Health Benefits Series: Yoga

Hey readers! We have come to an end with our health benefits series and what better way to end it than to talk about the health benefits of yoga. Yoga encompasses what we do at Zeal. We offer traditional floor yoga and acro yoga. While we do not dedicate specific classes to aerial yoga, we incorporate it into all of our classes offered. 

According to Yogapedia, the word yoga means ``to join or yoke together.” It brings your body and mind together, and is built on three main elements – exercise, breathing and meditation. Yoga truly is an active process. It helps you practice mindfulness, live in the present, and increase your self-confidence, among many other benefits discussed below! 

Strength

While strength building might not be first on your list when thinking of practicing yoga, some poses will certainly help do so. The benefit of building strength through yoga is that it helps with balance and flexibility. This will allow you to go deeper into your poses and hold them longer. 

Flexibility

Improved flexibility is one of the most obvious benefits of practicing yoga. It can help reduce the tightness in your muscles and help you feel less stiff. Developing greater strength and flexibility in your muscles helps reduce your risk of injury and will allow greater movement in your body to help you perform better physically. Other benefits of improving your flexibility include loosening certain muscles and connective tissue that are connected to back pain and poor posture.

Sleep

Yoga can promote better sleep. It helps relax your mind and body, which helps you to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and feel more rested when you wake up. Yoga has also been shown to increase the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. Through better sleep, you can achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Reduce Stress & Anxiety

Yoga focuses on the body’s natural health and self healing. It is known for its ability to soothe tension and anxiety in the mind and body. Because yoga is a body and mind practice it can act as a self-soothing technique, and help to manage stress by reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure and easing respiration. 

Focus

One of the main mantras of yoga is to focus on nothing but the present. You will improve concentration as you learn to bring your focus to your breath and move through a sequence of poses. Awareness of your body and breath is a useful tool that can be used to help you increase your concentration in your day-to-day activities.

These are just a small number of benefits that the yoga practice provides. We encourage you to discover the many other benefits through your own experience. We offer yoga every Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Sign up here!

Although this concludes our health benefits series, we will continue our weekly blog with a variety of fun topics that are sure to keep you informed and engaged! 

Namaste.

Life. (2017, April 03). Retrieved from https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/

What is Yoga? - Definition from Yogapedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/4/yoga