More Reasons to Give Yoga another Try
When was the last time you attended a yoga class or practised some yogic movements in your room? While high-intensity workouts like running, cycling and boxing can all make great changes in your health, even the modest forms of exercise can also benefit your health in significant ways. One of them is yoga. What’s more interesting about this gentle exercise is that it does not only strengthen your body, it nourishes your mind too.
Maybe you stopped practising yoga for many reasons, such as a busy schedule. But this ancient mind-and-body exercise is really worth another try, and we’ve come up with more reasons why.
It’s so good for your brain.
Even just a 20-minute bout of yoga stimulates brain function immediately after your practice, researchers from the University of Illinois found. The team, headed by former graduate student Neha Gothe observed a significant improvement in the speed and accuracy on tests of working memory among participants after the yoga practise than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time.
“Yoga is an ancient Indian science and way of life that includes not only physical movements and postures but also regulated breathing and meditation,” said Gothe, who is now a professor of kinesiology, health and sport studies at Wayne State University in Detroit. “The practice involves an active attentional or mindfulness component but its potential benefits have not been thoroughly explored.”
Yoga strengthens your bones.
Whilst it’s true that bones tend to get more brittle with age, practising yoga regularly can do great wonders in your bone health, even if you are an older adult. The great thing about this exercise is that it is very gentle that even those with some physical disabilities, as well as older people, can do it. It is safe and very effective. In a 2009 study by Dr Loren Fishman of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City, she showed that yoga can improve upon or substitute for traditional Western medical treatments for osteoporosis, which affects 200 million people worldwide. Dr Fishman argued that some yoga postures seem to have been designed many hundreds of years ago specifically for those who want to keep their bones strong. In her book “Yoga for Osteoporosis”, she said yoga poses are good for preventing or reversing bone loss safely.
Regular dose of yoga can bring your anxiety levels down.
Always feeling anxious? Try yoga. New research from Boston University Medical Centre found that yoga may be superior to other forms of exercise in its positive effect on mood and anxiety. The findings, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, is the first to demonstrate an association between yoga postures can raise GABA levels and decreased anxiety.
What’s more, a yoga practice can boost the release of endorphins or the ‘happy chemicals’ in your brain, increasing your mood.
It’s a good activity for your “me-time”.
Even if you’re doing yoga with other people (we’re talking about a yoga class), it is still an individual practice. A few moments of solitude gives you some time to reflect, evaluate and observe, and just be yourself. Yes, yoga is a powerful mindfulness exercise that leads to greater happiness and peace of mind.
Yoga’s good for your romantic life.
Did you know yoga can benefit your sex life too? People who practice yoga report feeling less stressed. And as you may know, stress is one of the major causes of sexual issues, particularly reduced libido. Not only that. Yoga can boost arousal, orgasm and general sexual satisfaction in women as it helps them become more familiar with their bodies.
Hope these additional benefits of yoga can bring back your enthusiasm to start practising again. With yoga, you have nothing to lose, only many things to gain.
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