21 Benefits of Yoga : International Yoga Day

21 Benefits of Regular Yoga Practice

1. Aids #weightloss: #SuryaNamaskar and #KapalBhati #Pranayama are effective for weight loss. Continued practice of yoga tunes the body to its needs, therefore regulating #appetite and consumption of different kinds of food. Many practitioners find their #craving for #junkfood reduce with sustained yoga practice.

2. #StressRelief: Yoga #postures, Pranayama and #meditation are effective in stress relief, especially with #prolonged practice. In the rush of modern life, meditation helps bring a much-needed anchor to #calmmind.

3. #Improves #immunity: The immune system benefits tremendously from the practice of yoga. Yoga poses #massage organs and strengthen muscles, improving their efficiency. #Halasana and #Bhujangasana directly improve the immune system by releasing white blood cells.

4. #IncreasesEnergy: Starting the day with some yoga poses and meditative exercises can help you start your day on an #energetic note, and maintain those energy levels too. #SuryaNamaskar, #Ustrasana and #Virabhadrasana are only some of the asanas that can replace that daily espresso shot.

5. Improves sleep quality: Yoga aids in #curing #Insomnia and abnormal sleeping habits. #Hastapadasana increases blood supply to the nervous system, while #Marjariasana massages the #digestive #organs and improves digestion, thereby, helping you sleep well. Regular practice of yoga also helps #calm the #mind which further aids in #sleepingwell.

6. Improves #flexibility and posture: #YogaAsanas #stretch and tone the body muscles and make them strong. This in turn helps improve your body posture when you stand, sit, sleep or walk. The change is apparent and almost automatic after regular practice of yoga.

7. Relieves #ache in #joints: #Balasana is effective in relieving neck, back and hip strain — which are common complaints of the modern tethered-to-desk lifestyle.

8. #Regulates #menstrual function in women: #Sukhasana is one of the asanas that help #relieve #menstrualpain in women. Moreover, #restorative yoga poses — along with meditation — help ease cramps, pain and mood #dysfunction during menstruation.

9. Helps fight #lifestylediseases: #ChronicLifestyle diseases like #hypertension, hormonal #imbalances, #diabetes, #reproductory disorders and #respiratory and #cardiovascular related health concerns have risen in the past few decades and are increasingly being #diagnosed among the younger population. Regular Yoga helps keep these at bay, or manage them if you already suffer from them.

10. Improves #Bone #health: Those prone to, or already suffering from, #osteoporosis can benefit from yoga greatly as it increases bone density and growth.

11. Counters harsh effects of #ageing: #Yoga improves #BloodFlow in the body and increases #OxygenSupply to body cells. It helps improve the sense of balance that gets affected when one ages.

12. Improves overall #MentalHealth: #RegularPranayama leads to better balance between the right and left brain, helping in achieving a balance between #emotional and #RationalThinking. Meditation enables #introspection and brings about clarity and focus in one’s life.

13. Aids treatment of #neurodegenerative diseases: A scientific study found that a three-month course of #KundaliniYoga and Kirtan #Kriya meditation practice helped minimise the #cognitive and emotional problems that often precede Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of #dementia, brain #disorders that impair the memory.

14. Improves memory: KirtanKriya — which involves chanting, hand movements and #visualisation of light — helps prevent cognitive decline in older adults.

15. Improves limb efficiency: #Parvatasana strengthens legs and arms, stretches calf and spine muscles and relieves varicose veins.

16. #Protects joints: Yoga takes your joints through their full range of motion, hence, #mitigating #disability — such as #degenerative #arthritis — by squeezing and soaking areas of #cartilage that normally aren’t used.

17. Protects spine: The only way to maintain spinal health is by ensuring regular spinal movement. A holistic asana practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends and twists helps in achieving just that.

18. Improves blood circulation: Inverted yoga poses facilitate blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it is pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. Moreover, yoga boosts haemoglobin and red blood cell levels, which carry oxygen to the tissues.

19. Improves #cardiac #health: Yoga thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of #clotPromoting proteins. This is beneficial as blood clots are often the cause of #HeartAttacks and #strokes.

20. Improves #RespiratoryHealth: Yoga has been shown to improve various measures of #lungfunction, promotes #breathing through the nose, which filters the air, warms it and #humidifies it, removing pollen and dirt and other potential allergens.

21. Improves digestion: Yoga eases #constipation and has been found to #easesymptoms of #ulcers and #irritablebowel #syndrome.