Yoga is originated from ‘Yuji’ word and the meaning of Yuji is union or yoke. Yoga can be understood as an ancient practice to bring your body and mind together. Yoga includes meditation, yoga poses, and breathing exercises as well. Most importantly, yoga aims and encourages bringing relaxation in your body and mind and it even reduces stress.
There are plenty of benefits you can list out for yoga. You can achieve both physical and mental benefits. There are some benefits of yoga which may not be backed up by science but people experience them when they follow yoga regularly.
Yoga for stress reduction
Yoga can promote relaxation and ease stress. Most of the studies on yoga proved that regular practice of yoga can reduce cortisol secretion and reduction of this stress hormone can bring relaxation. Yoga studios have been even done on emotionally distressed people. They all have proved that yoga practice has improved their living and bring back their energy.
Just 10 weeks of yoga practice can bring expected relaxation and reduced stress levels in anyone. It is also proved that people who have undergone studies showed a reduced level of anxiety, stress, depression, and fatigue. So, it is easy to state that yoga, when followed on regular basis for years, can make your life better. More than that, yoga practice can improve mental health and improve quality of life. It is not like modern workout routines or exercise plans which mainly concentrate on your body. Yoga can be considered as exercise and workout for both body and mind. When yoga is practiced along with meditation, it is possible to reduce and keep the stress level extremely low.
Relief from Anxiety
Feelings of anxiety are common in people with high-stress levels and people suffering from depression. It is possible to cope with high anxiety levels by practicing yoga regularly. There are many studies on yoga which mainly focused on people suffering from an anxiety disorder. In one of the studies, women with anxiety disorder practiced yoga for a few weeks and found the best results.
Recent research has shown that people with PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder can also benefit from yoga practice. They should initially start practicing yoga regularly for at least a few weeks. They will experience reduced symptoms just after a few weeks. Even though there are no scientific ways to explain how yoga works on these disorders, people are gaining the best results from yoga.
Reduce Inflammation
This is one of the best results you can achieve from yoga practice. Most of the studies on yoga showed that people involved in studies have experienced reduced inflammation by yoga practice. Inflammation is nothing but a natural immune response. But, in the case of chronic inflammation people found to develop pro-inflammatory diseases. Some of such diseases are heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
There may plenty of exercises mainly designed for stress reduction. But, nothing can be compared to yoga. There are studies conducted just to compare the results of yoga practice and stress reduction exercises. People practiced yoga achieved better stress reduction and inflammation compared to others. Studies that took place on the uses of yoga practice on cancer patients also revealed the best results. In cancer survivors, yoga practice has brought reduced inflammatory markers.
Even though still many studies are going on focusing on the benefits of yoga, thousands of people already experienced the best results from yoga practice.
Yoga for Heart Health
Heart functions are most important for maintaining better health. So, how yoga can benefit the function of your heart? Yoga practice has shown to reduce blood pressure and it even reduced pulse rate. If you have high blood pressure that can bring many heart-related issues. High blood pressure may result in health hazards like stroke and heart attack. So, lowering blood pressure can bring better heart health.
Yoga practice can reduce anxiety and stress and that results in lowered blood pressure. Overall yoga practice regularly can bring overall better health.
Improvement in Quality of Life
In today’s busy and stressful life, the majority of people all over the world are practicing yoga for a better life. Yoga is also practiced as an adjunct therapy for experiencing improvements in day to day life. Since yoga practice directly affects fatigue and mood, it is possible to achieve a better life from yoga. Without stress and anxiety levels, you can lead a more peaceful life. Especially patients suffering from inflammation and cancer can achieve better results from yoga practice.
Conclusion
Along with these, there are plenty of benefits you can achieve from yoga practice. Yoga practice helps you in fighting against the majority of the mental health issues like depression. In some cases, mediation and yoga can help people to reduce chronic pain. If you are suffering from sleep disorders, you should try yoga. Yoga has all the abilities to improve sleep quality.