Need a reason to start yoga? We have ten of you, and all of them lead you to become even happier.
If you've never tried yoga, don't despair. It's never too late to take a beginner class. If what you're looking for is a holistic form of exercise that will benefit you – physically and mentally – then you need to give this ancient practice a shot. Here are its main benefits, which will bring immediate, and very pleasant, results in your life.
- It takes the pressure off: Yoga "marries" movement with breathing. Through many studies, it has been proven that the combination of exercise, meditation and proper breathing techniques can lower the pressure, without the intervention of drugs.
- Cleanses the body of toxins: An hour of yoga is like a head-to-toe massage. The ideology of yoga is that twisting our body is like wringing a sponge to drain it. By the same logic, we "drain" our body of toxins that accumulate due to the environment, stress and diet.
It teaches us discipline: Yoga requires patience and consistency, and sticking to our schedule teaches us discipline, which applies to other aspects of our lives. - It teaches us balance: In addition to the fact that exercises improve posture, we learn to balance our limbs better, and we become more in tune with our environment.
- Relieves back pain: Ένας από τους παράγοντες που ευθύνονται για τους πόνους στη περιοχή της πλάτης είναι οι πιασμένοι μηριαίοι – κάτι που επιδεινώνεται περισσότερο με την sedentary lifestyle. Μέσω των διατάσεων που κάνουμε στην γιόγκα, το σώμα μας χαλαρώνει και ο πόνος ελαττώνεται σημαντικά.
- We become stronger and more flexible: Yoga is based on a series of isometric postures, which – most of the time – are held for a period of ten deep breaths. In addition to our flexibility, which increases dramatically after a while, our muscles become very strong and durable with this process.
- Stress is reduced: When we do yoga, we relax our body and breath, and focus on the present. This moves us from the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) to the parasympathetic (relaxation). The result is better regulated heart beats, as well as less production of the stress hormone, cortisol.
- Increases libido: It is natural, in the chaos of everyday life, to lose touch with our sexual side. Yoga, by teaching us to listen to our body's “voice,” can bring back some of that lost sexual energy—not to mention the changes we notice in our performance, utilizing all the breathing and concentration techniques we've learned.
- Fights insomnia: The benefits of exercise and physical fatigue on sleep habits are more or less known. Yoga, however, seems to be particularly effective in dealing with sleep problems, as it boosts melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that makes us feel calm, helping us fall asleep more easily.
- It helps in losing weight: There are many ways in which yoga helps us lose weight. In addition to regulating hormones, as we said above, which cause stress and can interfere with our diet, the detoxification what we do also has an effect on metabolism.
Finally, and just as importantly, yoga provides an emotional outlet, so eating ceases to be an outburst in times of great stress.
Article in http://www.iatronet.gr
