The Top 3 Health Benefits Of Doing Yoga

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Yoga is a form of exercise that many people do for the health benefits. If you are considering doing yoga, you should know about the health benefits that you can get. Many of the health benefits that you get from yoga have been proven with scientific research.

Decreasing Stress

Yoga has long been known for its ability to promote relaxation and decrease stress levels. There have been a number of studies done on this benefit and they have looked at the secretion of cortisol in yoga practitioners. Cortisol is the primary stress hormone that the body secretes and which yoga can decrease.

One study with 24 female participants found a profound decrease in stress after a 3-month program at a yoga studio was followed. The participants all perceived themselves as being emotionally distressed. After the 3-month period, the researchers found that the participants had significantly lower levels of cortisol in their bodies and this lead to lower levels of stress, fatigue, depression and anxiety.

May Reduce Inflammation

Mental health is not the only part of your overall wellbeing that is affected by yoga. There are a number of physical health benefits that you can get with this exercise. One of these benefits is a reduction in inflammation.

A study completed in 2015 had 2 groups of participants where one group practised yoga regularly and the other did not. Both groups would then perform moderate and strenuous exercises which induce stress and the inflammation. The results of the study found that the group who did yoga had fewer inflammatory markers than the ones that did not.

Improve Heart Health

Heart health is very important and there are studies which show that yoga could help keep your heart healthy. There are studies which have shown that yoga is able to improve your heart health as well as lower the risk factors for heart disease. If you are looking at yoga for this health benefit, it is important to note that it should be combined with a change in lifestyle such as a healthy diet.

One study into the effects of yoga on heart health looked at participants who were over 40 years old and had been doing yoga for 5 years. The participants showed lower blood pressure levels as well as a lower pulse rate. This was compared to participants of the same age range who did not do yoga.

Another study looked at the effects of yoga on people who had heart disease. The study combined a year of yoga with modifications to diet and stress management. The participants in the study saw a 23% decrease in their overall cholesterol and a 26% reduction in the LDL cholesterol which is the bad cholesterol. The progression of heart disease was also stopped in around 47% of the participants.

There are many health benefits to yoga, both mental and physical. Of course, if you have any chronic illnesses, you might want to talk to your doctor before you start this exercise. There are some types of yoga which might not be as beneficial to your situation as others.