12 Yoga Benefits That Will Surprise You

The year of 2020 was not an easy one with many people facing the ongoing struggles due to COVID-19. Now more than ever it is essential to maintain good mental and physical health. Yoga is an excellent form of exercise to do just that. In our post today, we will be sharing amazing yoga benefits that you may not know about. 

Yoga is a tried and proven holistic health exercise that comes with several benefits to enhance overall wellbeing. Everyone knows about the more obvious benefits like toning your triceps or having flexible hamstrings, however, there are lots more. 

***Disclosure – This post is sponsored***

12 Yoga Benefits For Maintaining A Healthy Body And State Of Mind

Detoxing Effects

During any given dynamic yoga exercise session your body benefits because of the flow of oxygenated blood. Asana classes are excellent for digestive health since it involves specific postures that gently apply stimulation and pressure to digestive organs as well as the liver and kidneys that are key organs for detoxification. Twists like the bow pose are incredibly advantageous for increasing oxygen and cleansing your blood. 

Balancing Hormones

Yoga is a known remedy for getting your entire body back into symmetry, especially the glands of your endocrine systems that are responsible for secreting hormones in your body. Every time you do certain postures, you stimulate these glands energetically and physically which can have a potent healing impact on your body. The child’s pose, for instance, has a rejuvenating and calming influence on your adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are responsible for exuding several hormones, including the stress hormone, cortisol. Therefore, at the end of a stressful day, doing the child’s pose is a much more beneficial way of eliminating stress.

Enhancing Concentration Levels

Concentration involves shifting your attention to a singular point of focus. In today’s hectic schedules, it can be a challenge to prevent your mind from being distracted, therefore it can be tricky to concentrate and focus on getting things done. Yoga teachers keep encouraging students to return to their breath which is an effective way of concentrating your focus on a single point. It is relatively simple to watch your breath each time, irrespective if you are on the mat or not, to improve on your concentration skills. 

Learning To Be More Patient

Another fantastic side effect of frequently practicing yoga is teaching you to let go of whatever the outcome is and submit to the present. Impatience is not a healthy characteristic and the best way to counterbalance your impatience is by learning to hold your postures and keep focusing on your breathing. 

Helping You To Feel More Secure

The Muladhara (root chakra) is linked to your roots, your sense of physical wellbeing. When your roots are performing well, it helps you to feel more secure and connected to earth. The chakra which is found two inches below and in front of your tailbone is stimulated via the Warrior 1 poses which are wide legged asanas, and wide legged forward bends (Trikonasana) seated, or standing. By doing these poses, you will start feeling more grounded. These poses are particularly advantageous when you are going through times of physical change like traveling or moving to a new house.

Boosting Your Confidence

Yoga is an exceptional tool to help boost your self-confidence on many levels. It provides you with a practical means of developing both internal and external qualities like balance, strength, and focus. Once you start seeing progression in your practice, your confidence will automatically improve. As far as your energetic level is concerned, the Manipura (solar plexus chakra) is linked to confidence, therefore practicing postures that stimulate your chakra will help you progress through life. Try doing the plank and holding it for a few minutes every morning to start enjoying the benefits. 

An Excellent Method For Stimulating Creativity

Your Swadisthana (sacral chakra) is the centre of creativity in your body. It is found in the area of the sacrum/tailbone. Doing asanas will help with activating this region while stimulating your creative flow. Creativity is not just about making something beautiful like painting a picture. It also relates to your way of thinking and your ability to solve problems. This is advantageous irrespective if you are an artistic individual or not. We recommend incorporating the seated forward bend (Paschimottanasana), cobra (Bhujangasana), and head to knee (Janu Sirsasana) poses into your yoga session if you want to get your creative juices flowing. 

Honing Your Intuition

One should always trust one’s intuition since this is an aspect of the mind that is rarely wrong. Frequent meditation practices are an excellent way to help quieting and stilling your phobias, oscillating fears, and anxieties of your lower mind. At the same time, you are creating a space for your immeasurable wisdom and intuition to give you the answers you need to move forward in life and in general. 

Yoga assists with relieving back pain

Yoga is incredibly useful for easing pain and doing basic stretching which improves mobility in those that suffer from lower back pain. The Cat-cow pose is an excellent pose for relieving chronic lower back pain. 

Yoga can be beneficial for easing arthritis symptoms

Gentle yoga sessions have been used for easing the discomfort linked to tender, swollen joints for individuals living with arthritis.

Yoga is beneficial for heart health

Frequent yoga sessions can lower stress levels and inflammation that usually contributes to heart health. Many factors like high blood pressure and obesity are primary factors that cause heart disease. This can be addressed by doing yoga. We recommend doing the downward dog pose. 

Yoga is perfect for relaxation to promote better sleep

Research has shown that a constant bedtime yoga session can assist with getting into the right mindset, subsequently preparing your body to fall asleep and stay that way. We recommend incorporating the legs-up-the-wall pose into your night time yoga routine.

Conclusion

We hope you have found this post helpful and will consider all the valuable yoga benefits that could improve your overall wellbeing and quality of life.

WIN 2 Months Of Yoga Classes To The Value of R800

Win two months of weekly yoga classes from Jivana Yoga Studio in studio in Midrand, or online – enter using the form below.

Jivana Yoga Studio is situated in the beautiful Carlswald Valley in Midrand.  They have morning and evening adult classes, children’s afternoon classes, and they also offer the occasional weekend workshop.

Classes are also available online, so if you are not in the Midrand area you can still enter!

This competition is open for residents of South Africa.

This competition is open for entries from 04 January 2021 until 01 February 2021 – the winner will be announced on our competitions page.
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