For centuries now, people from different backgrounds have been practicing yoga. It’s a mind and body practice that has been around for over 5000 years (1). Recently, yoga has become popular as a tool for physical fitness. However, the benefits of yoga transcend physical wellness.

The different styles incorporate easy to complex physical postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation or meditation. There are various branches of yoga, and all of them target different aspects of life.

As such, yoga offers different exercises for different goals, allowing you to pick and choose what you want to get from the practice of yoga (2).

• Hatha yoga is a physical and mental branch aimed at priming your body and mind.
• Raja yoga focuses on meditation.
• Karma yoga focuses on emitting negativity and selfishness.
• Bhakti yoga cultivates acceptance and tolerance as well as positivity in channeling our emotions.
• Jnana yoga is about intellectual development.
• Tantra yoga is focused on spiritual and physical exploration.

With all these specified branches, yoga has numerous benefits to offer. Let’s take an in-depth look at the top seven benefits of yoga.

Yoga improves body image.

Yoga revolves around challenging yourself physically. From the beginner’s stage, you learn how to challenge your physical abilities.

If you have ever been to a yoga studio before, you will notice that some of them do not have any mirrors.

This is designed to let everyone focus on what they are capable of doing during that moment.

As you continue to practice yoga, you become aware of your body; you learn how to appreciate it and embrace your flaws. This boosts your self-esteem and helps to develop strength, both physically and mentally.

Yoga improves your cardiovascular health.

Numerous studies have revealed that yoga has positive effects on the cardiovascular system. It lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension by restoring baroreceptor sensitivity. This helps to maintain balance and lower blood pressure.

Yoga also improves lipid profiles in normal patients and people who have been diagnosed with coronary artery disease.

Because the physical positions you assume when you are doing yoga only put tension on your muscles for a short while, they are effective in improving circulation and cardiovascular wellness.

This has a significant impact on your health, and it lowers your risk of getting coronary diseases and other chronic diseases such as obesity (3).

Yoga prevents cartilage and joint breakdown.

Whenever you are doing yoga poses, your joints are in a full range of motion. Your joints, therefore, get fresh nutrients that prevent degenerative arthritis and disability.

According to various studies from the Dubai Bone and Joint Center, intensive yoga has been proven to improve symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (4). 

Staying mobile keeps your joints and cartilage healthy. This happens when the synovial fluid is constantly at the right balance, to prevent friction between two bones.

Yoga improves the health of your bones.

Weight-bearing exercises strengthen your bones. Yoga is one such exercise because the different postures require you to lift your own weight. People tend to forget that bone is living tissue, and as such, our bodies can break them down or build them up thus affecting bone mass and density.

Yoga reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Holding your weight up against gravity as you do yoga poses put some pressure on your bones.

This pressure forces your body to lay down new growth, which is very crucial for developing bone mass or density. Yoga, in this aspect, is just like walking, running, or playing tennis (5).

Yoga improves blood flow.

To stimulate your blood flow, you need to practice yoga. The relaxation exercises in yoga improve blood flow, especially in your hands and your feet. Inversions done in different yoga poses reverse blood flow from the lower body to the brain and the heart. This has numerous health benefits.

An increase in blood flow increases the distribution of oxygen throughout your body, allowing your muscles and organs to function efficiently.

This promotes efficacy in waste removal and boosts your immune system, thus preventing various diseases (6).

Poor blood circulation causes alopecia, lack of energy, educed concentration, memory loss, erectile dysfunction, numbness, and skin disorders. Yoga has been proven to help with all these conditions by keeping your blood flowing.

Yoga improves your mood.

If you are feeling low, get your yoga mat out and do a few of your favorite yoga pose. Numerous studies have shown that yoga reduces anxiety and depression.

This is due to a significant increase in serotonin and a decrease in monoamine oxidase, which breaks down neurotransmitters. Yoga increases the level of Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which helps with mood and anxiety disorders.

GAMA is commonly found in medications, but yoga is a natural way to increase the level of GAMA in your body. Regularly practicing you is an efficient and drug-free way of treating depression and anxiety (7).

Strengthens your muscles.

Yoga puts your body in positions and orientations that force you to support your own weight. Just like weight lifting, you are doing strength training; the only difference is that you are lifting your weight. This tones your muscles and increases definition without isolating some of your muscles.

As you progress in yoga, you start increasing resistance, which forces your body to add more weight in order to achieve results. You build more muscles and gain more strength as you continue to perfect your yoga poses.

The twisting, arching, and turning also reduce the chances of getting injured as your flexibility improves (8).

Boosts your concentration.

In today’s society, we easily lose focus primarily because of the many distractions surrounding us. Yoga, however, has been found to improve coordination, reaction time, and IQ levels.

People who regularly practice yoga have the ability to focus and organize their thoughts. A recent study showed that meditation improves the ability to acquire information, remember it, and solve problems without getting distracted by other thoughts.

This translates to order in your day-to-day life, better work-life balance, increased productivity, better academic performance, and improved social skills. Concentration is not easy to come by, but with yoga, it can be.

Yoga improves the quality of sleep.

The lack of sleep (or good sleep) has been widely reported in recent years. Most people turn to medication in order to get better quality of sleep, but yoga is a very effective solution.

Regularly practicing yoga helps you fall asleep faster, fall into a deeper sleep, and go back to sleep quickly if you are awoken in the middle of the night.

It has been proven to treat insomnia and help pregnant women in their third trimester when they rarely sleep well (9).  

Relaxation exercise and the physical stimulation that we get from the practice of yoga make it easier for you to fall and stay asleep. The breathing exercises are especially useful right before bed to help you wind down from a busy day.

Improves your posture.

Often times, people forget that their body posture is important. Good posture is hard nowadays, especially for people who spend the majority of their daily lives sitting on a desk.

Yoga improves your posture by strengthening your spinal cord and maintaining the right curves.

Training your body to maintain the right physical posture can be painful, but consistency in the right yoga poses is very helpful (10).

The motive to start Yoga and become a better version of yourself. 

The first step to practicing yoga in order to get all the benefits associated with it is identifying your goal.

There are six branches of yoga and over ten types of yoga. Finding the right yoga instructor who is willing to partner with your physician can be very beneficial for your health.

If you just want to practice yoga and be self-taught in this field, you should do some research and find out what best suits you. As with any fitness and wellness routine, it is important to remain consistent.

Having an open mind is a great way to start your yoga lifestyle. It will open your mind up to new possibilities and opportunities and help you find joy in your small accomplishments.

It is essential to test your limits, but refraining from pushing yourself too hard. Take every step one step at a time and embrace the process. As you become good at yoga, your body, mind, and soul will become healthier.

Yoga improves the quality of life and helps you become a better version of yourself.

Good Luck!