Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines physical postures, or asanas, with breathwork and meditative techniques. The combination of these techniques results in a variety of physical and mental benefits. Yoga is low-impact, easy to learn and generally safe for even the most sedentary, physically inactive or inflexible people.
Increased Flexibility
The physical practice of yoga involves the execution of various postures and stretches. Depending on the style of yoga you choose, asanas may be held for long periods or incorporated into a flowing series of motions. In yin yoga, postures are held for five minutes or longer to help increase the flexibility of your connective tissue. In power yoga, asanas are held for shorter periods of time, helping to increase your flexibility due to the fluid flow from one posture to the next at a relatively rapid pace.
Stress Relief
Perhaps one of the best-known benefits of yoga is stress relief. Yoga helps you relax by focusing your mind on something other than your current problems through meditation and concentration on the asanas. Yoga helps alleviate tension, induces relaxation and lowers your blood pressure and respiratory rate through techniques such as pranayama, or yogic breathing, and restorative poses such as the corpse, according to Mukunda Stiles in his book, "Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual." Additionally, Stiles says yoga is an effective stress relief technique for individuals recovering from substance abuse and other types of addictions.
Muscle Tone
Certain yoga poses help develop strength and improve your muscle tone. According to Stiles, yoga develops greater tone through challenging your muscles with specific strength-building postures. According to Yoga for Everyone, holding poses for longer periods of time increases muscular endurance. Yoga strengthens and lengthens your muscles at the same time.
Pain Relief
Yoga provides additional health benefits, such as helping with the management of chronic disorders and illnesses like as cancer, depression and insomnia, according to the Mayo Clinic. Additionally, yoga can help alleviate chronic pain, such as in the lower back, neck and shoulder, by stretching and elongating your muscles and through mind-body techniques like meditation. According to Circle Yoga, certain techniques, such as Tonglen meditation, and restorative and therapeutic yoga postures, may be beneficial for people with chronic pain.
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