10 Reasons to do Yoga

Stress Relief

Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By practicing yoga you can lower your blood pressure and heart rate,  improve digestion, and boost your immune system. You can also ease conditions like anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma, and insomnia. 

Pain Relief

Practicing yoga postures and meditation, or a combination of both reduces pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension, as well as arthritis, back and neck pain. Yoga has also  been reported to ease emotional pain. 

Better Breathing

Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps improve lung function, trigger the body's relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body. 

Flexibility

Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can't touch their toes during the first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga improves body alignment resulting in better posture and helping relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems. 

Increased Strength

Yoga postures (asanas) use every muscle in the body, helping increase strength from head to toe. While strengthening the body, yoga postures also provide an additional benefit of relieving muscular tension.

Weight Management

Yoga (even the less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol level as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well-being and self-esteem.

Improved Circulation

Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood in the body's cells. 

Cardiovascular Conditioning

Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardio benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance, and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

Focus On The Present

Yoga helps us to focus on the present , to become more aware and to help create mind and body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time, and memory.

Inner Peace

The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Namaste!