In the past few years, there has been an increase is research related to yoga and its benefits on our overall health. While we always knew that yoga was a healing practice, there is now scientific proof of it. Of the many studies that have looked into yoga and health, there are some major highlights that break down the benefits of yoga and specific aspects of health.
- Quality of Life
- Yoga presents an improved sense of well-being and higher mental-health quality of life when paired with meditation, postural exercises and breathing exercises.
- Lower Back Pain and Arthritis
- Similar to physical therapy, yoga has shown to help people manage mild to moderate chronic back pain. As far as arthritis goes. participants in a yoga study were found to help people with osteoarthritis reduce pain, stiffness and swelling. In a addition, these participants found that yoga also helped with physical pain, general health, vitality, activities of daily living, upper-body strength and mental health.
- Heart Disease and Diabetes
- The American Heart Association recommends yoga not to meet physical activity guidelines, but rather to increase physical, mental and emotional well-being to improve heart health as a preventative measure or after a cardiac event. Because of yoga' effect on emotion regulation and chronic stress, studies have found that it can lead to improvements in blood pressure, lung capacity, heart rate and other pertinent bio-markers.
- Anxiety and Depression
- Yoga practice that includes breathing, movement and deep relaxation appears to have an effect on stress response systems and helps people regulate stress and pain responses. Additionally, it has demonstrated mood improvements and reductions in stress, depression and anxiety.
- Brain Health
- Studies have showed that regular yoga practice is associated with better attention and memory compared to those who do not practice yoga regularly.
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