By Erika Blauch Rusley
Yoga’s benefits extend beyond looking sensational. Sure, regular practice can give you long, lean muscles and runway-worthy posture, but yogis have also long remarked on their increased sense of overall well-being. They haven’t just found zen—scientific studies have proven that yoga works.
Yoga improves posture, flexibility, and joint health. It builds strong muscles that burn calories, decrease body fat, and help prevent arthritis, back pain, and falls. Many postures (or asanas) require lifting a yogi’s own body weight, which helps to increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis.
The cardiovascular system benefits from yoga as well. Vigorous styles such as ashtanga can increase heart fitness and burn calories, while more restful styles help to lower the resting heart rate. All styles help lower blood pressure.
Perhaps the most important organ affected by yoga is the brain. Serotonin levels get a boost during regular practice, and moving through challenging poses helps improve body image. Taking the time to connect with the body also helps lower stress, a prominent risk factor for depression, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and osteoporosis.
Pregnant women may find yoga especially healing. Gentle practice reduces low back pain and sciatica, aches and fatigue in the thoracic and cervical regions of the spine, and joint swelling and inflammation. Certain poses can also help prepare the body for labor.
Just about every bodily function is better with yoga. It helps drain lymph nodes, a process that fights infections and cancerous cells. It also improves balance — just strike a “tree pose” to find out. All that concentration also helps to keep the mind sharp. Most asanas hit the same acupressure points that have been proven to work in acupuncture. And starting your day with yoga can aid bowel movements better than any cup of coffee.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of all is that yoga is accessible to everyone: there’s no age or health minimum or limit, and the variety of styles guarantee that there is a yoga practice for absolutely everyone, even babies!
