It’s no secret that yoga does wonders for the body. It can increase your strength and flexibility but did you know that the most valuable benefit of yoga is in improving your mental health?
Yoga and mental health
Practicing yoga helps decrease your stress levels and promote feelings of relaxation. The various breathing techniques and poses take your attention away from the external and focus it to the internal. External means outside sources of stress from work, home or school. Internal means finding balance from within and tuning into your own mind and body. It’s a reminder that the only control you ever truly have is with you and never with others.
Yoga reduces anxiety
According to Harvard Health Publishing, yoga helps reduce anxiety and depression. Yoga soothes the body by helping to regulate physical symptoms like elevated heart rate and high blood pressure. Basically, when you calm the body, you calm the mind. The reverse is also true. When you calm the mind, you calm the body. It’s a very positive cycle that only gets stronger with practice.
Just like how one negative thought can cause you to spiral into a whirlwind of anxiety, one good-feeling yoga pose after another encourages you to focus on breathing so you can shed negative energy. When you breathe, you deliver oxygen throughout your body and your blood flow improves. You inhale the good and exhale the bad. Think of it as detox.
Yoga alleviates depression
Stress can increase your cortisol levels (stress hormones) which can negatively impact your mood and worsen depression. Studies by the National Institutes of Health here and here have shown that yoga has an anti-depressant effect. The studies proved that yoga can reduce stress-hormone levels and alleviate symptoms of depression.
Yoga is natural
The best part? Practicing yoga is natural. It only requires an open mind and a mat. It’s holistic and very inexpensive. Postures can be learned from home and for free. In fact, that’s mostly how I practice yoga!
Mental health is so important because we experience the world through our minds. It’s through our mental capacity that we perceive objects, events and relationships. With vitality, your mind can view the world with enhanced clarity, strength and compassion. If something as natural as yoga can improve your mental health and overall quality of life, why not give it a try?