10 Ways Yoga Helps Us Lead a Healthy Life

Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that originated from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” or “to bind.” Although the modern media led us to believe that Yoga is all about perfecting physical poses, it has a more deep-lying impact. People who have performed Yogasanas have unknowingly harnessed and manipulated the atmospheric pressure to boost their physical and spiritual powers. This is something beyond science – something that even physics classes can’thelp but leave unexplained.
Yes, you can improve your life in various ways by performing regular meditation and chanting mantras. Read along to know more.
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Increases Flexibility
In 2016, there was a survey conducted by two leading Yoga websites aimed to find out the reason behind the ever-increasing popularity of Yoga in western countries. The number one reason cited by most people in the survey was “it increases flexibility.” We cannot deny the importance of flexibility in our daily life.
After a certain age, we start losing our natural flexibility. This leads to many physical complications in aged people. However, scientific studies have proven that practicing Yoga of different intensities helps them to slow down the aging process and increase flexibility.
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Relieves Stress
Recent studies have shown that a significant part of the modern population suffers from depression and is overly stressed. The tremendous pressure of the workplace is a huge reason for depression and stress. So, many experts and medical practitioners advise Yoga as the ideal solution for such people.
There is ample scientific proof that practicing asanas help in lowering your stress levels. Here are some Yoga forms you can practice to release the stress and rejuvenate yourself –
- Standing forward bend
- Cat-Cow Pose
- Easy Pose
- Head to knee forward bend
- Bridge pose
- Corpse pose
- Child’s pose
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Improves mental health
Mental disorders are becoming increasingly common among the global population. The medical fraternity has already declared MDD or Major Depressive Disorder as one of the major ailments in the world. In spite of improvements in the medical sector, doctors and healers are advising Yoga as a better alternative to treat this disorder.
They advise several movement-based Yoga therapies and breathing exercises that can reduce acute MDD through regular practice.
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Increases strength
Although Yoga gets associated mostly with increasing flexibility and stretching, it can also help to build core strength. Depending on your level of expertise, approach, and guru, you can use Yoga for various purposes. Many people have stated that they even improved their strength by practicing Yoga asanas.
However, people use the term building strength in different contexts. For example, children develop increased physical strength by doing regular Yoga. Aged people regained strength to battle their old-age problems, and many patients found the strength to gain energy to recover from their ailments.
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Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation is a precursor to most illnesses. You will find inflammations on various parts of your body before you get diagnosed with diseases like
- Crohn’s disease
- Heart problems
- Diabetes
- Arthritis and many others.
Upon expensive study on such patients who have recovered from these diseases revealed their secret. They all stated that they all practiced Yoga as advised by their trainers. Various styles of Yoga at different intensities and duration helped them to lower their biochemical markers, thus reducing inflammation and several chronic illnesses.
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Reduces Anxiety
ADAA, or the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, rates anxiety disorders as one of the most common mental health disorders in the US. A large section of American citizens suffer from different forms of anxiety-related disorders like –
- General anxiety disorder
- Phobias
- Social anxiety
- Chronic stress
Various studies and medical experts suggest Yoga as the best alternative to deal with anxiety-related disorders. Doing Nadhi Sodhana, Baddha Konasana, Setubandha, and Ustrasana help battle anxiety and depression. There are many other forms of asana that have been scientifically proved to reduce symptoms of anxiety.
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Improves Immunity
Stress and anxiety can negatively affect your immune system. This is why people often succumb to various ailments when they are not in the right state of mind. If you want to treat stress issues and boost immunity without the help of traditional medicines, there is no better alternative than Yoga.
Researchers are still performing experiments to unravel the secrets, but they have seen a direct link between Yoga and its role in improving the immunity system. Especially upon practicing Yoga for a long time, you can bolster your cell-mediated immunity and keep any disease at bay.
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Improves Balance
Balancing is not just antics and flexing how you can stand on one leg. We need balance in various tasks in our daily lives, like reaching for a high shelf, stretching to pick something up, or jogging down the stairs. Especially if you are an athlete, balance is an integral part of your life.
According to various studies, most healthy people credit Yoga as a crucial element that helps to improve their balance. Especially among the older populations, losing balance is a common issue. They may fall down from doing their daily tasks, which may even lead to death. So aged people are more encouraged to do Yoga to avoid such injuries.
Many old people even use chair Yoga and adaptive Yoga that are already suffering from injuries and have limited mobility.
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Helps in cardiovascular functioning
Pranayama, or “yogic breathing,” is one of the basic forms of Yoga. Yet this simple form of breathing is one of the best methods for avoiding cardiovascular issues. Especially in a time when many people are suffering from chronic heart issues because of diet and environmental issues, Yoga can help them to live better.
Pranayama has been found to cure many cardiac issues like –
- Strokes
- Heart rate
- Arterial pressure
- Contractibility of the heart
It also influences our brain’s cardiorespiratory centre to improve our basic functioning.
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Improves Sleep
Yoga has been seen to improve the sleep patterns of an individual. People can have messed up sleep cycles because of hectic work schedules. As a result, they struggle to fall asleep and wake up easily. Yoga can help in such circumstances by calming the brain and helping us to fall asleep.
Summing Up:
Yoga is an ancient and diverse practice; many parts of it are still unknown to global citizens. There is continuous research going on to determine if Yoga is truly as helpful as touted by the ancient Indian practitioners thousands of years ago. Although they are yet to find our scientific explanation for everything, it is now proven that Yoga does have a beneficial effect on our body. However, remember that Yoga is not just a physical movement; it is a way of life that you must practise every day. Find the style and approach that suits you and invest some time in practicing Yoga and in yourself.