6 Benefits of Starting Yoga

People turn to yoga for various reasons. Here are six benefits that will have you doing yoga too.

Yoga Benefits

1) Increase flexibility

Stiffening of the muscles can happen as we age. We tend to lose a certain amount of our joint range of motion. Along with loss of flexibility comes less stability and an increased risk of falling, one of the most common injuries among seniors. A fall can lead to a broken hip, twisted knee or sprained ankle.

Yoga can get back that flexibility. The postures, called asanas, performed during a yoga session work joints through their full range of motion and restores your flexibility.

2) Lessen lower back pain

Yoga can ease lower back pain. A study published by Spine Journal, they found that two 90-minute yoga classes a week for six months eased back pain of study participants by 56 percent, compared to only a 16 percent reduction for the other group of participants using physical therapy and pain medications. It works by strengthening the core back muscles thus keeping the spine better supported.

3) Get more and better sleep

If you suffer from insomnia, doing 45 minutes of yoga daily can help you get to sleep 15 minutes faster and sleep an hour longer. By sleeping more not only will you feel better the next day, but your body and mind will function better too because you are well rested and your body had time to repair and rejuvenate itself.

4) Have better sex!

Yoga has been helping people have more satisfying sexual relationships since 200 B.C. Just two hours a week of yoga helps reduce anxiety and stress, while increasing body awareness (of both your and your partner), increase blood flow to genital area, and speeds up the release of hormones related to sexual desire.

5) Improve muscle toning

Many people don’t know yoga is a type of strength training that uses just the bodyweight of the individual. As you move from posture to posture, your bodyweight shifts from one set of muscles to another. Transitioning weight in this manner works the muscles through their full range of motion better than traditional forms of strength training. With increased toning, not only do you look better, but also feel better and have more confidence.

6) Breath deeper

Yoga focuses on three areas: postures, breathing and meditation. Breathing techniques help you breath deeper thus getting more oxygen into your lungs and carbon dioxide out. A better exchange of oxygen/carbon dioxide helps the body gets more oxygen into the cells and toxins out keeping you healthier.

Bonus: Increase mental awareness!

The benefits we have focused on so far have all been physically related. However there is a meditation aspect to yoga that appeals to many participants. They feel less stressed, more relaxed and in a better frame of mind after performing yoga. And most participants find they can handle future stress better as a result of yoga.

For a healthier body and mind, consider doing yoga. There are many different types of yoga so be sure to try a few different classes until you find the one right for you.

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