Yoga offers too many health benefits at free of cost
By neucrad health February 12, 2019
Do you take part in regular exercise for at least half an hour a day? Are you inquisitive to know about the health benefits of different forms of exercise including yoga, aerobics, cardiovascular exercise, or strength training? Here is a write-up dealing with the advantages of performing yoga regularly.
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a 5000-year-old practice which helps to strengthen the body, energise the spirit, and calm the mind. It came from a Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ which signifies ‘to unite or integrate’. Though it originated in the Hindu tradition, over the years, Jainism, Buddhism, and Christianity have also adopted this ancient practice which involves breathing exercises, meditation, and different poses making the body strong and flexible. It also helps to endure a challenging situation by strengthening the body and mind. Studies have revealed that individuals, regularly performing yoga develop awareness of mind, heightened creativity, and attain inner peace.
When Should One Perform Yoga?
According to yogic science, a day is divided into four periods- Brahma Muhurta, Sunrise, Noon, and Sunset. Brahma Muhurta is the best time to elevate the spiritual being. However, it starts around 3:40 am which is not a practical time for many individuals to practise yoga. Sunrise and sunset is the best period to perform yoga for health benefits. ‘Asanas’ or yoga poses practised during this moment helps to energise the mind and making the body flexible. Most Yoga instructors do not recommend noon time for performing yoga as it is the meal time and a break of four to six hours after lunch is best for proper digestion of food.
Benefits of Performing Yoga
There are numerous benefits of regularly performing yoga. Detailed below are a few of them.
Yoga Decreases Stress
Yoga promotes relaxation of mind and decreases stress level. Studies have revealed that it reduces the secretion of cortisol which is the principal stress hormone in human beings. Along with stress, it also calms the mind and minimizes the anxiety of human beings. A study conducted in a sample of 64 women having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), successfully proved that after ten weeks of regular participation in yoga classes they had fewer symptoms of PSTD. Approximately 52 per cent of them did not experience any symptoms of PSTD at all [1]. Yoga promotes a sense of peace which goes a long way in reducing stress and anxiety.
Yoga Improves Balance and Flexibility of Body
Another significant benefit of yoga is that it improves the balance and flexibility of the body, which is essential especially with the advancement of age. Research has proved that with ageing process flexibility of different joints and muscles decreases especially when individuals limit themselves to sedentary work. Yoga can come to your rescue in such conditions. There are postures like standing on one leg and inversions that improves the core strength of the body and helps to stay upright even at advanced age. Stretching exercises of yoga also enhance the range of motion in tightened areas including hips, shoulders, your hamstrings, and back.
Yoga is Beneficial for Heart Health
Practicing regular yoga helps to keep blood pressure within standard range (120 to 80 millimetres of mercury), reduces cholesterol and triglyceride level, and slow down the heart rate. It is beneficial for people having a history of heart ailment or has undergone a stroke. Studies showed that yoga exercise for a year may reduce cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) levels. Yoga reduced the stress level which played a beneficial role in keeping heart ailments at bay.
Yoga Promotes Sleep in Insomniacs
One of the significant problems experienced in people living in urban areas is inadequate sleep. The situation becomes worse if individuals have associated health risk including obesity, depression, and high blood pressure. Yoga has improved the quality of life of numerous people in such conditions. It promotes long duration of sleep, minimized sleep disturbances, and reduced the dependency of medication for sleep in many individuals. Regular yoga exercises increase the secretion of melatonin hormone which plays a significant role in regulating sleep in human beings.
The above were some of the health benefits of yoga. Experts suggest performing regular yoga either during sunrise or sunset for at least half an hour to avail many health benefits and lead stress and anxiety free life.
Resource references: [1]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25004196, healthline.com, stylecraze.com, webmd.com, verywellfit.com.
