To me, Yoga is an inspiration. It helps me face life’s problems with calmness and in a constructive way, it has improved my physical health and appearance and it has made me grown spiritually much more than I’d ever imagine…
Yoga is a discipline that has transcended space-time barriers and has spread out throughout the world. Born in India thousands of years ago within the country’s traditional medicine, Yoga visited different cultures before reaching the western world, where it found the perfect land to grow and develop.
While there are different systems or branches inside Yoga philosophy, on this article I will focus on Hatha-Yoga. It is bases in different body postures and pranyamas or breathing exercises that promote concentration and meditation, and seek to connect the body and the mind into an inseparable unit. Based on this particular system, various scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of doing yoga on both the physical and the emotional level.
Physical benefits of doing yoga
According to Dr. Natalie Nevis, relaxation techniques from this discipline can reduce chronic pains like back pain, headaches, arthritis, among others. Likewise, it’s possible to lower blood pressure and alleviate chronic insomnia.
On the other hand, practicing yoga systematically improves flexibility while strengthens and tones muscles. It also benefits the cardiovascular system and keeps the metabolism balanced, which can help when trying to lose weight.
The prestigious Cuban Magazine of Integral General Medicine featured on one of its many editions an article about the health effects of Hatha-Yoga, written by Vivian Lopez Gonzalez and Alejandro Diaz-Paez Waterland.
The article argues that while Yoga has positive effects on all of the body’s physiological systems, most studies are focused on the cardiovascular and respiratory. In this sense, the authors claim that through the different postures and breathing techniques, you can improve: breathing frequency and pressure, ventilation minutes, CO2 expulsion, oxygen absorption, heat rate and pulse.
Additionally, they point out particular postures and techniques that can lead to these benefits:
- ⁃ Kapalabhati (KB): to clean the respiratory system.
- ⁃ Vrikshasana: related to balance while standing.
- ⁃ Savasana: helps lowering blood pressure.
There are many postures and techniques in Hatha-Yoga that have different positive effects in the body. I only mention these three so you can get a general idea of how they impact our health. Each one plays its part and contributes to reaching a general physical wellbeing.
Mental benefits of doing yoga
When it comes to the effects of yoga on the mind, it doesn’t just improve the general mood and fights stress, but also supports the human being’s cognitive capabilities.
First, according to Dr. Nevins, meditation and controlled and conscious breathing proposed by yoga create a general state of mental wellbeing. Among other things, doing yoga develops our problem solving skills.
On the other hand, stress is a silent illness that affects most people. In this sense, yoga has proven to be an excellent way to reduce and control it. It is well known that stress has massive effects on the body and mind of the human being. That’s why, if we can reduce or simply get rid of it whenever possible, we will be preventing an important number of diseases and physical illnesses that come from stress; for example: back and neck pain, sleeping problems, addictions, etc.
Finally, Dr. Nevins mentions some cognitive processes that improve thanks to practicing yoga. It actually optimizes attention and concentration levels, while it helps us preserve our good memory and makes us aware of bodily functions that we take for granted and do automatically like, for example, breathing.
In conclusion, scientific studies suggest that practicing yoga regularly benefits our body and mind. It sounds worth giving it a go, don’t you think?
I personally think that a healthy mind keeps a healthy body. When we reach a healthy state of mind, it will inevitably translate into a body that is and looks in excellent health. After all, the mind and the body are constantly balancing themselves, forming a single unit.
Check out my article: Meditation has implications for our genes
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