5 Health Benefits You Can Receive Through Yoga & Meditation
10 years ago I was at a pretty low point in my life. I was in a job that I couldn’t stand, a marriage that was dying out, and I was incredibly unsatisfied with how I felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually. One day, when chatting with a friend, she suggested that I should join her weekly yoga class, initially I thought yoga was something that I would only hear about from hippie backpackers, however, as I felt like I had really hit a wall in my life, I decided to join her. Yoga completely changed my life.
Fast forward 10 years later, I’m now a yoga instructor at my local gym and I am overall a happier, healthier and at a much better point in my life. During my discovery process with yoga and also through meditation, it didn’t take me long to realize the incredible health benefits that came along with it.
It has become my passion in life to spread the word out about yoga, which is why I would love to share with you today 5 health benefits that you can receive through its practice along with meditation:
Increases Your Flexibility
I have come across a lot of people during my years of teaching that have jobs where they have to sit down in an office chair for the majority of the day. This type of environment has become the norm in western societies and a lot of people are completely unaware of the health risks that it can bring.
A sedentary lifestyle can lead to reduction in muscle mass, decrease in your overall fitness, and flexibility. Additionally, office work, by hunching over in front of a computer all day, will increase your neck and shoulder strain. Yoga poses are all about focusing on stretching and easing the muscles.
You would be surprised to know the number of athletes that incorporate yoga into their workout routines to improve or maintain their flexibility. Not only does it increase flexibility or improves your workout routine but it also helps with everyday movements such as lifting and bending.
Get Your Self-Confidence Back
When I began to practice yoga I quickly learned that yoga and meditation combined helped to give me a general feeling of well-being and self-assurance about myself. Life can sometimes just get too busy and we can’t keep up with it, but we should always try to spare an extra 10 minutes in the day (preferably when you wake up) to practice mindful meditation. The best part? It can be done anywhere! Meditation helps to provide an emotional boost through deep relaxation and is so important for our health and well being.
Yoga doesn’t just help with the mental aspect of getting your self-confidence back, it also helps you physically look better as well. Yoga helps us feel more in tune with our bodies. We often have negative feelings about our image because we are not really connected with our bodies. We neglect and ignore it so much that our mind and body become isolated from each other. Yoga helps fight this through breath and movement.
When our bodies feel healthy and the mind is strong, you will start to feel much more positive about yourself. This will ultimately result in an increase in self-confidence. Most yoga disciplines are based on a positive uplifting theme. It’s contagious. It goes into your spirit and you’ll find yourself becoming happier, more peaceful, and upbeat!
Overall Health Improvements
If you add yoga or meditation to your life you will not only improve the quality of your life but also how long you live. Yoga is proven to reduce stress levels amongst many other incredible factors but did you know that it also helps to improve body awareness and fitness? That’s right, doing yoga regularly encourages better eating habits which in turn improves self-esteem and the desire to take care our bodies.
Modern life can sometimes get us down, but by adding in a few minutes of yoga every day it will provide you with the much-needed boost that you need to keep you going all day long. This improved health means you get to spend extra time with your kids and will make you feel better in the process!
Reduces Stress Levels
Research has shown that yoga and meditation can help people with anxiety and panic disorders. Yoga is a practice that teaches you to become aware of the present moment, in your sounds, breath, body or your thoughts and feelings. It is a safe haven for those who suffer from extreme worries, self-doubt, and even panic as it helps to rewire your brain to respond better to negative thoughts.
It also helps to reduce your chance of stress-related issues such as high blood pressure or a cardiovascular disease. I was one of these people when I started yoga 10 years ago, it became my freedom when I began to see and feel the changes that were inside me, calming me down and letting me see the world in a new beautiful light.
Feel Love and Compassion For Everything
Before yoga, I had a bad habit of always judging everyone around me, either for what they were wearing or the stories they told me about their personal lives. I would judge before I got to know anyone. I used to put it down to the fact that it was just who I was, and that it was my personality. I believed it was something I was born with that could not be fixed or changed. I am ashamed for my thoughts back then but embraced the change that came.
Once practicing yoga I began to feel an increased state of love and compassion for everything around me. I began to see the world as one, and that at the end of the day all of us are just the same. A baby’s cry on the train used to bother me, but now it doesn’t phase me. I used to be a big meat eater, but then I began to feel connected to everything and everyone, especially animals who don’t have a voice. Everyone’s experience is different and this might not happen to you, but, yoga and meditation help to open you up to a far deeper and meaningful connection to life.
It doesn’t matter what are your reasons when you start practicing yoga, whether it is because you want to lose weight, reduce your stress levels or simply because you want a change of pace in your life. You will be pleasantly surprised to see what yoga can bring to your life. Embrace all these new changes. Don’t be afraid to try something new in your life that you think might help you in the long run. Honestly, I felt a bit emasculated whenever I imagined myself practicing yoga. Now, I can see and feel the positive changes my body has gone through. The stretching has definitely helped my muscle growth and in turn, improved my personal image.
Are you already practicing yoga and have seen the positive impacts it has had on your life? We would love to hear about it. Write your comment below and share it with our beloved community.
