Health and Fitness Benefits of Yoga

Health and Fitness Benefits of Yoga

As we know that exercise/fitness in general has a lot of benefits your overall health but also it can help in fitness for other things. Yoga is something that has benefits in both your health but also it benefits your fitness as well making other fitness ventures easier.

I break down the different health areas including internal, external, emotional, body chemistry of all the benefits that yoga has on these. I will also be including a section on conditions/diseases that is helped by yoga. The last area will be the fitness benefits of yoga

Section 1: Internal Health Benefits

• decreases your blood pressure
• lowers your pulse rate
• improved blood circulation
• lowers respiratory rate
• cardiovascular endurance
• massaging of your internal organs
• gastrointestinal function improvement
• stronger immune system
• higher pain tolerance
• better pain management than using narcotics or other types of pharmaceutical drugs
• increased metabolism

Section 2: External Health Benefits

• stimulates the detoxification process
• improves your posture
• builds strength
• higher energy levels
• reduction in cellulite
• improves sleep
• improves balance and body control
• stronger core
• better body control, relaxation, and self confidence which increases libido and sexual comfort and performance

Section 3: Emotional Health Benefits

• creates a strong mind-body connection a healthy body allows one to focus inward the inevitable side effect is a better mood
• use of controlled movements required provide people with much better self control in all aspects of their lives
• mind-body connection with controlled breathing and body movements translates into an internal calm and peace
• 8 weeks of yoga can improve concentration and motivation
• improves blood circulation to the brain, improves mind's ability to focus and its memory skills
• prove to reduce stress dramatically
• controlled breathing practiced during yoga results in a marked reduction of anxiety
• release of internal negative energy, which, when done regularly can have great benefit for reducing depression and its symptoms
• strengthens the ability to focus and concentrate throughout all parts of your life
• calmness is one of the greatest benefits which is facilitated by intense concentration on the body
• improves one's ability to be in tune and connected to what the body needs, this helps in many ways, including, with controlling food cravings, overall eating habits, and emotional eating

Section 4: Body Chemistry

• lowers cholesterol
• support the building of a strong lymphatic system, which, boosts immunity and eliminates toxins throughout the body
• lowers blood glucose levels
• reduces sodium levels
• controls the secretion of hormones which helps to balance and improve overall physical and emotional health
• lowers triglycerides in bloodstream, which lowers risks of heart disease and high blood pressure

Section 5: Disease Prevention

• Heart disease is prevented by the ability to reduce body weight and improve cardiovascular health
• Osteoporosis reduced by the strengthening of bones and lowers levels of cortisol in the body that doesn't help in the preservation of calcium levels
• elevates levels of gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) in the brain which reduces Alzheimer's. Medication in yoga helps slow its progression as well.
• Prevents Type 2 diabetes and helps regulate blood sugar levels in Type 1 diabetics. It also encourages insulin production in the pancreas. 

Section 6: Conditions/Diseases Helped By Yoga

• carpal tunnel syndrome
• allergies
• menopause
• back pain
• asthma
• arthritis
• multiple scleroses
• cancer
• muscular dystrophy
• migraines
• scoliosis
• chronic bronchitis
• epilepsy
• sciatica   
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• constipation

Section 7: Fitness Benefits of Yoga

• much lower risk of injury
• offers cardio, strength training, and muscle toning
• helps develop lean muscle tone
• most other workouts dominate cortex part of brain - yoga dominates sub-cortex, which, is associated with well-being
• body works more efficiently as there's less oxygen consumption
• higher levels of energy due to controlled breathing - more energy post workout and much less fatigue
• provides balance between opposing muscle groups and that give more efficient body workout
• improve range of motion
• improves hand eye coordination
• improves dexterity so provides a lot of flexibility
• improves endurance
• depth perception because of total body awareness
• effective weight loss on both an emotional and physical level

Quick cheat sheet of the benefits for the body and mind that yoga offers.