By Sharon E. Wilkerson-Gilpin
Imagine the calmness of a stroll on a nature path by a sparkling stream on a warm, sunny morning. The joyous songs of birds and soothing, rushing waters of streams revive your mind, body, and spirit. Calmness and stress reduction are two of many health benefits of yoga.
So what is yoga? Yoga is a mind-body activity involving people moving through a series of body poses and breathing exercises for improving relaxation, balance, strength, and flexibility. Doing yoga regularly can improve physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Physical Benefits of Yoga: Healthier Hearts
Exercising regularly, quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol and managing your stress are all strategies for a healthy heart, Mayo Clinic officials report.
The deep breathing exercises and mental focus of yoga can reduce stress. Yoga helps to manage stress, and it can be part of an overall treatment plan after a heart attack, bypass surgery or diagnosis of heart disease, report officials at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Yoga may also help lower blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels, and heart rate, a Johns Hopkins University medical study showed. Patients with heart failure , who went through an eight-week yoga program, showed improvement in exercise capacity and quality of life too.
Mental Benefits of Yoga: Mind Relaxation
Most of us have a favorite place to travel where we can go to relax our minds. Some of us go to majestic mountains surrounding a quiet, valley of green pastures and sparkling streams. Some of us go to beaches to stroll by the ocean and to enjoy a refreshing breeze. Mind relaxation is also a benefit of doing yoga.
Yoga’s use of meditation and breathing can help improve mental well-being, according to officials with the American Osteopathic Association. Doing yoga can help sharpen concentration and relax the mind. The osteopathic approach to wellness, like yoga, focuses on the body’s natural tendency toward self healing and health.
Spiritual Benefits of Yoga: Peacefulness and Calmness
Practicing yoga can be a way of keeping you spiritually strong. Two of many spiritual benefits of practicing yoga are inner peace and a sense of calmness, Holistic Movement Center officials say.
Other spiritual benefits of yoga include the following:
- Encourages self care
- Enhances full experience of life
- Cultivates greater spiritual awareness
- Promotes creativity, healing and union of body, mind and spirit
- Creates a deeper bodily and energetic awareness
Finally, the next time you’re looking for a way to relax your mind and to nurture your body and spirit, try yoga. Enjoy a fuller experience of life and wellness for your body, mind and spirit!