6 Yoga's Scientifically Proven Health Benefits

While modern media and advertising may lead us to believe that yoga is solely about physical poses, yoga encompasses a wide range of contemplative and self-discipline activities, including meditation, chanting, mantra, prayer, breath work, ritual, and even selfless action.

The root word "yuj" means "to yoke" or "to bind," which is where the name "yoga" comes from. The word itself has a variety of connotations, ranging from an astronomical conjunction to nuptials, with the underlying notion of connectedness running through them all.

Yoga asana refers to the physical postures and practise of yoga.

Although scientific study into yoga's advantages is still in its early stages, much of what has been discovered thus far validates what many practitioners have believed for millennia: yoga is extremely good to our overall well-being.

Let's take a closer look at some of yoga's many advantages.

1.Yoga helps you become more flexible.

Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance, two of yoga's main organisations, performed a global survey in 2016 that looked at a range of facts regarding yoga in an attempt to measure its value despite its growing popularity.

The most common reason given for performing yoga was to "improve flexibility" 

Physical health necessitates a high level of flexibility. Yoga comes in a variety of styles, ranging in intensity from intense to moderate to light. Even low-intensity forms have been shown to improve flexibility.

Yoga appears to be especially beneficial for persons 65 and older who want to improve their flexibility. Reduced flexibility is a natural aspect of ageing, but a 2019 study revealed that yoga both reduced the loss of flexibility and enhanced it in older persons.

2.Yoga is beneficial for reducing stress.

According to the American Psychological Association, 84 percent of American people are affected by long-term stress.

As a result, it's not surprising that the second most popular reason for doing yoga is to relieve tension. Thankfully, research shows that yoga, particularly asana, is effective at reducing stress.

But keep in mind that yoga is more than simply a physical practise. Meditation, breathing exercises, and auditory rituals like chanting and sound baths have all been demonstrated to reduce stress and tension.

3.Yoga is good for your mental health.

One of the most frequent mental health problems in the world is major depressive disorder (MDD).

Yoga can now be regarded an effective alternative treatment for MDD, according to a 2017 meta-analysis of 23 interventions that looked at the impact of yoga-based treatments on depressive symptoms.

Depressive symptoms have been demonstrated to be greatly improved by both movement-based yoga therapy and breathing-based techniques.

4.Yoga has the potential to alleviate inflammation.

Chronic inflammation is frequently a prelude to illness. Prolonged inflammation has been related to heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn's disease, and a slew of other ailments.

Yoga — of varied styles, intensities, and durations – decreased biochemical indicators of inflammation across multiple chronic illnesses, according to an analysis of 15 research papers.

5.Yoga will almost certainly improve your strength.

While most people identify yoga with stretching and flexibility, some yoga programmes can also be used to increase strength. It all depends on the level of the class, the approach, and the teacher. Yoga asana is thus a multimodal kind of exercise.

Yoga's ability to improve strength has been researched in a variety of settings, including those involving persons with breast cancer, older folks, and children.

Yoga was proven to be an excellent strength-building technique across several age groups of healthy individuals in another study conducted on air force personnel.

6.Yoga has been shown to improve immunity.

Your immune system is harmed by chronic stress.

You're more prone to illness if your immunity is weakened. Yoga, on the other hand, is regarded a scientifically supported alternative treatment for stress, as previously mentioned.

Although the research is still in its early stages, certain studies have discovered a clear correlation between yoga practise (particularly over time) and improved immune system performance.

This is attributed in part to yoga's anti-inflammatory properties, as well as the development of cell-mediated immunity