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Yoga is an ancient Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice that has been done since ages. The actual date or year of when yoga got introduced into the world or who introduced yoga into the world is unpredictable, but the benefits of practicing yoga are innumerable. Today, we are going to discuss the benefits and effects of yoga on mental and physical health and we will also discuss that how yoga can change our whole lives if we make it our lifestyle.
What is Yoga actually…???
Well, defining yoga in detail might take ages as it is so deep that all the words might be insufficient to describe its greatness. But although the subject of yoga is immensely vast and we will surely discuss it.
As discussed above that yoga is an ancient Indian practice done by Indian sages and seers since ages for mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological well being. At that point of time it was used as a tool by Indian sages and seers to attain moksha, liberation, to reach god and to go beyond the limits of this physical body.
But as we live in a society where we have to be physically fit, maintain our relationships, make money, build a career and support our families and we have nothing to do with moksha and liberation at least for now, we will only discuss the benefits and effects of yoga on mental and physical health only.
How yoga benefits us physically and mentally…???
Well, talking about yoga on the basic level, it is a very good physical exercise that not only helps to build our outer body but also takes care and nourishes our internal organs also. Yoga due to its pranayama or breathing techniques increases the oxygen levels in the body and increases our metabolism and also improves immunity that helps us in a great degree to fight countless diseases, bacteria’s and viruses.
Physical Benefits of Yoga
1. Yoga Helps in Reducing Weight
Regular practice of yoga can definitely help you in maintaining weight and reducing excess fat from the body. In yoga, there are many types of Pranayama (Breathing Techniques) and Asanas (Body Postures) which can help you to burn fat and reduce weight.
In an Asana (Body Posture), you hold your body in such a way that you lay stress on your stubborn accumulated fat, this stress creates heat in your body resulting in melting the body fat very much easily and effectively as well.
In Pranayama (Breathing Technique), there are certain ways to inhale, exhale and hold breathes and oxygen into your body which primarily strengthens your respiratory system, boosts immunity and increases the metabolism. The increased metabolism in the body helps to reduce excess accumulated fat resulting in weight loss.
2. Yoga Helps to make you more Flexible
Another physical benefit that you get by practicing yoga is that your body becomes more flexible as you start to practice yoga. As we tend to get old, our flexibility gradually decreases resulting in body stiffness, different kinds of joint pains etc. This makes our daily routine tasks difficult to perform.
Yoga is a great exercise to increase the overall flexibility of the body and also helps to make you more mobile as well. Several asanas such as The Bhujangasana, Trikonasana and Baddha Konasana etc. are some excellent poses to increase the overall flexibility of the body. You can also check out our blog, “Which Yoga is Best for Flexibility” for more information about the asanas that increase flexibility.
3. Yoga helps to increase your Muscle Strength
A lot of youngsters fantasize about having strong and big muscles, and for that they do a lot of things. Yoga can help to build muscle strength and in gaining muscle mass as well. There are many dandas in yoga which are compound, slow and low impact exercises that can help to to build big, strong and attractive muscles without having any kind of injury also.
4. Yoga can improve your Cardiovascular Health
Yoga improves your cardiovascular health and prevents you from any heart related issues or any kind of heart disease. The number of cardiac arrests or heart attacks are increasing day by day due to the sedentary lifestyles and bad eating habits of people. Yoga can act as a savior and will make your heart more strong, young and healthy.
5. Yoga helps you in making your Skin Glow
A lot of women around the world always have a dream to look young and beautiful forever no matter what there age is. They do a lot of stuff from different types of cosmetic and dermatological treatments to cosmetic surgeries which are even expensive and hazardous for the skin in the long run.
Yoga can actually help you to get a glowing, shiny, radiant and everlasting youthful skin without any cost. Practicing certain pranayama, asanas and certain face yoga gestures can actually make your skin look amazing in no time. Check out our blog, “Which Yoga is good for Glowing Skin” for more information.
6. Practicing Yoga can improve your Digestion
There is an old saying that, “A Healthy Gut is a Healthy You” and “Your motion decides your emotion”. This indicates that your digestion system is also as important as your brain, lungs and heart. Many people nowadays and even kids also face the problem of indigestion and constipation due to their weak digestive system and poor gut health.
Yoga also helps a lot in making your gut more strong. Practicing asanas like vajrasana or balasana can help you to have a healthy gut.
Mental Benefits of Yoga
7. Yoga helps you to make you more calm and gives relief from stress
There are many benefits of practicing yoga, one of which is that makes your mind more calm and also helps you a lot in reducing your daily stress levels that you get from day to day life.
8. Yoga acts as an anti-depressant
Regular practice of yoga can also prevent you from getting into depression. As we all know that the root cause of all types of depression is stress. So, yoga also helps to protects and prevents you from any kind of depression as well.
9. Yoga helps in improving your sleep quality
One of the prominent benefits of yoga is that it also improves your sleep quality which in turn regulates your mood on a more positive levels making you more active and productive throughout the day.