The Mental Health Benefits Of Yoga: Effects & Impact

The word yoga means ‘to unite.’ Yoga is an extraordinary spiritual science of self-realization and self-development, which helps us to fulfill the potential of our all-around life.

Originally yoga is a method of joining a regular imperfect human being with divine principle or god; you can also take yoga as a form of prayer with the difference that yoga involves action and prayers are verbal. It was first originated by the saints of ancient India and maintained by a stream of living teachers who have continually adapted it for generations.

Yoga has been the most popular physical exercise worldwide; not only this, but yoga also helps spiritual enlightenment to alcoholism and drug addicts. Most of us have experienced the relaxing and effective yoga measures for illness, diagnosis, and stressful situations to turn out positivity. 

Yoga nowadays is the most respected mainstream, which focuses on the mental and physical health of the practitioner. Many religious aspects of yoga have not reached the US due to the people’s esoteric and practical mystical minds. But the US highly appreciates and accepts the mental health benefits of yoga to those who practice it in a routine.  

How Is Yoga And Mental Health-Related To Each Other?

Yoga is much more than just holding various poses and stretching your body, and yoga turns out to be a comprehensive practice for many principles of life, such as:

Moral coding(Yama), Self discipline(niyama), holding postures(asanas), mindful breathing(pranayama), detachment of senses(pratyahara), developing concentration(Dharana), meditation(dhyana), state of rest(savasana) and ecstasy(Samadhi).

Physical Benefits Of Yoga

Yoga helps reduce chronic pain and lower back pain; it also helps maintain blood pressure and reduce the symptoms of insomnia. Other health benefits of yoga are:

• Improves sleep quality

• Improves physical health

• Helps reducing weight

• Improves the respiratory system

• It increased energy level in the body

• Maintains balance and flexibility of the body

Mental Benefits Of Yoga

• Reduces stress

Yoga is one of the most powerful ways to balance the level of stress in the body. Yoga reduces the secretion of primary stress hormones in the body which reduces stress and promotes relaxation. It also helps in improving mental health and quality of life.

• Relieves from anxiety

Many people practice yoga to relieve themselves from anxiety; yoga benefits women to overcome the fear through post-traumatic stress disorder and helps find a sense of peace, reducing anxiety.

• Quality of life

Yoga is one of the most common Mental Health Therapy to improve the quality of life for many people worldwide; people who practice yoga daily have improved moods and fatigue levels. Yoga also helps ease post-chemotherapy symptoms like vomiting and nausea, which enhances the overall quality of life. Yoga enables you to enhance the level of acceptance and relaxation. This is one of the most effective mental benefits of yoga.

• Overcome depression

Yoga has antidepressants that affect the mind and body and helps in reducing the symptoms of depression. Yoga helps in reducing the stress hormone. Hence it is found effective for people fighting alcohol and substance abuse. It has been observed that yoga is effective for reducing the ACT level and is a traditional method of treating depression.

• Chronic pain

Chronic pain is an issue that has affected millions of people and has a range of probable causes, such as arthritis to injury. Yoga helps in easing the pain caused due to various chronic illnesses. The incorporation of yoga in everyday life is beneficial and proves to be one of yoga’s most common mental benefits.

• Sleep quality

Obesity, depression, high blood pressure results in poor or lack of sleep. Daily practice of yoga promotes better sleep. Yoga even helps you sleep faster, long hours, and makes your body feel rested entirely. Yoga helps in reducing sleep disturbances and the need for medication.

• Balance and Flexibility

Yoga improves the balance of the body and also helps in the overall mass reduction of the body. 

Practicing yoga daily for 15-20minutes enhances the flexibility of the body.

• Migraine pain

Migraine pains are a severe type of headache that affects most of the population; this symptom of migraine can be relieved by yoga. If practiced daily, the frequency, pain, and intensity.

• Improves mental health

Apart from improving flexibility, yoga also builds mental health, encourages the power of being self-effective within you, and lets you think about likes, dislikes, and preferences. Yoga 

also helps in developing a sense of self-control and focuses on setting commitments.

• Positivity

Yoga acts as a vacuum in clearing your mind and mental hygiene. Yoga helps you release the unwanted emotional baggage to bring positive energy inside you; yoga is a great mode to focus and restore your angry moods.

Before Joining A Yoga Class

Consult your doctor:

As yoga is a form of exercise, every person practicing yoga is advised to consult their physician to ensure their body is fit to be a part of the class safely. This is very important for those who have pre-existing medical conditions.

Right kind of yoga:

There are many different kinds of yoga; some forms of yoga are more gentle and safe than others. You might have good experience with Kripalu style and Iyengar style yoga. It would be best to be careful with power yoga, usually practiced in hot rooms, especially Bikram yoga, as this form of yoga is more physically demanding.

Not for everyone:

Yoga is a form of exercise that helps promote mental health, and this can also be gained from another form of exercise. It is very important to keep in mind because every personality will not click with yoga. Yoga works best for people with anxiety, depression, fatigue, or persons looking for self relive or self-realization. Some people find yoga boring, and for them, some other exercises can give similar benefits.

Careful:

Like any other physical exercise, yoga also can be dangerous/harmful if not practiced properly. Physical injuries can occur if you do not follow the instructions properly. While practicing yoga, you need to push yourself somewhat but never push yourself to the extent where it hurts you or you experience severe pain. Stop there itself if you share any sort of extreme pain while practicing.   

Overall what you need to know

Yoga is beneficial in improving mental health and also provides several other benefits to the mind and body. Yoga helps you to develop patience, and gives relaxation to your mind. Yoga helps to deal with depression, fatigue, stress, anxiety disorder and helps you in self-realization and self-relaxation. The above article is all about the benefits of yoga on mental health.

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Thank you to guest blogger, Emily Blunt at Navis Health