Whether you’re a seasoned yogi or a budding novice, you already know that yoga can offer stress relief and increased flexibility. But that’s not all! Read on to discover four surprising benefits of yoga:
1. Core strength: Yoga experts and professional athletes alike can attest to its effect on core body strength. Because it involves weight-bearing balance and movement, yoga can be very beneficial for both muscles and bones. You can also combine light weights with yoga for an increased benefit to your core.
2. Concentration: Can yoga help you focus? Many who practice yoga say it can. By blocking out wandering thoughts and channeling your energy and concentration to your body’s breathing and movement, you can train your brain to focus intently on the task at hand. Yoga can also promote circulation throughout the body, including blood flow to the brain.
3. Pain relief: From headaches to menstrual cramps, certain yoga poses can provide calming relief from occasional pain. Poses that utilize the chest (such as the “camel”) can be helpful for headaches, while back and torso-stretching poses like the “cat” and “fish” can help curb cramps. As a whole, yoga also helps improve posture, which can prevent minor aches and pains from occurring in the first place.
4. Sleep: Want to sleep like a baby? Try the “happy baby” pose, which stretches the hips, soothes back pain and helps to relieve daily stress and tension so you can get a peaceful and pain-free night of rest.