5 Reasons Why You Should Be Doing Yoga
In addition to simply being a fantastic way to exercise, yoga can balance body, mind and spirit. Additionally, practitioners experience an invigorating sense of serenity and wellbeing throughout a challenging physical routine.
The best thing about yoga? Anyone can reap the benefits – no matter what age, gender, size, strength or flexibility. And it yields virtually instant results, whether it be a sense of calm and tranquility or balance and physical comfort. In fact, yoga is, in its way, a sort of physical therapy you can do yourself. Yoga will strengthen you, making you feel better than you did before, and that’s essentially a guarantee. Initially, you may need to assess the styles and instructors that match you and your needs the best. However, once you find the right fit, yoga has the capability to transform your life for the better. In this post, we’ll explore the five central benefits to practicing yoga.
1. Improve Your Breathing
One of the fundamental pillars of yoga practice involves conscious breathing. The notion of breathing being responsible for oxygenating the body is already common sense. However, in yoga, the belief is that it serves the critical function of connecting body and mind.
Learning to be conscious of the ways in which you inhale and exhale, integrating this with stretches and movement, will bring greater harmony to connect the whole body.
2. Flexibility
Of course, you’ve likely seen photos on the internet of people practicing yoga contorting themselves into impossible postures, right? With each stretch and pose, the body achieves enhanced flexibility and resistance. This flexibility is proportionate to the body’s ability to perform certain movements and accommodate postures that bring many benefits. These advantages range from improvements in blood circulation to weight loss and natural pain prevention.
With more flexibility your body has more mobility, joint lubrication, wear and injury resistance and muscle building. And don’t stress if you’re a beginner: there are ways to modify yoga poses to fit your not-so-limber limbs until you’re a more seasoned pro.
3. Reduce Stress
Breathing exercises, and especially meditation, are a great way to calm the mind and body, as well as releasing the individual of all the tension and nervousness built up throughout the day. Studies suggest that practicing yoga can boost your mood.
For the same reason, yoga is also an incredible weapon in fighting diseases such as anxiety and depression. From the scientific point of view, yoga releases in the body endorphins and serotonin, substances that increase oxygenation of the blood, the sensation of pleasure and the relaxation of muscles. The practice can even help relieve chronic pain, according to a Harvard Medical School report.
4. Improves Concentration
Paying attention to your breathing is a way to cease negative thoughts that can hinder you from fulfilling the demands of everyday life. Yoga may also help boost brain function and improve reaction time following workouts.
With a more calm and balanced mind, it’s possible to focus on day-to-day tasks with more ease and serenity. Smaller duties and typical stressors become easier to contend with.
5. Greater Body Awareness
Yoga is one of the most efficient ways to integrate body and mind and achieve a mental and emotional balance, allowing you to feel more aware of your body’s functioning and its natural needs and limitations.
The philosophy of yoga is very important to introspection, or to look within oneself. This helps to understand that each has its own time and limitations and that there is nothing wrong with it. It is a path to a much healthier mental and emotional peace.
Since there is no competitiveness in yoga – an aspect found in many other sports and physical activities – it can be beneficial to people of all abilities. It recognizes that each person has different capabilities, and that personal progress is all that matters.
Conclusion
Of course, at Farmingdale Physical Therapy West, we’ll never discourage our patients from finding new and innovative ways to enhance their physical wellbeing. Yoga is a fantastic way to heal from injuries and greatly improve your overall physicality moving forward, becoming healthier, stronger and more active.
