With roots in ancient Hinduism and Buddhism, the age-old practice of yoga is commonly known as a means of becoming more flexible, toning muscles and reducing stress and anxiety. But, did you know that there’s much more that yoga can do for you besides helping you to be better able to twist your body into shapes and poses and help clear your head? Yoga has a whole plethora of health benefits that would take you all day to read if we wrote them all here. So, here are the top four health benefits of yoga that you probably didn’t know about.
Immunity Boosting
Yes, yoga can actually help to strengthen your immune system and fight off those nasty coughs, colds and viruses that go around during the colder months. If you find yourself sneezing into a tissue and chomping on cough mints every time the season takes a turn for the chilly, taking up yoga could put an end to your runny-nosed woes. Recent studies show that when compared to a group which participated in another form of exercise such as hiking, participants who practiced yoga had far stronger immune systems immediately after.
Ease Headaches and Migraines
Research shows that those who practice yoga on a regular basis are a lot less likely to get nasty headaches and migraines than those who do not. Although there is no known pinpointed cause of migraines yet, scientists believe that it could be a combination of mental stress and physical posture which can cause tension in your neck, leading to muscle tightening and eventually migraines. Certain yoga poses are quite effective at relieving migraines thanks to the fact that they can relax the tightened muscles. Yoga poses also help to correct bad posture, meaning there’s a lesser chance of you getting a headache due to muscle tension in the first place.
Better Sleep
If you are struggling to sleep at night, taking up yoga can actually help. Yoga is closely linked to meditation, helping to clear your mind of worry and stress which in turn leads to a more peaceful, restful sleep at night. Yoga can be beneficial if you are suffering from a sleep disorder such as insomnia, or even if you are simply finding that you are tossing and turning a lot. If you have joint or muscle pain which is keeping you awake at night, yoga can help to relieve this, resulting in you feeling more comfortable when you get in bed at night to sleep.
Lose Weight
Yoga doesn’t only help you to lose weight by toning up your muscles and burning fat, it can also affect your attitude towards your diet, too. If you struggle to eat healthily as much as you would like to and find yourself constantly giving in to bad food cravings, yoga has proven effective in helping you to choose foods more mindfully. As a practice, yoga encourages good self-care, which includes diet. See Inhale Miami for beginner and advanced yoga classes Miami to get started.
Why do you want to start yoga? Let us know in the comments.
