1.Improves your flexibility
Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won’t be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you’ll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You’ll also probably notice that aches and pains start to disappear. That’s no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones.
2. Can Decrease Stress
Yoga is known for its ability to ease stress and promote relaxation.
In fact, multiple studies have shown that it can decrease the secretion of cortisol, the primary stress hormone . One study demonstrated the powerful effect of yoga on stress by following 24 women who perceived themselves as emotionally distressed.
After a three-month yoga program, the women had significantly lower levels of cortisol. They also had lower levels of stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression .Another study of 131 people had similar results, showing that 10 weeks of yoga helped reduce stress and anxiety. It also helped improve quality of life and mental health.
3. It Protects Your Heart
Your yoga instructor is always talking about “opening your heart” for a reason. “Yoga can reduce high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and stress, all risk factors for heart disease, . And it’s not just the chill factor: Performing savasana is associated with greater improvements in blood pressure compared to simply lying on the couch.
4. Builds muscle strength
Strong muscles do more than look good. They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just went to the gym and lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.
5. Relieves Anxiety
Many people begin practicing yoga as a way to cope with feelings of anxiety.Interestingly enough, there is quite a bit of research showing that yoga can help reduce anxiety.In one study, 34 women diagnosed with an anxiety disorder participated in yoga classes twice weekly for two months.
At the end of the study, those who practiced yoga had significantly lower levels of anxiety than the control group .Another study followed 64 women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by severe anxiety and fear following exposure to a traumatic event.
6. It Makes You Smarter
Twenty minutes of yoga improves the brain’s ability to quickly and accurately process information (even more so than running does), says a study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. “While most exercise gives you a choice to either zone in or zone out, yoga encourages you to return to the present and pay attention. “This mindful awareness has been correlated with structural changes in the brain, including growth in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region associated with executive function, working memory, and attention.”
7. Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown
Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by “squeezing and soaking” areas of cartilage that normally aren’t used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out brake pads.
8. Could Reduce Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is a persistent problem that affects millions of people and has a range of possible causes, from injuries to arthritis.There is a growing body of research demonstrating that practicing yoga could help reduce many types of chronic pain.
In one study, 42 individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome either received a wrist splint or did yoga for eight weeks.At the end of the study, yoga was found to be more effective in reducing pain and improving grip strength than wrist splinting.
9. It Makes Sex So Much Better
While it’s natural to feel sexier as you become stronger and more confident (no matter the exercise), yoga’s sex-enhancing ways go beyond those of other workouts, says ob-gyn Alyssa Dweck, M.D., coauthor of V Is for Vagina. It not only tones your muscles, but it improves your flexibility, increases your core stability, and strengthens your pelvic floor muscles-which translates into a tighter down-there grip and stronger orgasms
10. Betters your bone health
It’s well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like Downward- and Upward-Facing Dog, help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. In an unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertebrae. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol may help keep calcium in the bones.
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Sources:www.yogajournal.com,www.healthline.com,www.shape.com
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