What Yoga Does, There are many advantages of practicing yoga, the most important one is to help us stay healthy and fit. The practice of yoga can give you a long life, but it does not always mean that by doing asanas you will have a long life. After all, both mental and physical health are equally important for our overall well-being.
Some people do not like to work out or look at themselves in front of a mirror because they don’t see their own beauty or feel good about their body shape and appearance. In order to feel beautiful from within, we must first overcome the fear of judgment from others. Once you overcome your own insecurity, then it’s time to grow on the inside.
What yoga does for you?
Yoga is a total body workout. It works all your muscles, internally as well as externally including your spine, heart, lungs, liver etc. Every organ that needs oxygen for its functioning gets it through the circulation of the blood and lymph system (vascular and lymphatic network) which yoga helps immensely in getting oxygenated blood down to every nook and cranny of our body parts that need it.
As you perform various asanas or poses, the intercostal muscles between ribs get toned up making breathing easier; also when chest muscles are stretched during forwarding bends they become suppler which increases lung capacity improving breathing further. And the best part is we do not have to wait for these benefits. As we practice daily yoga gets us that much is closer to these benefits. This also helps bring good posture by relaxing and lengthening tight shoulders, pectorals, hip flexors etc.
How does yoga affect your body?
We all know that Yoga is an ancient Indian practice to purify and unblock the energy channels of the body and mind. However, most people are not aware of the fact that yoga brings about many internal changes in our bodies that help improve our overall health
Yoga is a complete system of exercise that improves:
- cardiovascular functions
- works on your muscles to make them firm and flexible
- helps ease symptoms related to stress or anxiety-like depression, sleeplessness, etc
- helps strengthen your immune system.
What yoga does to the body and brain?
Most of the people asked what yoga does to the body and brain?. There is no doubt that yoga does wonders when it comes to stretching your muscles and improving flexibility, but what you may not know is the incredible changes that take place within your brain during a regular yoga practice.
Here are yoga effects on the body and brain:
Effects on brain function:
yoga has the ability to change brainwaves, improve memory and learning, relieve stress, relax muscles and joints, reduce depression and anxiety, lower high blood pressure.
yoga helps to prevent and control chronic diseases such as cardiac problems, diabetes, cancer, obesity. yoga reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Effects on body:
yoga has many health benefits including improving immune function, strengthening muscles, joints and ligaments. practicing yoga can improve posture, balance, flexibility, breathing techniques to reduce stress and anxiety. by increasing blood circulation
it improves heart rate variability thereby reducing stroke risk in diabetes patients. additionally, yoga is a good exercise for weight management which also helps to fight depression. practicing yoga keeps you healthy and happy throughout your life!
How does yoga and meditation relieve stress?
This is a common question, and the answer is pretty simple: Yoga & Meditation Lowers Brain Cortisol Levels. In other words, when you do these two things regularly, your brain is less stressed out! Amazing, huh? Now we know how yoga & meditation lower stress levels – but WHY does yoga & meditation lower stress levels?
“Cortisol (pronounced cor-ti-sol) is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It’s often referred to as the “stress hormone,” because it helps increase blood pressure and decrease insulin sensitivity in response to stressful situations.”
There are several reasons why cortisol levels drop when you practice yoga frequently. One approach could be that increased BDNF levels from more consistent meditation & yoga practice prevent the brain from sending signals to your adrenal glands in an emergency. In other words, when you practice these two things frequently, your brain gets used to a lower level of cortisol and doesn’t panic as easily (like it would if you never practiced).
Yoga pose for stress-relief:
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)
How Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) is good for relieving stress?
Bridge Pose is an effective pose to relieve stress, fatigue and rejuvenate the body. It stretches most of the muscles in your back that are associated with stress. The best way to do this asana is by leaning on a bolster or blocks. But you can also try it without any prop and check how it relaxes you!
Benefits of Bridge Pose:
We have enlisted some amazing benefits of Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (sometimes abbreviated as SBS), read them below:
- Stretches the spine, chest, abdomen and thighs thus relieving discomfort caused due to stress.
- Improves blood circulation in different parts of the body especially in the neck region, chest, and thigh region.
- Improves digestive system by acting on abdominal organs like intestines, stomach, and liver.
- Stretches the muscles of the spine giving relief from backache and helping to maintain better posture throughout the day.
- Relieves fatigue as it releases stress hormone cortisol produced in body due to mental tension and anxiety thus bringing a sense of inner calmness.
- Improves balance as it strengthens legs and improves your posture while sitting or standing for long hours at the workplace.
- Allows you to move freely during yoga practice helping you to perform the other poses more easily with improved flexibility.
How does yoga affect your flexibility?
We all know yoga as a form of exercise that helps to keep the physical body healthy and strong without necessarily making it bulky. Yoga is something else; at least, in my opinion, yoga is much more than physical exercises. Among many other things, yoga has also an effect on stretching our muscles and other tissues such as ligaments.
We know that all cells have a certain level of fluidity inside them which makes these structures able to change their shape according to the force applied to them. This property results in greater flexibility when we are young but then stays almost unchanged even after doing physical exercise regularly throughout one’s lifetime. As people grow older, they tend to have less flexibility as the structure in our cells becomes more rigid.
Why would one want to be flexible?
Because being flexible is like having insurance against injury; it not only prevents you from getting injured but also helps us recover faster when we do get injured.
The benefits of increased flexibility in your daily life:
Flexibility can help improve the quality of your day-to-day living.
Whether you are at home or at work, flexibility plays an important part in helping you complete tasks with ease that otherwise may cause physical stress on the body.
More flexibility at work helps you to move more easily as you carry out your tasks, stand up from chair and sit back down without struggling against resistance in muscles and joints, thus decreasing the amount of fatigue you get while working.
How does yoga affect your mental health?
Yoga is not just about the physical benefits you may achieve. It helps to improve many aspects of your life including maintaining a healthy body and mind.
Doing yoga Every day what yoga does to your body health? yoga practitioners in various places around the world sit down on their mats for a session of meditation or pranayama (yogic breathing exercises) and practice some asanas (yoga poses).
The practice of yoga promotes overall well-being and contributes towards a healthier psychological condition. Yoga has been known for its increasing popularity among people with mental illnesses. Research shows that following yoga practice can help to improve depressive symptoms in those who are affected by depression. Depression or major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious medical illness that often interferes with everyday tasks and activities.
Symptoms of depression are related to negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; such as feelings of sadness or emptiness which occur in an uncontrollable way. These feelings can make you lose interest in your normal activities or behave differently than you always used to. The consequences of the disorder may be devastating including suicide attempts and substance abuse that can result in great harm both physically and psychologically.
If left untreated it may lead to chronic health conditions as well as worsen the quality of life (QOL) for those affected by depression. There are medications that have been proven effective in treating depressive symptoms but they only address a certain aspect on the illness and not its entire complexity.
How does yoga and Pilates differ?
Yoga and Pilates exercise programs have become one of the most popular ways for people to improve their strength, flexibility, and body awareness.
Major differences between yoga and Pilates:
- Yoga is an ancient tradition of mind/body exercise developed in India over 5,000 years ago. It combines physical postures (asanas) with breathing techniques (pranayama) that work together to stretch, strengthen, heal and relax your body while clearing your mind of stress and anxiety.
- On the other hand, Pilates is a modern exercise program developed by Joseph Pilates in the early part of the last century. He was interested in restoring physical health to individuals who had experienced chronic illness or injury. The exercises are designed to build strength, improve flexibility and give you better control over your body through precise movements that involve using resistance bands and weights.
Similarities between yoga and Pilates
- Mental clarity and focus
- Lose weight
- Stretching and strengthening your muscles
- Improving posture and developing better balance
How does yoga build muscle?
Many people have a question that what yoga does for our body muscles? Yoga does not build muscles as weight training does, but yoga is a great way to tone and strengthen your body.
Yoga tones your muscles in the same way that you tone up a guitar or amp by playing it regularly. Toning involves loosening and strengthening the muscle tissues by stretching them further than they usually go (pushing them outside of their comfort zone). The physical benefits of regular yoga practice include enhanced flexibility and strength as well as reduced stress levels.
Yoga also can help improve posture, balance, coordination, and endurance. The key to balancing the physical benefits of yoga with any other form of exercise in moderation. Researchers found that more than four hours per week of moderate-intensity exercise appears to be sufficient for improving overall health while also reducing the risk of disease.
