10 BENEFITS of YOGA

Here are 10 reasons why yoga is so good for us!

This article didn't just come from me collecting information and reading researches but also evolved from personal experience. It wasn't easy to pick only 🔟 benefits of yoga among so many others that are equally as important. My hope is that you enjoy it as much as I did! Tell me why you do yoga or what are you trying to achieve? Share your thoughts and comments below!

1️⃣Flexibility I hear it a lot: “I'm not flexible enough” or “I could never do advanced poses or inversions", "I'm going to be the worst student in the class". Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won't be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with the practice, you'll notice a gradual loosening. Eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. Why is it important? Flexibility is needed to perform everyday activities with relative ease. To get out of bed, lift children, or sweep the floor, we need flexibility. Flexibility tends to deteriorate with age, often due to a sedentary lifestyle. Without adequate flexibility, daily activities become more difficult to perform. When you increase flexibility, you will notice that it reduces stress in the exercising muscles and releases tension developed during the workout; it will help to improve performance of everyday activities as well as performance in exercise and sport. Sounds good, right? 2️⃣ Good posture From flexibility we get a better posture by balancing the tension placed across the joint by the muscles that cross it. Proper posture minimizes stress and maximizes the strength of all joint movement. Needless to say you walk, sit, stand and function much better without rounding through your back, locking your knees and elbows or leaning on either side too much. 3️⃣Reduces the risk of injury Once again, as we become more flexible we are less likely to get injured during exercise and daily activities because muscles are more pliable. 4️⃣Increased muscle strength and tone Yoga is for every body and every level of exercising. From a person who never worked out in their life to a professional athlete, they all can find what they seek. Whether it's an addition to their existing routine or the only activity that they will do. 5️⃣Weight reduction. Before go any further, we all should be realistic and kind to ourselves. You won't wake up the next day after a yoga class in the body of your dreams. You will still have to work for it. However yoga will help you to loose weight. Plus go back to n. 1&4 6️⃣ Improves balance The three essential elements of balance are alignment, strength, and attention. Alignment of the body with gravity is crucial; it makes balance physically possible. Strength gives us the power to create, hold, and adjust alignment. And attention continually monitors alignment so we know how to correct it from one moment to the next. It's also important to remember that one is never balanced, one is always balancing.

7️⃣Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. Motion=lotion for your joints. As easy as that. 8️⃣Betters your bone health Bones are living tissue. Yoga in its nature is a weight-bearing exercise, meaning you hold the weight of your body up against gravity. Resisting gravity puts a mild stress on the bones. That stress forces bones into laying down new growth. Bottom line, as you put structural weight on your bones, it makes them stronger. The more we learn about bone health, the more it seems that yoga combined with plant-based food creates a foundation for healthy bones. 9️⃣Helps you focus Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath down, and to focus on the present. It teaches you how to make better decisions. Everything about practicing yoga involves intention—you find time in your day step on your mat, you connect your movement to the breath, you stay focused. And when you are mindful and focused on your yoga mat, you can apply this skill to your every day life. 🔟 Better sleep Isn't it what we all want? Sleep through the night and wake up refreshed? The combination of breath and movement that you find in yoga activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which helps counteract stress. By lowering stress levels, calming the mind and relieving tension in the body, the soothing practice can be an effective natural sleep remedy. Also, try iRest Yoga Nidra - integrative restoration that heals the unresolved issues and traumas that are present in your body and mind. It provides you with tools to help you to relax deeply, release stress, increase resiliency and improve your interpersonal relationships. Better sleep - more rested we are and ready to conquer the world!