mobility.
Numerous studies in the field of medicine have proven that our immunity directly depends on the state of connective tissues, which include: bones, ligaments, tendons and cartilage. That's second conclusion: asanas and pranayama help to increase the regenerative processes of the body, as well as its immunity.
Thanks to proper and balanced nutrition, excess sugar, salt and cholesterol leave our body. Fat layer melts before your eyes.
Conclusion three: doing yoga, a person loses his overweight.
Practicing yoga will help regulate the level of carbon dioxide in the blood, resulting in improved metabolism and changes in the rate of biochemical processes in tissues.
Conclusion four: yoga slows down the aging process of the body and gives you a second youth.
Since the teaching of yoga a priori denies that a person has addictions such as alcoholism, drug addiction and smoking, we will be able to avoid their negative influence.
Beneficial effects of yoga on our spiritual world
Among the many styles of yoga, Hatha yoga is the most popular. "Ha" is "Sun", "Tha" is "Moon". The meaning of the term "hatha yoga" follows by itself - "the merging of two opposites together." The ability to pacify the storm of passions within oneself, which yoga teaches us, helps us eventually come to an understanding with the outside world.
Harmony with others, and most importantly, with ourselves, helps us bring our own life to a new level. Things immediately go uphill, peace and tranquility reign at work and in the family.
It is very important to find a teacher, a wise mentor who will teach you to concentrate and relax. Simultaneous concentration and relaxation of muscles contributes to the production of serotonin - the hormone of joy, which, in turn, can help a person cope with stressful situations.
By learning to deal with your negative emotions, you will gain control over yourself, over your own life. It is no accident that the first two steps of hatha yoga (out of eight) are the comprehension of moral foundations and self-development. Only after mastering these stages, students move on to physical activities.
Yoga as the most important tool for self-education
Yoga teaches us to cultivate in ourselves such important personal qualities as discipline, responsibility, rationality. By accustoming ourselves to regular weekly scheduled classes and daily work on ourselves, we improve ourselves, develop ourselves. Over time, we transfer all these skills from the gym to our lives, our daily duties.
Think about how often you want to lie down or sit in a chair in front of a TV or computer because you are tired and think you have the right to relax? Even worse, if the tool for "relaxation", you choose entertainment activities with alcohol. At such moments, your mind is clouded, you begin to mistakenly believe that this is the rest, which eventually develops into bad habits. The reason for this may be promiscuity, which must be fought, and on the other hand, the reason may be the inability of a person to be firm, because it is always easier to go with the flow. Meanwhile, after such a “rest”, a person needs about a day to recover. Sign up for yoga classes and you will understand that during the sessions you relax, gain strength and energy. You will learn how to save your time, use it rationally. Among other things, with the help of yoga, you will come to the conclusion that you need to value yourself, your time, and not be wasted.
In the modern world, everyone strives to monitor their health - adhere to proper nutrition and exercise. However, people do not even think about what yoga gives for health, both physical and spiritual. Many famous personalities prefer yoga classes, because the practice helps to work with both the body and the mind. At the same time, you can practice not only in the gym with a guru, but try the practice of yoga at home.
What is yoga for?
Before starting yoga, it is better to familiarize yourself with what types of yoga exist, since each direction is individual and not suitable for everyone. There are also health restrictions for certain types of practices.
To begin with, you can try all the directions and choose the one that you like the most.
At the same time, the maximum positive effect from practicing can be obtained by performing yoga poses competently and in compliance with all the rules. Each asana is aimed at working a specific muscle group and opening certain energy channels.
When performing asanas, one should not commit violence to the body. The main thing is the state of harmony and balance.
The practice is gradually conquering the whole world. People who practice for several hours and once a week claim that the practice has changed their lives in better side. Such classes have big amount positive points.
Practitioners claim that yoga is good for health and has a beneficial effect on it:
develops flexibility and muscle strength;
joints, bones, spine are strengthened;
posture is formed;
blood circulation improves;
improves the functioning of the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems;
normalizes the pressure and work of the adrenal glands;
improves coordination and balance;
increases immunity and lung function, thanks to a special breathing technique.
Yoga has a positive effect not only on physical state person, but also has a positive effect on the psycho-emotional state. After several practices:
the person feels happy;
more calm and relaxed;
internally balanced and harmonious;
classes help to increase self-esteem and give inner strength;
also her philosophy is aimed at helping others and love for yourself and the world.
Regular practice contributes to weight loss, as a person finds inner balance, eats less stress, prefers healthy eating. people suffering from problems excess weight, may be interested in yoga for weight loss.
In girls who are in an interesting position, against the background of changes in the body, there are also changes in the perception of the world, so yoga for pregnant women will help them improve their women Health and prepare for the changes that await them.
Yoga is a philosophy about physical and emotional health and their balance. Practice gives a huge benefit to a person - the state of health improves, inner peace and harmony with oneself sets in, while it is important to learn to listen to your body. We hope that we have answered the question of what yoga classes give, and you can safely move on to performing asanas.
Sport
Looking for motivation to practice yoga? Here are 38 ways yoga can help you improve your health. Perhaps after that you will take a mat and go to a yoga class for classes.
If you've tried yoga before, you've probably already noticed that yoga has a positive effect on your well-being - you may sleep better, catch colds less often, and feel that you can relax properly. However, if you are telling a beginner how yoga works, using expressions like "It increases the flow of prana" or "It gives energy to your spine", you are more likely to stumble upon skeptical opinion and criticism.
It is best to offer interested individuals who are just beginning to practice more specific explanations of how yoga will improve health, cure diseases and relieve pain, and so on. Understanding the benefits of the class will help keep you motivated to get started and will also be able to tell others how yoga works in a language they can understand.
1) Flexibility
Improving the flexibility of the whole body is one of the main and obvious benefits of yoga. During the first lesson, you most likely could hardly reach the tips of your toes. However, over time, you have noticed that it is becoming easier for you to perform poses that at first were difficult or not given to you at all. You may also have noticed that the pain began to subside. This is not an accident. Weak hips can put stress on the knees due to improper placement of the femur and tibia. Weak muscles The hips can put stress on the spine, leading to back pain. Lack of flexibility in muscles and connective tissues such as connective sheaths (fascia) and ligaments can lead to poor posture.
2) Strength
Strong muscles give much more than an attractive body. They also protect us from diseases such as arthritis and back pain, and help prevent the risk of falls in the elderly. If you can strengthen your muscles with yoga, you can balance them with flexibility. If you, for example, go to the gym and pump your muscles, they will become strong, but this will not add to your flexibility.
3) Correct posture
Your head is somewhat like a bowling ball - it is round, large and heavy. Keeping your head above a straight spine does a lot of good for your neck and back muscles as it supports them and balances them. Tilt your head a few inches forward and you will feel the tension in your muscles. Keeping your head tilted for 8-12 hours, you will realize that there is nothing surprising in the fact that at the end of the day you will feel very tired. Fatigue is not your only problem. Incorrect posture leads to problems with the back, neck and other muscles and joints. When you slouch, your back and neck become arched, and prolonged slouching leads to back pain, degenerative arthritis of the spine.
4) Joint and cartilage health
Every time you do yoga, your joints work at full capacity and turn to the maximum distance. This helps prevent degenerative arthritis and also activates areas of cartilage that normally remain immobile due to lack of movement. The connective tissues of cartilage are like sponges, they receive fresh nutrients only when their fluids are squeezed out and new ones are absorbed back. If these areas do not work enough, they wear out, exposing the bones, which eventually turns into pain in the legs.
5) Health of the vertebral discs
The vertebral discs - the shock absorbers between the spine and the compressive nerves - must be mobile. This is how they get the nutrition they need. If you practice yoga, including balanced poses, flexing and arching your back, doing twists in your workouts, this will give your disks flexibility.
6) Strong bones
Weight training is well known to help strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis. Many yoga poses are designed to allow you to lift your body weight. For example, postures such as down-facing dog and up-facing dog help strengthen the bones in the hands, which are especially vulnerable to damage from osteoporosis. Yoga practice improves spinal bone density, according to UCLA research. Yoga's ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol helps keep calcium in the bones.
7) Improved circulation
Yoga helps improve blood circulation. Relaxation exercises promote good blood circulation, especially in the arms and legs. Yoga also helps to deliver more oxygen to the cells, which, as a result, start working better. Twisting postures squeeze venous blood out of the internal organs and help deliver oxygenated blood when you come out of the twisting position. Inverted postures such as headstand, handstand, and shoulder stand help venous blood from the legs and pelvis return to the heart, where it enters the lungs and is better oxygenated. This is especially useful for those who have foot problems due to poor heart and kidney function. Yoga also helps increase hemoglobin levels and increases the number of white blood cells that deliver oxygen to tissues. This thins the blood, preventing blood clots from forming, and reduces the levels of blood proteins that contribute to clogging of blood vessels. This reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes, since blood clots often lead to these problems.
8) Strengthen the lymphatic system
When you contract and strengthen muscles, move your whole body while doing yoga asanas, you improve the drainage of lymph (a viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This allows the lymphatic system to better deal with infections, destroy cancer cells, and remove toxic waste from cells.
9) Healthy heart
When you regularly train your heart with aerobic activity, you significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and also get rid of depression. Although not all yoga asanas involve aerobic exercise, if you are doing complex exercises, you may notice that your heart rate increases. Even if some poses do not make your heart beat faster, they still contribute to good adaptation. of cardio-vascular system. Studies have shown that practicing yoga lowers your resting heart rate, improves endurance, and helps you get more oxygen during exercise, all of which have many cardiovascular benefits.
10) Pressure reduction
If you have high blood pressure, you can improve the situation with yoga. Two studies in people with hypertension published in the British Medical Journal The Lancet, compared with the action of Shavasana ("corpse pose") with the usual lying on the couch. After 3 months, the results of the studies showed that Savasana reduced systolic blood pressure (maximum level) by 26 points and diastolic blood pressure (minimum pressure) by 15 points. The higher the initial level of pressure, the more it dropped to a normal level.
11) Getting rid of anxiety
Yoga helps lower cortisol levels. Under normal conditions, the adrenal gland produces cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily stimulates the function of the immune system. But if cortisol levels are still elevated after the crisis has passed, it can harm the immune system. A temporary rise in cortisol helps preserve long-term memory, but chronically high level can damage memory and lead to permanent changes in the brain. What's more, excess cortisol has been linked to depression, osteoporosis (it leaches calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with bone formation), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high levels of cortisol, scientists say, leads to a behavior in which rodents tend to eat more when irritated or stressed. The body receives extra calories, which are stored as belly fat, which means you start to get fat, and you are at increased risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
12) Happiness and getting rid of depression
Are you upset about something? Sit in the Lotus position. Or better yet, do the Semi-Elevated Pose - standing on one leg, straighten one arm forward, and with the other grab the other leg from behind, making a bend in the back. Although these poses can be quite challenging for beginners, with practice they can help you get rid of depression, as well as help to significantly increase serotonin levels, reduce levels of monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters) and cortisol. Ph.D Richard Davidson from University of Wisconsin discovered that left side the prefrontal cortex of the brain shows activity during meditation, which indicates that a person receives a sufficiently high portion of happiness and his immunity increases. More severe activation of this zone is observed in those who regularly practice yoga and meditation.
13) Dealing with excess weight issues
Move more and eat less - these recommendations are for everyone who wants to lose weight. Yoga classes also give you physical activity, and also contribute to the transition to proper nutrition. Regular yoga classes make you move more, so you burn more calories, and the spiritual and emotional components of your practice will help you do right choice food and can help solve the problem of excess weight. Yoga also inspires you to eat more mindfully.
14) Reduced blood sugar
Yoga helps to reduce sugar and bad cholesterol levels, increases the level of good cholesterol. In people with diabetes, yoga has been shown to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, helping to reduce weight, and improving insulin sensitivity. By lowering your blood sugar, you can reverse many of the effects of diabetes, including heart attacks, kidney failure, and blindness.
15) Improve memory
An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have shown that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, and even IQ scores. People who practice transcendental meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and receive and remember information better. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they are less distracted by extraneous thoughts.
16) Calming the nerves
Yoga helps you relax, slow down your breathing, and focus on the present by shifting balance from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system. The latter helps to calm down, restore strength, it reduces the frequency of breathing and heart rate, lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation in the digestive and reproductive systems and has a relaxing effect.
17) Improved balance and coordination of movements
Regular yoga practice enhances proprioception- the ability to sense one's posture in space, and also improve balance. People with poor posture and movement problems usually have poor proprioception due to knee problems or back pain. A good balance will not let you fall. For older people, this is especially important, as they get more independence, they can take care of themselves, and they turn to doctors less. For everyone else, postures like Tree Pose help you feel more stable in your legs.
18) Body Control
Some advanced yogis can control their body in unusual ways. Scientists studied yogis who could cause an unusual heartbeat, generate specific electroencephalogram indicators, and, using meditative techniques, raise the temperature of the hands. That is, it demonstrates that yoga can be used to increase circulation in the pelvis if you want to get pregnant, or to force yourself to relax if you have insomnia.
19) Relieve Muscle Tension
Have you ever noticed that you can grab a phone in a death grip or make a face while staring at a computer screen? These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, joint pain, arm, shoulder, neck and face pain, which only exacerbate stress and worsen mood. When you start doing yoga, you begin to feel where tension is being held, perhaps in the tongue, in the eyes, in the muscles of the face or neck. If you tune in correctly, you can eliminate tension. However, for large muscles, it may take years of practice to learn how to relax them.
20) Serenity
Stimulation is sometimes good, but not always for the nervous system. Yoga helps you get rid of turmoil modern life. Restorative asanas, yoga nidra (a form of guided relaxation), savasana, pranayama and meditation support pratyahara, the technique of withdrawing the senses from objects, which helps to calm the nervous system. Another benefit of regular yoga practice has been shown in studies to improve sleep. This means that you will be less tired and less stressed.
21) Improving the functioning of the immune system
Asanas and pranayama (a system of breathing exercises) can improve immune system function, although scientists believe meditation is the most beneficial for the immune system. Meditation helps to stimulate the immune system when needed, such as raising antibody levels when vaccinated, and also reduces immune system function when needed, such as helping to reduce the effects of inappropriately aggressive system function in autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and others.
22) Healthy breathing
Yogis try to take fewer breaths, but deeper ones, which helps to calm the nervous system and is more efficient breathing. In 1998 the magazine The Lancet published studies in which people with lung problems due to coronary heart disease learned a yogic technique known as " full breath"After a month, their average respiratory rate decreased by 13.4 -7.6 breaths per minute. At the same time, their ability to carry out physical activity improved significantly, as well as increased oxygen saturation. Moreover, yoga helps to improve lung functions, including maximizing the volume of air inhaled and exhaling it efficiently.Yoga promotes breathing through the nose, which helps to purify the air, warms and humidifies it (cold, dry air contributes to asthma attacks in people who are especially sensitive to the disease), delays the entry of dust and pollution into the lungs.
23) Good job intestines
Ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation - all these troubles can worsen. If you experience less stress, you will suffer less. Yoga, like other physical activity, relieves constipation and theoretically reduces the risk of bowel cancer, because it helps food move faster in the intestines. And although there has not yet been scientific evidence, yogis believe that twisting poses will especially help get rid of constipation.
24) Peace of Mind
Yoga helps calm an anxious mind. In other words, it helps to slow down thoughts and rid you of the frustration, regrets, anger, fears and desires that cause stress. Since stress brings a host of health problems, from migraines and insomnia to lupus, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure, and heart attacks, if you learn to calm your mind, you're more likely to live happily ever after.
25) Signs from Above
Many of us suffer from chronically low self-esteem. If you drown out this problem with drugs, overeating, hard work or debauchery, you will pay for it with your physical and mental health. If you turn to positive ways to build self-esteem, such as yoga, you will experience short flashes at first, and then more. major changes your sense of self. If you regularly practice yoga for self-examination or self-awareness, and not just for a change after going to the gym, you can find a completely different side of yourself. You will experience feelings of gratitude, compassion and forgiveness, and you will realize that you are part of something Big. Although better health is not the most important goal of spiritual development, it is often a by-product.
26) Pain Relief
Yoga helps relieve your pain. According to several studies, asanas, meditation, or a combination of both, reduce pain in people with arthritis, suffering from back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and other chronic diseases. If you can relieve the pain, your mood will improve, you will be more active and you won't need to take medication.
27) Fire Treatment
Yoga helps you change your life. In fact, this is the greatest power that yoga has. "Tapa" The Sanskrit word for "heat" is fire, the discipline that nourishes yogic practice and upon which regular practice is built. The tapa you develop can intensify throughout life to overcome inertia and get rid of bad habits. Once you start practicing yoga, you will notice that your life changes: you start eating better, exercising more, quitting smoking after several years of unsuccessful attempts.
28) Guru Gifts
Good yoga instructors can provide many health tips. The very best of them don't just teach you how to do different poses correctly. They keep track of what postures you should do, when you need to go further or slow down a bit, help you relax and make your practice most effective for you personally. A respectful relationship with a teacher will help you learn many useful things.
29) Less drugs
If your medicine cabinet looks like a pharmacy kiosk, it might be time for a yoga class. Studies in people with asthma, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or obsessive compulsive disorder have shown that yoga can help them reduce their intake. medicines, and for some allowed to completely abandon the drugs. If we talk about the benefits of taking fewer drugs, then they can be counted in great numbers: saving, getting rid of side effects, the risk of hazardous interactions, and so on.
30) Getting rid of anger
Yoga and meditation promote awareness. The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be for you to deal with destructive emotions such as anger. Research suggests that chronic anger and hostility are strongly associated with heart attacks, as are smoking, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Yoga seems to help release anger by increasing feelings of compassion and connectedness, as well as calming the nervous system and mind. It also improves the ability to cope with life's difficulties, to endure bad news, to find the strength to cope with events that unsettle you. You will be able to react quickly in the right situation. There is evidence that yoga speeds up our reactions. IN difficult situation you can find correct solution and you will suffer less.
31) Good relationship
Love cannot overcome everything, but it can help heal. By cultivating emotional support for friends, family, and community, you help yourself, improve your health, and heal from disease. Regular yoga practice helps develop friendliness, compassion and strong self-control. In addition to its emphasis on not harming others, yoga philosophy also encourages you to tell the truth and take only what you really need. This is what will help you improve relationships with many people.
32) Power of Sounds
The basics of yoga - asanas, pranayama and meditation - help to improve health, but yoga will give you much more. Take, for example, chants - chanting mantras. Mantras promote a longer exhalation, which helps shift the balance to the parasympathetic nervous system. If you chant mantras in a group, they can bring more benefits, you will experience a more powerful physical and emotional experience. Recent Research Swedish Karolinska Institute have shown that buzzing sounds, such as chanting the sound "Om," for example, open up the sinuses and facilitate drainage.
33) Alleviate the suffering of patients with serious illnesses
If you imagine an image during yoga nitra or other practices, you may notice that your body is changing. Several studies have shown that guided imaging can help reduce postoperative pain, relieve frequent headaches, and improve quality of life in people with cancer or AIDS.
34) Cleansing the body
Kriya Cleansing practices are another element of yoga. They include many practices ranging from quick breathing exercises to cleansing internal organs such as the intestines. jala neti– gentle cleansing of the sinuses with saline solution – helps to remove impurities and viruses from the nose, prevents the formation of mucus, helps to clear the sinuses.
35) Benefiting Yourself Through Service to Others
Karma yoga(service to others) is also a constituent philosophy of yoga. Even if you do not seek to serve others, your health will improve if you do so. Researchers from University of Michigan found that older adults who volunteered less than 1 hour per week were three times more likely to be alive after 7 years. Service to others gives meaning to your life, and your problems don't seem so bad when you see what others have to deal with.
36) Healing Hope
Most patients who are treated with traditional methods are passive recipients of care. In yoga, what you do for yourself matters. Yoga gives you the tool to change and you can feel better from the start of your practice. You notice that the more you practice, the more benefit you bring to yourself. As a result, you achieve the following: you begin to take care of yourself, you discover that your participation gives you the strength to change, and you also see that these changes give you hope. Hope, in turn, helps heal itself.
37) Everything is connected
When you read about the benefits yoga gives you, you notice a lot of overlap. This is because all these things are closely related to each other. Change your posture and you will change your breathing. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the most important yoga lessons. Everything is interconnected: your pelvis is connected to your talus, you are connected to society, the society around you is connected to the world. These relationships are vital to understanding yoga. This comprehensive system simultaneously uses many mechanisms that complement each other and give many effects.
38) Placebo Power
If you believe that you will get the best, you can get it. Unfortunately, many mainstream scientists believe that if something works because of the placebo effect, it doesn't count. However, many patients, when they really want to be cured, recite mantras at the beginning or end of yoga classes or during meditation practices or just during the day, this speeds up their recovery. Even if it's a placebo effect, how many people think it's bad if the person is really cured?
Most people who start yoga are interested in two things:
- Health
- Getting rid of excess weight
Well, yes, there are, of course, those who really want to find the meaning of life, solve their problems, etc. However, most people still ask exactly how to restore lost health, and.
Traditionally, it is believed that in order to lose overweight, intensive physical exercise which burn excess calories. All this is true, but it is not the only and incomplete way to solve the problem. Of course, there are types of yoga in which you really have to sweat a lot, for example, in Bikram yoga or in Ashtanga Vinyasa. But “classic” Hatha yoga also helps to lose weight if we do everything right and understand how it all works.
Excess weight is, in a way, an indicator (one of the indicators) that something is wrong in our body and / or in life, the balance is disturbed, there is no harmony - moreover, these are not just some “impractical” and ephemeral concepts. No. All this is directly related to both diseases and obesity (or just extra kilos).
For example, one of the yoga teachers shared a story when one of the women who studied with him lost almost 5 kg of weight in a week. When he asked the woman what, in her opinion, the reason for such weight loss, she replied that for the first time in a very long time she was able to step back from her everyday problems and just relax.
Often, thanks to such a “simple” relaxation, the connection between the body and consciousness is restored, and the lost balance returns to us. And when there is a balance (internal and external), but everything returns to normal, including weight.
So here you go first reason, showing what is good - it allows us to relax, part with problems and stress, thanks to which we reconnect with our body and mind, helping everything to come into balance and find harmony. Of course, this becomes possible through the regular practice of yoga.
yoga cleanses
The second reason why yoga helps to lose weight is the release of toxins.
Usually, being overweight is a sign that too much waste has accumulated in the body. Getting rid of them, you will also get rid of excess weight. Do not think that this is any separate reason from the first. No, they are related. When a person experiences stress, cannot relax, this creates excessive stress on all body systems, they begin to work less efficiently, as a result, not all waste products of cells are successfully removed from the body, toxins accumulate. This is especially true for our internal "filters": the liver and kidneys.
Thanks to the regular practice of yoga, our organs are well toned, various deposits are removed from them, which allows them to work again with maximum efficiency. For example, gently massages the kidneys, stimulating their work. beneficial effect on the liver. Twisting poses tone the nerves and tissues around the spine, Uddiyana Bandha helps to remove toxins from the intestines, and stimulates digestion.
Most yoga poses stretch and strengthen muscles and tendons, develop joints and ligaments, and improve blood circulation. All this optimizes the metabolic processes in the body, which, in particular, are responsible for the elimination of toxins.
Yoga releases repressed emotions
Third reason why weight loss with yoga happens is that they usually don’t take into account when they choose the “optimal” way to lose weight for themselves - this emotional sphere.
Probably, many have heard of such a thing as "emotional food"? Its essence lies in the fact that we are trying to “crush” negative feelings or emotions by eating (often at the wrong time and in the wrong quantities) our favorite food or indulging ourselves in our other weaknesses.
When food is taken under such circumstances, it really, in a sense, switches attention to itself, tearing it away from unpleasant thoughts. However, the problem is that this negative emotional energy does not disappear anywhere, remaining in the body, as a result of which an internal imbalance occurs, and the person becomes fat.
As you can see, this third reason is related to the first two. Through yoga, we can release these repressed emotions. How does this happen? In short: through the practice of yoga, you begin to feel better first your own body, then your mind; then you begin to feel the connection between the body and the mind, and how our thoughts and feelings affect the body, and vice versa - how the state of the body is reflected in our thoughts and emotions.
Sometimes the very performance of postures can lead to a “splash” of trapped emotions, due to the deep impact of yoga asanas. One woman shared her experience that when she was doing the pose, she gently tilted her head back in the final position, at which point tears spontaneously flowed from her eyes and she felt as if a heavy burden had been dropped from her shoulders. After that, she felt an extraordinary lightness and peace.
The practice of yoga allows you to feel better, to feel how everything is connected: both in our body and in the world that surrounds us. When you begin to feel what is happening inside you and around you, you begin to better understand these processes, and over time, even manage them.
Yoga promotes weight loss
So, here are three reasons (although, of course, they are not the only ones) for how you can lose weight with the help of yoga. All you need is just to remember to spread the rug every day. Good luck!
