Benefits of Practicing Yoga

When people think of yoga, what comes to their mind is that it’s about doing different postures on the mat and twisting the body parts but what they forget is that it is a spiritual science of self-realisation and self-development that will help them develop to their full potential.

Although it can’t be denied that yoga doesn’t involve doing various kinds of postures on the mat, but it should also be remembered that there are many benefits of yoga beyond the mat.

Thus in this article, we will understand about different types of yoga, followed by which we will cover some long-term benefits of yoga that don’t involve a mat but still play a very vital role in maintaining the perfect balance of physical and mental health in one’s life.

Types of Yoga

There are many different types of yoga, but some of the most common ones include:

• Hatha yoga
• Aerial yoga
• Bikram yoga
• Ashtanga yoga
• Restorative Yoga
• Iyengar yoga
• Kundalini yoga
• Vinyasa yoga
• Yin yoga

Out of these, the most popularly followed is Hatha yoga which is a combination of many different styles. But it focuses on 2 main things:

• Breathing exercises (Pranayamas)
• Different yoga positions (Asanas)

Thus from the above discussion, it should be clear that yoga means “to unite” or “to combine” (breathing + physical body).

5 Benefits of Yoga Beyond the Mat

There are, to be honest, uncountable benefits of yoga beyond the mat, but we will understand about the 5 most prominent of them in detail. So let’s get started.

1. Yoga helps you overcome Cardiovascular disease

Heart attacks and heart disease seem very common problems nowadays as most people are following a very unhealthy lifestyle. And among the major causes of heart strokes and diseases, it is found that high blood pressure is taking the lead.

Thus it becomes very important to practice yoga in the day to day routine as it has many cardiovascular benefits like: 

• Lowering the blood pressure
• Improving the heart rate 
• Increasing the blood flow
• Reducing the formation of blood clots

As per the latest reports published by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), people who actually practised yoga daily had low blood pressure compared to those who didn’t practice it. And further, it was also found that those who practised yoga were less prone to getting heart disease.

Thus yoga is a real boom, especially for heart patients and should be practised daily.

2. Yoga teaches how to breathe in real

Breathing is a very important component of everyone’s life. Doing it properly can help you increase your concentration levels, stabilise your mood and even help you balance your energy in the right manner.

But you may ask a question: Don’t we breathe properly, and what is proper breathing? Isn’t it just taking air in and out?

To answer this, yoga has a dedicated branch called Pranayama which focuses majorly on breathing tactics and various methods, out of which 3 mainly used methods are:

• Ujjayi Pranayama
• Nadi Shodhana
• Kapalbhati Pranayama 

And these methods showcase the right way of breathing by discarding the fact that breathing is just a normal activity of taking air in and out.

3. Yoga helps you build a better body image

Have you ever noticed that normally the yoga studios don’t have mirrors? Do you know why?

Because they want you to focus more on your inner self and breathing rather than your postures.

As yoga helps you develop inner awareness (self-realisation of the soul), you will become more conscious about your body, directly affecting your mental state in a positive manner.

So yoga is an essential integral part which will help you overcome self-doubts, eating disorders, sleeping disorders and many more such issues by making you self aware and also help you build a better body image not only from the outside but also from inside the body.

4. Yoga helps you become a mindful eater

Just like most people aren’t aware of proper breathing tactics, the same is the case with eating. According to researchers, mindful eating basically means self-awareness of both emotional and physical sensations associated with eating.

Thus from the benefits of yoga discussed till now, it can be said that it is very helpful to overcome:

• Eating even when you are full
• Eating without being aware of the taste and smell of food
• Overeating or skipping meals when in stress, tension and depression
• Eating while you are distracted by other things

Along with that, researchers have also found that people who practise yoga are more mindful eaters compared to ones who don’t.

5. Yoga helps you lose weight

In this new age of fast forward generations, it is very common to see people trying to reduce their weight and achieve that perfect zero size figure. But most of them don’t end up succeeding as they just follow:

• A very strict diet 
• Heavyweight exercises
• Cutting down on meals

But unknowingly, they rather end up hurting their own body and here is where the power of yoga can again come to the rescue. Researchers have found out that people who practise yoga daily have gained less weight in their adulthood compared to those who haven’t. Along with that, those who were already suffering from a disease like obesity have seen a lot of improvements.

So along with the physical benefits of yoga, other benefits like mindful eating, managing stress, curbing emotional eating, being more self-aware, etc., play a vital role in helping you manage your weight.

Conclusion

From the entire discussion, it is very clear that the benefits of yoga are way beyond the mat. This includes self-awareness, self-confidence, strength, good body image, flexibility, weight loss, etc.

So if you haven’t started practising yoga and incorporating it in the day to day routine, give it a thought and start your journey towards developing your physical as well as mental fitness.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are for informational purposes only based on industry reports and related news stories. PropertyPistol does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information and shall not be held responsible for any action taken based on the published information.