Yoga Benefits in Plain English

Sometimes when we keep hearing about a new kind of exercise we loose the meaning of its benefits or just say "It's good for you". But, really, how good is yoga for you? In what ways? How can you describe that in Western medicine terms that we got so accustomed to?

Read on to know more about the benefits of yoga. One of the benefits is related to detoxifying your cells and body and fighting cancer!

According to Timothy McCall, M.D., from the Yoga Journal, several benefits of yoga are identified based on research she has collected and studied from India and the West. Here is a list of the major areas of benefit:

1. Improved flexibility
2. Stronger muscles 
3. Improve body posture 
4. Move your joints in a manner to prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability
5. Keep your spinal disks healthy by different twists and bends forward and backward   
6. Strengthen the health of your bones especially in exercises where you need to lift your own weight. Also yoga might keep the calcium in your bones by lowering the stress hormone cortisol 
7. Keep the blood circulation flow which might help in reducing swelling caused from kidney and heart diseases and in reducing clotting of blood and lowering heart attacks and strokes 
8. Increase the drainage of lymph, which helps it function properly in fighting infection and cancerous cells and dispose of toxic cellular waste
9. Lower the risk of heart attack by regularly getting your heart into the aerobic rate (with some kinds of yoga exercises)
10. Lowering high blood pressure (hypertension) especially the Savasana move
11. Lower stress hormone cortisol with what that leads to from benefits such as controlling weight and lowering risks of diabetes (from food seeking) and heart attack
12. Lower depression and make you feel happier by increasing the levels of serotonin and decreasing cortisol and monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters)
13. Yoga can help you move more and may also encourage you (spiritually) to reconsider your eating habits
14. Lowering blood sugar and LDL (bad) cholesterol and boosting HDL (good) cholesterol
15. Improving coordination, reaction time, memory, and IQ levels especially by helping you focus on the present 
16. Helping you lower your breathing and heart rates, blood pressure, and increase blood flow to intestines and reproductive organs
17. Increases your ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is space wise. Also it improves your balance
18. Some studies suggest yoga can help some control some body functions like warming hands
19. Loosen tension in some tense areas in your body like face or tongue
20. Relaxation from the extra stimulation of modern life and help sleep better
21. Possibly improving the immune function in your body
22. Improve your breathing 
23. Help relieve bowel and indigestion and ulcer disorders
24. Helps quiet the fluctuations of the mind and ease feelings such as anger, fear and frustration
25. Raise your self-esteem 
26. Ease pain 
27. Help you change your life to the better with positive energy 
28. And more....

We hope you will consider (if your health allows) joining this amazing practice.  

Source:

The Yoga Journal: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1634