Also check out: Mental Benefits of Yoga
The science is finally beginning to catch up and we can now confidently reveal the Top Five Physical Benefits of Yoga. Unsurprisingly, it’s great for the body. For anyone wanting to delve deeper into the latest research, I’d recommend The Science of Yoga by Timothy McCall.
So in no particular order, here’s the top five ways yoga can leave your body feeling great:
1. Improves circulation – Blood, lymph, oxygen, cells, minerals, vitamins and digestion all benefit from yoga movement. How? Well, as we work our bodies, the liquids, gases and chemicals inside us are pushed around (via our vessels and tubes). This nourishes, detoxifies and tones our organs, muscles and nerves. So the more we move, the better our body responds.
2. Increases flexibility – The most obvious of the physical benefits of yoga. Gains in flexibility stay with you far longer than any increase in muscle size, which disappear all too quickly. The good news is that as you learn to move with comfort and without restriction through your joints, strains and injuries become less frequent. Likewise, enhanced flexibility delivers better posture as you age which results in less aches and pains.
3. Increases strength – Yoga balances flexibility AND strength gains. As you practice more frequently, your muscles will grow wider and stronger. But, and this is important, they’ll also become longer and more supple. Unlike with, say, weight training, your joints don’t risk becoming compromised by muscles that have been trained to favour one direction. In contrast, yoga tones rather than bulks up your muscles because the hardening and shortening of muscle fibers caused by excessive contraction or weights is avoided.
4. Improves sleep – If you suffer from disrupted sleep or insomnia, yoga can really help. Why? Because the exertions of regular yoga practice release built-up tension, while calming your breath will settle the mind from excess worry. So whatever time you practise – morning or night – yoga results in a deeper, better sleep.
5. Increases body awareness – Moving our bodies mindfully helps us to get in touch with our outer surface (our skin). Through yoga, we become conscious of the sensations feeding our nervous system with information. It could be a pulse in a vein, a breeze through our hair, our eyes moving in their sockets; our toes tingling. With yoga we learn to listen to body signals – to put away the distractions and hear the language of our own our flesh and blood. The more skilled we are at reading these messages, the more responsive we can be to ourselves and the world around us.