Discover What Yoga Can Do For You And Your Body
We all have our own superficial ideas about the wonderful benefits of Yoga for the mind and body. However, most of us don’t actually have an in-depth knowledge and understanding on the myriad positive impacts practicing yoga can bring to our lives.
There are different types of Yoga and each of these traditions have different physio-psychological effects. But fortunately there are some common benefits that a practitioner can derive from practicing any kind of Yoga including Power Yoga like Vinyasa Yoga.
Some of these benefits are physiological while some others are psychological. In this article, we will discuss the Physiological Benefits of Yoga.
Physiological Benefits Of Yoga
Decreases pulse rate
Slowing down the pulse rate is one of the common benefits that you can achieve when practicing any type of Yoga. Without the aid of any medication, Yoga can effectively slow down your pulse rate, thereby promoting relaxation and releasing tension from the body. If you have certain health problems relating to pulse rate, it is generally recommended that you consult your physician first before joining any Yoga class.
Lowers blood pressure
High blood pressure has become one of the most deadly silent killers in the world today. And as many individuals with cardiovascular diseases know, decreasing the blood pressure can be a real challenge. Fortunately, through regular practice of Yoga, you can gradually decrease your blood pressure, control the progression as well as effectively manage cardiovascular conditions, if any.
Reduces cholesterol level
Another important benefit of practicing Yoga is that it helps to increase blood circulation and to burn fat, which eventually lowers your cholesterol level.
Lowers respiratory rate
Lowering respiratory rate is another important benefit of Yoga. If your respiratory rate is lowered, your lungs can work more efficiently and with more ease. Breathing exercises, practiced along with Yoga poses can help you effectively lower your respiratory rate.
Boosts Immune system
Air and water pollution, global warming and climate change have started affecting our body’s immune system along with the aging process. Yoga will be able to help you improve and boost your immune system, which will help your body to stay strong and healthy despite free radicals and other health factors.
Increases cardiovascular efficiency
We all know that cardiovascular diseases have become one of the common killers in the modern world. Increasing cardiovascular efficiency is very important not only for individuals who already have cardiovascular types of dis-eases, but also for all adults. Regular practice of Yoga helps increase cardiovascular efficiency.
Strengthening your heart (which is a muscle) allows it to pump and circulate more blood with each pulse, thereby becoming more efficient. This is turn lowers your pulse/heart rate. Less energy is consumed by your heart (due to the reduced pulsations per minute) to circulate blood all around your body and therefore this translates to you getting all sorts of physiological benefits!
Normalizes gastrointestinal functions
According to a recent survey conducted by health professionals, it is evident that people who practice Yoga have better gastrointestinal functionality compared to individuals who hardly do any physical activities.
Normalizes body weight
There is another misconception that practicing Yoga will cause you to lose weight. But the truth is that practicing Yoga normalizes your weight, which means if someone is underweight, practicing Yoga will help him or her gain additional pounds to reach the healthy, ideal body weight. On the other hand, if someone is overweight, practicing Yoga can be an effective way to shed off those extra pounds.
Improves balance and increasing flexibility
Attaining and maintaining a balanced physical and mental state is essential for a healthy life. One great way to achieve that is to practice Yoga on a regular basis. Aside from promoting balance, Yoga is also effective in enhancing the flexibility of the body, which is important in preventing injuries. This is why, Yoga For Seniors is highly recommended in strengthening the muscles and improving overall flexibility to prevent injuries.
Anti-aging benefits
Recent studies show that detoxification can help in delaying the natural progression of aging. Yoga promotes the detoxification process within the body. Another research revealed that Yogis who are practicing Yoga usually have better health than the people who hardly engage in any form of exercise.
Improves reflex and reaction time
Quick reflex and reaction time is essential in going through various day to day activities. The ability to quickly react that spell a big difference between safety and danger. Practicing Yoga reduces your reflection time as well as your reaction time. This is highly beneficial in performing any type of activities, most especially for individuals who are engaged in sports or profession that require above average reflex action.
Improves sleep
With the right amount ofrelaxation, quality sleep, one can be able to maintain a healthy body and sound mind. The quality of one’s life can be drastically reduced and performance can be hampered due to inadequate hours of sleep. Through regular Yoga practice, you will be able to enjoy longer and more quality sleep.
Decreases pain
Practicing Yoga reduces body pain, particularly back pain and shoulder pain by stretching and strengthening the muscles. Some yoga poses are very helpful for patients with frozen shoulders. People who practice Yoga regularly report that their back pain has been reduced significantly when they started practicing Yoga. For individuals dealing with pain, the article Yoga For Pain discusses the benefits of Yoga for managing chronic pain.
Increases HDL cholesterol
Practicing Yoga not only increases HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) which is highly beneficial for our health but also decreases LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), which is harmful for our body. Over time, the increased levels of bad cholesterol can clog up the arteries, causing high blood pressure and cardiovascular complications.
Increases red blood cells
Red blood cells, which is primarily responsible for carrying oxygen to the blood significantly increases when one practices Yoga regularly. Sometimes, it is very difficult to increase red blood cells using medication. If you are looking for a safer and more natural way of increasing red blood cells, Yoga is highly recommended.
To best enjoy the benefits of yoga, make sure you end your yoga sequence with savasana or the corpse pose.
