How Practicing Yoga Benefits Your Health [9 ways!]

Updated on July 30, 2021

By Caitlin Sinclair

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Curious about the benefits of yoga? Learn how yoga can improve your sleep, reduce your stress levels, and of course, help you look and feel amazing.

Are you considering taking a yoga class? Curious about giving yoga a try at home by following along with a video? Are you wondering why you should devote your time to practicing yoga at all?

We’re here to let you in on all the tremendous benefits yoga has in store for you!

From a better night’s sleep to a confidence boost, the mental and physical effects of yoga speak for themselves. If you still need a bit of yoga convincing, take a look at all the ways it benefits your health…

1. Helps You Sleep Better at Night

Yoga is incredibly relaxing. It winds you down and helps you sleep better when it’s time for bed. That includes making sure you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and feel more rested when you wake up.

There’s even evidence that yoga increases the secretion of melatonin in your body.

Yoga may heal health problems that contribute to low sleep quality, so you’ll sleep better. On the other side of the coin, it leads to a ton of other benefits that cure the adverse effects of not sleeping well.

It’s a win-win situation.

2. Improves Balance and Flexibility

The combination of stretching and holding certain poses make yoga an incredible tool to finely tune your body. 

Yoga stretches improve your range of motion gradually, so you don’t hurt yourself. The more you practice yoga, the easier it is for you to move, and the greater your flexibility becomes. 

While you stretch, you also hold your body in a single position for an extended period.

Holding poses teaches your body to remain still without falling over. In fact, you’ll start to see improvements in your balance almost immediately. And it only gets more noticeable with more time and practice.

3. Increases Your Strength

In the same way that holding poses improves your balance, it also increases your muscle strength. That’s because it takes those muscles to hold your body in position without moving.

You put resistance on your muscles, and they work hard to keep you right where you are.

Different poses throughout your yoga routine target other areas all over your body. Some poses help strengthen your upper body, lower body, and core the more you do them.

4. Lowers Your Stress Levels

Practicing yoga gives you an excuse to leave the rest of the world behind you. It helps you relax for a little while and let go of whatever is putting stress on your mind, body, and soul.

It’s not all about relaxing, though. 

Yoga has actually shown the ability to decrease your cortisol levels. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. The less you have in your system, the better off you are.

5. Promotes a Healthy Heart

Many factors lead to heart disease, and yoga is efficient at tackling a lot of them. It’s a fantastic way to keep your heart healthy, especially if you can’t handle any high-impact exercise.

By practicing yoga, you will lower your blood pressure. You also reduce stress levels, maintain a healthy weight, and promote better eating habits.

It’s a small change that leads to significant changes in keeping your heart happy and healthy.

6. Improves Your Breathing

Breathing exercises are a standard part of practicing yoga. These kinds of activities are usually called pranayama

There’s a lot of focus put on being more mindful of your breathing. You will get more in tune with the way you breathe and learn how to improve your breathing. In turn, you can also lower your levels of stress and anxiety.

7. Fights Anxiety and Depression

Yoga keeps you present at the moment and calms your mind. Even for a short time, you can focus on your movements and breathing rather than everything else. This practice leads to fewer symptoms of anxiety.

Practicing yoga lowers cortisol levels, which diminish your brain’s ability to produce serotonin. This leaves you feeling better overall.

Yoga is far from a cure for these illnesses. But it’s a fantastic weapon to help fight back against the symptoms and get you feeling more like yourself. 

8. Creates Mindful Eating Habits

The increase in mindfulness from a regular yoga routine extends to other life areas, including the foods you eat.

Being conscious of what you consume leads to healthier eating habits. You don’t just eat because you’re bored, distracted, or feeling lousy. Instead, you eat because it gives you energy and helps your body function.

Being in tune with what your body needs and what makes it feel not nice will undoubtedly improve your diet.

9. Boosts Self Esteem

Yoga connects you with your body and puts you in touch with what your body can do rather than how it looks. By forming that kind of bond with your body, you’re less critical of it and more appreciative of yourself.

When you focus on all the positive things your mind and body are capable of, it’s hard not to feel more confident.


In Conclusion

Yoga is a form of fitness that everyone should try. You don’t have to be super flexible from the start or be able to hold the poses correctly without falling over. All you need is a desire to do your best, and the rest will come naturally as you work at it.

And now you have a great reason to buy more yoga pants!

Don’t just take our word for it. Sign up for a yoga class or find a routine you can follow from the comfort of your own home. After you give it a try, you’ll soon see first hand how practicing yoga truly benefits your health.

Author bio

Caitlin Sinclair is the Business Manager at Anson. With over 5 years of property management experience, she begins and ends each day loving what she does. She finds joy in helping current and future residents and makes Anson a place everyone loves to call home.

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The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.