Although the health benefits of yoga were developed in India thousands of years ago, yoga has become an incredibly popular form of exercise in the United States. There are more than one hundred different types of yoga. Most focus on three core elements: breathing exercises, meditation, and assuming poses that stretch and flex various muscle groups.
You’ve probably heard yoga is good for you. Maybe you’ve even tried it and found that you walked away feeling better than when you came in. Yoga not only feels great but provides instant gratification and lasting transformation (if you stick with it!). Plus, while yoga can help with flexibility, you may be surprised by the other physical and mental health benefits.
Yoga’s Physical Benefits
- Builds Muscle Strength – Many yoga poses require you to support the weight of your own body in new ways, including balancing on one leg or supporting yourself with your arms. Poses such as downward dog, upward dog, and the plank pose, build upper-body strength. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abs. Poses that strengthen the lower back include upward dog and the chair pose.
- Improved Flexibility – Typically the first and most obvious benefit of yoga, improved flexibility tends to be clearly evident, even to beginners. Moving and stretching in new ways helps to increase the range of motion and lubrication, especially if you have pain in your joints and spine, which is key to performing everyday activities with ease as you continue to age.
- Posture – When you’re stronger and more flexible, your posture improves. Most of the standing and sitting poses develop core strength because your abdominal muscles are needed to help support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you’re more likely to sit and stand tall.
- Bone and Joint Health – It’s well known that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis, and many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. Yoga also can have a significant effect on healthy joint function as certain poses promote the release of fluids while strengthening the muscles supporting vital joint systems.
- Heart Healthy – When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of a heart attack. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take certain classes (like Ashtanga), it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range.
- Breathing – Most of us take shallow breaths and don’t give much thought to how we breathe. Because most forms of yoga involve deep breathing and attention to our breath, lung capacity often improves. This, in turn, can improve sports performance and endurance.
