What Are the Benefits of Yoga?

The Practice of Yoga has gained great popularity and surge in the Western world today, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

People from all cultures, ages, and religions are attracted to yoga because they have discovered its physical, mental, and emotional benefits. Yoga is now universal, and we see the availability of classes at different yoga styles, studios, and virtual sessions.

The medical benefits of yoga and meditation and the impact on your health are supported now by scientific and medical research.

The MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston explains the benefits of practicing yoga, breathing exercises and meditation in its Newsletter from November 2020:

·     Improve stress hormone regulation (“flight-or-fight” cortisol responses in your body)

·     Alleviates anxiety and improves mental health

·     Helps manage inflammation

·     Improves sleep quality

·     Supports joint flexibility

The Chopra Center also recommends yoga, pranayama, and meditation to improve your cardiovascular fitness, muscles condition, improve posture and body-mind coordination. And beyond these physical benefits, Deepak Chopra explains in his book “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga” that the essential purpose of yoga is the integration of all layers of life – environmental, physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual.