Top 5 Benefits of Yoga
Yoga is a Healthy Lifestyle.
Yoga has been practiced by the eastern cultures for centuries and there’s no doubt why. There is a slew of benefits that arise out of the practice that once it was introduced the west – it grew like wildfire! What are those benefits? Since there are so many, we’ve chosen the Top 5 Benefits of Yoga.
Increased Flexibility & Muscle Strength
Yoga is a dynamic practice as it combines movements of stretching, balance, core strengthening and over time improves your mobility and increases your strength. Increasing your strength will help you protect your bones and helps against back pain and possible arthritis. The great thing about combining strength and flexibility is that you stay balanced and gain the benefits of both.
The key is: to stick with it to see the benefits.
Perfects Your Posture
Let’s face it, most of us sit at a computer and sit for most of our days. Most people have jobs and careers that are either sedentary or creates bad posture. Think of your posture as you sit at your desk… is your back curved and is your body leaning forward? Are your shoulders compressed to your ears or folding forward? When you sit up from your desk do you feel aches and pains? Bad posture over a period of time will cause degenerative arthritis of the spine and cause pain in your neck. If you’ve answered yes to one or more of these questions, then adding a yoga practice to your lifestyle will help you counter this and other bad posture habits.
Increased Energy & Vitality
Yoga poses introduce you to a variety of body axis, such as bending forward, inversions, and twists that moves more oxygen into your cells helping them increase performance. Yoga is also good to get your heart pumping for the cardio benefits as well. Another way to think of this is imagining your body as a snow globe. If it just sits, then all the snow settles to the bottom. The stagnant snow will start to deteriorate, clog, and become toxic. The best way to maintain vitality of your snow globe, and this case your body, is to keep it moving in all different directions so the blood flows, removes clots and toxins, as well as boost the hemoglobin to the red blood cells.
Getting your body functioning on a higher level with movement will increase your overall energy, mood and vitality.
Stimulate the Adrenal Glands
According to Web MD, cortisol is nature’s “built in alarm system. It’s your body’s main stress hormone and it works with certain parts of your brain to control mood, motivation and fear.” The adrenal glads secrete cortisol in the body. Practicing yoga lowers these levels helping to improve the immune system, memory, and fight depression.
Builds Awareness & Encourages a Healthy Lifestyle
Simply practicing yoga will not only introduce you to a balanced workout with its many benefits, it will inspire you to be more mindful of what you eat, how you hold your body, and look to the world. It will also offer a community of like-minded people all on the journey of healthy living.
