You’ll be physically stronger
It’s probably a given that when we take on any new kind of exercise, we want it to make us stronger – but we don’t necessarily assume yoga is the most fitting route to improve strength. However, as many yoga postures involve bearing the brunt of our own bodyweight, repeated performance of these moves will indeed help us get stronger.
You’ll feel more energized
Increased energy levels is another thing we typically expect to get from exercising, and yoga can absolutely help here too. However, one of the unique advantages of yoga over some other forms of exercise is that, while some yoga moves will help you get charged up for the day, other yoga moves can be every bit as helpful for de-energizing at the day’s end.
Your anxiety will decrease
In its truest form, yoga isn’t just a physical activity; it’s very much about finding and maintaining balance in the mind as well as the body. Like any exercise, yoga helps your body produce feel-good endorphins which can keep anxiety at bay, plus the emphasis on controlled breathing and relaxing the muscles makes a yoga session an even more effective stress reliever.
Your metabolism will improve
A lot of yoga moves emphasize twisting the body and compressing certain areas, which can have a great impact on the body’s endocrine organs. Activating the endocrine system helps increase our heart rate, which in turn leads to increased calorie burn. As such, continued regular yoga practice should lead to an improved metabolic rate.
You’ll be able to focus more
When people hit the gym or go for a run, it’s not unusual for them to don earphones and listen to music to help them get worked up. Not so with yoga, which tends to be performed in peace and quiet to help practitioner fully focus on what they’re doing. Many find the skills they develop here can be transferred to everyday life.
You’ll have a stronger spine
There’s a reason we refer to the most important part of any working system as its ‘backbone.’ The spine is vital to our body health, yet we tend to forget about it when it comes to exercise. Yoga features many postures that lengthen the spine (most famously downward-facing dog), and these moves help release more fluid into the spine, helping it work more effectively.
You’ll be able to breathe more easily
Yoga puts a great emphasis on breathing deeply at a controlled pace. People who suffer asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have said that after they began practicing yoga, the breathing techniques learned there helped ease their breathing difficulties in everyday life. Of course, the deepening of the breath and subsequent increase in lung capacity is also part of how yoga can help combat anxiety.
You’ll have better posture
Poor posture is one of the most common ailments in the modern world, not least because of how much time we spend sat down and hunched over screens. Yoga is very beneficial here indeed, in that it both increases awareness of our spine and helps build core strength, all of which should, in time, help us stand up straighter without even thinking about it.
You’ll be more mindful
‘Mindfulness’ is a buzzword we can’t get away from these days, but it’s far from a new concept, and it’s a big part of what yoga is all about. Yoga does not view the mind and the body as separate, so it’s impossible to have a healthy body without also having a healthy mind. Regular yoga practice will encourage this.
Your feet will have time to breathe
This might seem a little silly at first, but think about it: just how much time do we spend with our feet stuffed into heavy socks and shoes? It’s important to give those little piggies time to wiggle now and again. As yoga is typically performed barefoot and requires us to support a lot of bodyweight in our feet, it’s a great foot-freeing workout.
