Yoga has many benefits that go way beyond the fashionable clothing associated with it. Yoga is a way of life that just by doing it, helps create a healthier lifestyle overall.
The best way to get started is to just get a membership and commit to going. Aside from booking and commitment, here are some of the benefits yoga brings.
Yoga supports the Immune system
Yoga is known for helping out our immune system by calming it down. There’s a large nerve inside the body called the ‘vagus nerve’ which helps our body try to restore balance and is like a communication highway between the body and the brain.
To find out more about the vagus nerve and its function, check out the article below.
The Vagus Nerve: Your Superhighway to Health
Our immune system also gets a helping hand by practising yoga because yoga helps improve the circulation of blood around our body. Postures can help reduce the blood flow to a region of the body and when released, blood can flow back to these parts.
Better circulation through a calmer internal response helps our immune system to fight off infection. When we’re in a calmer state, our body is more able to relax so the immune system does what it’s supposed to do – protect us from external ‘threats’.
yoga helps with focus
One of the great things about yoga, it’s hard to focus on other things while you’re doing it. It’s like a moving meditation that requires control and attention. Yoga provides an opportunity to go within which helps reduce any external ‘noise’ from our environment.
When we concentrate on moving from one posture to another, we are brought back into the present moment each time. It can help us focus on our breathing and where we are breathing from within the body.
This stillness through focus can help us be more ‘present‘ in the moment. By focusing on moving the body through listening and observing, our ability to follow instructions can improve. This is a positive side-effect that I’ve noticed that’s flowed into other areas of my life.
certain postures can aid sleep
This is definitely an area I’m yet to see the results but I’ll keep trying. Certain ‘gentle’ postures before bed can help with sleep. Because we are all different, it’s a matter of working out what works for our body.
I know that when I was doing ‘Hot’ yoga in the evening (aka Bikram Yoga), it wasn’t a type of yoga that was suited to me because it ‘hyped’ me up in the evening rather than settling me.
The yoga that I now do in the evenings, is relaxing and calming and helps me settle down for the evening. This combined with switching off devices, listening to an audiobook, and dimming the lights, help get me more prepared for sleep. We just have to do what works for us as we are all unique. I also like to do meditations of yoga nidra for sleep on the app Insight Timer.
building ‘strength’ has two meanings
While some people think of yoga as strength-building through movement, it’s also character-building. That’s my opinion of course but once you get started, feeling ‘strong’ psychologically seems to be a side-effect of doing yoga.
While it helps the physical benefits can include helping our spine which may help us as we age, preventing us from falls later in life.
Check out the clip below to find out more about the benefits of doing a yoga practice.
While I have noticed that my physical strength has improved, I’ve also found yoga to be a comforting and inner strength-building process.
Because yoga provides the opportunity to go ‘inside’ the body and mind, getting in tune with how the body feels through ‘stillness’, seems to help build inner strength and resilience. This inner strength and resilience can then flow into other areas of life
flexibility
When I first started yoga, there were a few times I just lay down flat. My yoga practice started with Hot Yoga years ago, but the yoga I do now is much easier on my back and my lifestyle. It’s more of a restorative practice that combines stretching, meditation and even some small-ball work. The small ball work class is my most favourite as it really helps release tension within the fascia of the skin.
Heart health
Yoga can be good for our heart health in more ways than one. While it does raise the heart rate which can help circulation and blood pressure, it also has other benefits for our heart.
Over the years I’ve struggled with addiction to tobacco. On again, off again, on again. It’s certainly a highly addictive substance that keeps drawing me back whether I’m stressed, happy, content or excited. But by going to yoga, I’m now less likely to want to smoke because it just doesn’t fit with my ‘yoga’ lifestyle anymore. I make sure that I book in a class every day and try my hardest to attend.
Swapping good habits for unhealthy ones is the way to go. This goes the same for drinking. If I book in an evening class of yoga, the chances of my drinking that night drop to zero. Tip: Book it in and GO, but don’t give ourselves a hard time if we slip up. Life’s a process that keeps evolving. Go with it and keep trying!
balance
All our body wants to do is maintain balance. It’s just ‘US’ that gets in its way. So ‘balance’ has a couple of meanings here as well. Yes, yoga can help us balance on one foot plus other things, but it also provides ‘balance’ between the mind, body and spirit.
In order to help our body out, we can try to get out of its way to achieve the balance it needs. For me, yoga is a great way to achieve ‘balance’ in more ways than one.
relaxation, calm & happiness
The yoga studio I attend includes many classes that focus on meditation and restorative practices. Because of this, it’s not only relaxing in the moment, the long-term benefit I’ve noticed is that I feel calmer and happier overall.
Each session is really just a small segment of the day, so making this time to chill and relax with a group of other like-minded people, feels like a good way to spend my time. It just feels good knowing that I am part of this small community that also wants to find peace and happiness in the moment.
Bottom line
Not everyone is into yoga so it’s best to try different things until we find something that resonates with us and our lifestyle. Also, there are many different practices of yoga so exploring one that suits us, is worth doing.
Most of all, have fun! Do something that makes us happy and that fits with our lifestyle, goals and beliefs.
Eve Mitchell
I loved that you mentioned that yoga can help us maintain balance. I would really like to start doing yoga online on my lunch break. I work at a desk, so I want to be able to fit some movement into my day.
Emma Bailey
That’s great! I’ve found even a few minutes a day is beneficial, particularly in the evening for me to wind down. Thanks for commenting and sharing.