Yoga today has become more popular not only with health conscious people but also with celebrities all over the world. Although it has not been long ago that Yoga landed in fandom, what we didn't know is that Yoga has been with us since the earlier times. It has been an ancient practice where the mind, spirit and body are connected through meditation, controlled breathing and different poses of the body.

There are different kinds of yoga that are intended for you and what you are most comfortable with. Here are some of the common styles of Yoga: Bikram, Hatha, Vinyasa, Kudalini, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, Kripalu, Restorative, Jivamukti, Strala and Prenatal.

An integral part of Yoga is the sense of balance – the balance of the mind, body and spirit. Not only will you achieve balancing with your posture – which is improved through yoga – but also with other activities outside your yoga life. Yoga is also one of the best options for those who want to maintain a fit body. Yoga balances your metabolism – helping you keep a healthy weight ideal for your body and helps you control your hunger. It also strengthens your core, which helps the body heal and reduce the injuries. Another thing is that it also improves your sleep pattern. This is great for those people who are having troubles with sleeping.

Rest assured this is not a fad since this had been practiced long before we came into this earth. So if you haven't started doing Yoga as an exercise, here are 8 reasons why you should start doing it.

1. It increases flexibility

   Yoga lets you do bodily pose that will really test your flexibility and exercise the joints which are rarely exercised.

2. It promotes healthy joints, ligaments and tendons

   Based on a research study, Yoga promotes and lubricates the joints, ligaments and tendons. This is a remarkable way of keeping it healthy without taking any prescription drugs. And on the bright side, Yoga is not considered to be a strenuous exercise yet the results and the benefits makes you think otherwise. If done together and properly, flexibility is attained especially when harmony is maintained and the positions are relatively done easily.

3. It helps tone the muscles

   Yoga is a form of exercise without really exerting great effort compared to lifting weights in the gym. If you do Yoga regularly, you will simply tone your muscles, get rid of the excess flab and decrease the flaccidity of the muscles and you will finally achieve the body that you’ve always wanted.

4. It is good for the heart

   Who would have ever thought that Yoga is good for the heart? Clinically, doing the Yoga exercise habitually would increase blood flow circulation, thus decreasing the blood pressure and improve oxygenation of the body.  It also improves your pulse rate by lowering it. A slower heart rate indicates that with a fewer heartbeats, the heart has the strength to pump more blood to circulate to the skin, organs and brain.

5. It strengthens the immune system

   In Yoga, there are certain positions and poses that only target a certain area in your body. Yoga has been correlated with boosting the immune system. With proper diet and Yoga combined and maintained, you will surely be safe with diseases keeping this healthy lifestyle in mind.

6. It helps promotes higher tolerance for pain

   It has been proved that Yoga improves the tolerance to pain and increases the pain threshold, if done regularly. Through Yoga, back pain and other chronic are lessened or on the brighter side, eliminated.

7. It enhances mood and reduces stress

   Yoga involves meditation and through meditation, it calms your nerves and clears the mind. And when your mind is cleared from any worries or stress, the result is giving you a happy disposition.

8. It promotes a positive outlook in life

   Being stress-free is one of the situations that people want in this life. They wanted to live a carefree and healthy lifestyle. As we all know, Yoga involves meditation, which will help you release the stress of the mind as well as the stress of the body. Being free from stress will result to a happy and calm disposition and also keeping yourself fit in the process, which is only a side effect of the actual benefits of yoga.

There are still a lot of benefits that Yoga can give and the list is endless. The main benefit of Yoga is being aware of the self and of the body. This is a healthy way of keeping yourself - mind and body - in a sound environment. This is truly an experience of bliss since you are being able to balance your emotions through constant mediation and detachment. Yoga also helps you detoxify the body since it helps flush out the toxins in the body. Because of the increased of blood flow, it gently stretches the muscles and also massages the organs.

Another thing about Yoga is the benefit of preventing diseases. It has been noted that the weight bearing exercises helps strengthen the bones. It also helps lowers the Cortisol levels which helps keep the calcium inside the bones. It also helps fight cancer since it increases red blood cells, decreases the incidence of nausea during chemotherapy sessions.

There are still a lot of reasons why you should venture in doing Yoga and these are just a few of them. So, whatever circumstance you’re in, try doing Yoga. Do it with your friends, family or with your spouse depending on what style you wanted since it is more enjoyable doing it together with someone. With Yoga, you will experience an out of body experience – being aware of the energy inside you and around you and how to use it well. Remember, that in Yoga, you get in contact with your inner self and through this, you will experience balance – mind, body and in spirit. And in result, you will be fit, stress-free and happy.

Sources
healthandyoga.com
nursingdegree.net
abc-of-yoga.com
webmd.com