“Yoga heals the soul.”

Yoga is the perfect combination of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Continued practice gives you a sense of peace and improves the alignment of the mind, body, and spirit.  Regular practice of Yoga gives us a number of health benefits, so much that the entire world celebrates International Yoga Day on June 21st.  If you aren’t on board the yoga express yet, here are ten reasons that will make you give this a try.

1-Improves Flexibility

Don’t worry if in your first class you can barely touch your toes or even your knees, for that matter. If you are consistent, then you will definitely notice a gradual loosening and maybe you’ll even do the splits! You will notice your aches and pains go away and you will be way more flexible than you ever were.

2-Increases Blood Flow

Yoga exercises help in blood circulation which gives more oxygen to your cells. This boosts haemoglobin levels and RBCs which are important carriers of oxygen to tissues.

3-Better Posture

While practising yoga, your head needs to be balanced directly on your erect spine. This lessens the work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Especially in this day and age of cellphone addiction, we all have what doctors call the cellphone spine. Its constantly bent and the only solution is to hold up your phone in front of your face, which nobody would do it honestly. So some yoga practice will definitely reduce the daily damage we do to our spines. Plus sitting up straight makes you look slimmer and so confident.

4-Improves Bone Health

There are many yoga poses where you need to lift your own weight especially the postures like downward dog and upward dog. Exercises which make you bear your own body weight improve your bone strength and saves you a world of trouble in old age.

5-Builds Muscular Strength

Yoga builds strength and flexibility and protects your body from bone-related ailments. When you build muscle at the gym, you sometimes do it at the cost of your flexibility but while practising yoga you build both at the same time. The more muscles you have, the more your resting metabolism is and the faster you lose weight and keep burning calories while not doing anything.

6-Drains lymph and boosts immunity

While practising yoga, the different postures you need to get into and stretch your muscles and increase the drainage of lymph from your body especially around your organs which in turn boosts immunity. This will help you to fight infections, destroy diseased cells and dispose of harmful wastes.

7-Increases focus

The most important element of yoga practice is the focus. It improves coordination, reduces reaction time and improves memory. Yoga stresses on focusing on the present and be less distracted. It increases your ability to solve problems and recall information better.

8-Improves balance

Yoga improves proprioception which is the ability of your body to know what it is doing and where it is present. It really helps you to increase your balance which leads to fewer falls and injuries.

9-Increases your heart rate

If you regularly get your heart rate in the aerobic zone, you decrease the chances of heart attack and lower depression. All yoga isn’t aerobic but it still improves cardiovascular conditioning, increases endurance and maximizes intake of oxygen during exercise.

10-Makes you healthier and happier

Consistent yoga practice improved depression and led to a significant increase in serotonin levels and a decrease in the levels of monoamine oxidase and cortisol.
A regular practice gets you moving and burns calories and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of your practice may encourage you to address any eating and weight problems on a deeper level. Yoga may also inspire you to become a more conscious eater.

We hope that now you are interested in yoga and if you need some beginner’s motivation, check out Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. Good luck!