Rather than relying on cosmetic surgery or expensive skin care products, some people have turned to yoga to boost their beauty and vitality. With its gentle and energetic stretching sequences and focus on mind-body connection, certain types of yoga have evolved beyond the original purpose of spiritual meditation. In fact, you might find that achieving rejuvenation and beauty through yoga is quite simple.
Health Benefits
With its focus on stretching and gentle body movements, yoga can greatly enhance your flexibility and spinal alignment. When done regularly, yoga can also benefit your overall health. For example, a regular yoga practice can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol levels and improve circulation and respiration. As your body moves into a healthier state of being, so does your mind. In fact, most yoga followers experience decreased levels of stress and a more positive outlook on life. The rejuvenation of the body and mind through yoga significantly decreases your risk of depression, obesity, heart disease, chronic fatigue and anxiety, explains the American Cancer Society.
Beauty Benefits
When combined with regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthy and well-balanced diet, yoga can help you lose weight and eliminate excess fat. As this unhealthy layer of fat melts away from your body, a healthier and more energetic body is revealed. The steady flow of movement in a yoga session also improves blood circulation. As blood circulates throughout the body, healthy nutrients are delivered to cells and unhealthy toxins are removed from the body. As this exchange occurs, the skin, nails, eyes and hair often appear healthier and brighter.
Poses
Inversion poses involve holding all or parts of the body in an upside-down position. In this inverted position, sagging skin is able to defy gravity and return to its youthful position, according to the Yoga for Life website, adding that when done regularly, inversion poses might help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and firm loose skin. Basic inversion poses include Downward-Facing Dog and Forward Bend. More advanced inversion poses include Plow Pose, Shoulderstand, Headstand and Handstand.
Pranayama
Pranayama is a series of yoga breathing exercises that aims to bring healthy oxygen into the lungs and eliminate unhealthy carbon dioxide from the body. As the body fills with fresh oxygen, circulation is improved again, which helps boost overall beauty and energy. The Deer Seal is one of the most common pranayama exercises, notes the "Yoga Journal." It involves using your index and middle finger of the right hand to close the left nostril as you inhale through the right nostril. Then, use the thumb of the right hand to close the right nostril and exhale through the left nostril. Repeat the sequence three times. Other pranayama exercises include Breath Retention, Cleaning Breath and Conqueror Breath.
Fun Fact
According to the Gaiam Life website, certain yoga studios have started offering "face yoga" exercises to help slow the aging process, which often includes wrinkles and sagging skin. Some of the face yoga exercises include rolling the tongue, making an exaggerated yawn, laughing out loud, twisting the facial features and using your fingers to gently pull the eyebrows away from one another.
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