The health benefits of doing Yoga in the morning are explained in this article. The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuji” which means yoke and union. Yoga is practiced since the ancient times and it brings the mind and body together. It includes breathing exercises, meditation and other twisting poses leading to relaxation and stress relieve. If you practice yoga everyday you’ll start noticing changes in your daily schedule, you’ll have peaceful sleep, less stress and anxiety and a relaxed life. Also, yoga have two kinds of explanations which are, “yoga increases the flow of prana” and “yoga brings up energy up till your spine.” There are even some more benefits from yoga a d not just these. Here are a few handpicked benefits we receive from yoga, have a read.
10 Health benefits of Yoga
The health benefits of Yoga are explained below:
1. Lessens stress
The first health benefit from doing yoga is yoga eases stress and promotes relaxation. Multiple studies prove that it decreases the primary stress hormone cortisol. A study was conducted among 24 women who were depressed and stressed out, but after full 3 months yoga program the results showed that all 24 women were relieved of depression, stress and their stress hormone cortisol was reduced to a lower rate. Also, a test among 131 people showed that practicing yoga helped them reduce anxiety and depression and also to lead a better maintained life.
2. Reduces inflammation
As yoga improves your mental health, it also reduces inflammation. Chronic inflammation contributes to the development of pro-inflammatory diseases as such heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Studies reveal that practicing yoga everyday reduces a considerable rate of inflammation than compared to people who don’t practice yoga. Yoga also helps to fight against breast cancer.
3. Looses weight
Practicing yoga everyday fuels up your metabolic system and helps to burn fat which in turn helps you to lose weight. Everyday yoga restores hormonal balance and normalizes body weight. Cortisols levels are lowered thus leading to overeating; cortisols are hormones which are released due to stress and low blood pressure. Everyday yoga also enhances your mind to body’s connection and thus helping one to react and deal with emotions in the best way possible rather than gulping food to solve emotional issues. Make it a point to practice yoga early in the morning daily at 5 am along with meditation to make you feel more relaxed and lose weight more easily. Yoga might be a slow process to lose weight but it will burn each and every remaining fat in your body and give your body the perfect posture.
4. Improves the heart health
As we all know the heart is the most important part of your body from pumping blood to supply of tissues with all required nutrients so keeping it healthy should be the first priority. Studies claim that daily yoga helps in the improvement of heart conditions and lowers the risk of various heart diseases; in turn it helps the heart to function healthily. Elderly people over 40 years of age doing yoga for more than 5 years continuous have lower blood pressure and pulse rate rather than the ones who don’t. Progression of heart disease is lowered. If you combine yoga with diet modifications and stress management then it is sure to decrease 23% cholesterol and 26% of bad LDL cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart disease.
5. Better breathing
Everyday yoga practice must include breathing calmly and efficiently. Paranyama is a yoga breathing technique which focuses on slowing down the breathing process from the stomach’s pit to the top of the lungs. Practicing such methods will make you feel calm, relaxed and balanced in turn helping you in gaining confidence and facing everyday challenges confidently. Yoga increases your lungs capacity to hold more air at one time and also increases tidal volume. Such techniques helps to stay calm in stressful situations, handle matters more patiently and live with confidence.
6. Fights against depression
Yoga has anti-depressant effects and is helpful in fighting against depression. Yoga reduces the levels of stress hormones known as cortisols which are responsible for the increase in serotonin level, a neurotransmitter connected with depression. If you practice a specific yoga named Sudarshan Kriya focusing on Rhythmic Breathing, after two weeks of effective practice there will be less symptoms of depression and lower level of cortisols. Also, there will be a decrease in the level of ACTH, a hormone which stimulates the release of cortisols. Combining yoga with essential medical treatment can be really effective to fight against depression and let you have lower levels of cortisols.
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7. Increase in the blood flow
The relaxation exercise in yoga makes the circulation of blood in the hands and feet smooth. No doubt, yoga increases the blood flow and gives ample amount of oxygen to the cells thus functioning better. Twisting poses in yoga helps to take out venous blood from the internal organs and with the release of twist it lets oxygenated blood to flow in. Headstand and shoulderstand lets venous blood from the leg and pelvis to flow back to the heart from where it pumps to the lungs for fresh oxygenation. This process is really helpful if you suffer from swelling legs. Yoga boosts hemoglobin and red blood cells, makes the platelets less sticky and cuts the level of clot promoting proteins in blood. Thus, it leads to less heart attack and strokes.
8. Lessens chronic pain
Chronic pain is a common people suffered by millions of people and this pain also leads to possible causes such as from injuries to arthritis. Daily yoga helps to reduce various types of chronic pain, lessens pain and improves grip strength. A study back in 2005 revealed that yoga also helps to decrease pain and improves physical function in connection with osteoarthritis of the knees. So, practicing yoga everyday can lead to less chronic pain in your body.
9. Promotes the quality of sleep
Little amount of sleep daily results in obesity, high blood pressure, depression and other disorders. Adding yoga into your daily routine can improve your sleep quality and let you have good sleep. A study in 2005 showed that elderly patients who practiced yoga everyday slept for longer hours, felt asleep fast and felt fresh and relaxed in the morning compared to people who don’t practice yoga. Patients suffering with lymphoma, have started to experience less disturbances in sleep, improvement in the quality of sleep and reduction in the use of sleep medicines due to yoga. Also, yoga increases the secretion of melatonin, a hormone regulating sleep.
It also has a major effect on anxiety, depression, chronic and stress, all which are connected to sleep disorder. We all know sleep is very important to have a healthy life, it is always recommended to sleep at least 8 hours each day without any disturbance.
10. Improves concentration and thinking power
Yoga makes you concentrate on breathing which lets you concentrate on breathing and in turn calms your mind, making you feel more relaxed. Once you gain mental stability through yoga, it will increase your concentration power and thinking power and you’ll be able to think clearly. If you meditate early in the morning daily then you’ll experience the results yourself. When our physical and mental stress is reduced then we are able to think clearly without any stress or interruption. Now, when all our mental stress is reduced we can clear our minds and stay calm at peace. Practice yoga everyday to think sharply and have organized thoughts.
