What Does Yoga Do For The Mind And Body

The main aim of yoga is to unite your mind with your body and spirit, but the benefits of yoga are not only centered with your mind. With correct yoga postures and right environment you can find harmony in connecting your mind with the body and heal many conditions. Thus yoga unlike other modes of exercise is also considered therapeutic in nature.

Some Physiological Benefits Of Yoga –

• Improves posture, eye-hand co-ordination, dexterity skills, balance and steadiness, sleep, excretory functions, integrated functioning of all body parts

• Increases cardiovascular efficiency, breath holding time, strength and grip, immunity, galvanic skin response, EEG alpha waves, respiratory efficiency, musculoskeletal flexibility and joint range motion, energy, endurance, resiliency and strength

• Stabilizes autonomic nervous system equilibrium

• Normalizes endocrine functions, gastrointestinal functions, weight

• Decreases pain in various muscles and body parts, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, EMG activity

Biochemical Benefits Of Yoga –

• Decreases glucose, sodium, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides, catecholamine, and total white blood cell count

• Increases HDL cholesterol, cholinesterase, ATPase, hematocrit, hemoglobin, lymphocyte count, vitamin C, thyroxin and total serum protein.

Psychological Benefits Of Yoga –

• Improves mood, memory, concentration, attention, depth perception, flicker fusion frequency, learning efficiency, symbol coding

• Increases somatic awareness, kinesthetic awareness, self actualization, self acceptance and overall wellbeing.

• Decreases hostility, anxiety and depression.

There are many yoga health benefits over exercise like unlike exercise, practicing yoga may not bore you in fact you have unlimited possibilities for growth in self-awareness. Yoga is non-competitive and process oriented, where as exercise is mostly competitive and goal oriented. As you see there are many more important physiological and biochemical functions besides psychological function yoga plays.

Thus it shall be clear yoga is not only important for mind, but also very much essential for overall health and body. These health benefits of yoga are based on practicing all three that is yoga postures or asanas, meditation and yoga breathing or pranayama. Yoga also helps you to be aware of your body postures, patters and awareness of the movement. It will make your body very flexible and help you to relax even in the midst of any stress filled environment. Yoga is a science that is been practiced for thousands of years and its main principle that is mind and body connection has been proven by our modern medicine.

Practicing yoga on regular basis can definitely help you to feel more energetic, fitter, happier and peaceful.