You may have heard of the many health benefits of yoga practice and may have a question of whether yoga is as good as it is claimed?
The answer is… yes! It is good for both your body and mind. But the results depend on how often you practice. In this article, we show you the 6 health benefits of daily yoga practice and why it is good for everyone.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a body and mind practice that includes physical postures and control of breath for complete relaxation and better concentration. There are many different Yoga styles and a session can take from only 10 minutes to a few hours. The most important thing is that you practice it daily or at least regularly. You can simply start by following yoga videos on YouTube that are suited for beginners. Later on you can enroll in a yoga class with a professional yoga teacher to develop and improve your flexibility and skills.
Here are 6 health benefits you will get from yoga if you practice it on a daily basis:
Improve Your Flexibility and Mobility
Of course, daily yoga practice is a great way to increase flexibility and mobility. Yoga poses such as Child pose, Downward-Facing Dog, and Bridge pose can help stretch your muscles so you can move more freely without any stiffness or pain. A daily yoga practice can also help prevent cramps in your legs and reduce their frequency as it stretches muscles, hamstrings, and tendons.
And as everybody is different, you don’t have to worry about how much you can stretch or if your pose doesn’t look exactly like the yoga practitioners’.
Increase Strength
Yoga training requires a lot of strength to hold your body and balance the different poses. The yoga sequences will strengthen muscles in your legs, arms, back, and core. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to do the difficult poses to get fit. Instead, you can start with less intensive poses like the Tree pose and Utkatasana pose at the beginning and you will see that you gradually build more strength. Yoga is not a competition and you should always listen to your body to prevent injuries.
Body strength increases joint flexibility and bone density which prevents risks of bone fracture. It also keeps your muscle fit so you can perform daily tasks more easily.
Improve Your Posture
A daily yoga session can help adjust your body to a correct alignment. On the long run, you will be able to stand taller and sit with your back straight, shoulders squared, and chest out without putting an effort. A good posture also reduces risks of chronic pain and, if you work in the office, painful office syndrome.
If you’re having muscle pain, especially in your lower back, neck, and shoulders, try 3-4 sessions of yoga and you will feel that the muscle tension in those areas will decrease. Moreover, studies found that a good posture can increase your self-confidence and lift your mood.
