It is not a secret that mindfulness and meditation are beneficial to our mental health. Yoga is also included in this, but so many people don’t know why.
Yoga has been part of my life now for many years, and I can certainly say first-hand that it has benefitted me in so many ways.
It is true that yoga is a physical exercise that has physical health benefits, but yoga does not just focus on making shapes.
The practice began over 3,000 years ago and is grounded in Indian philosophy, but there are many different types of yoga. The word “yoga” comes from the root word “yuj,” which means “to yoke” or “to bind”. It combines physical postures, breathing exercises and spiritual contemplation to help you stay fit and increase your awareness of your own body and mind. It’s primary aim is connection, and it uses these three core elements to achieve this. It restrains the mind from thinking about external objects to help you reach a state of pure consciousness and focus on nothing else but yourself.
There are many health benefits to yoga, both physical and mental. It can help improve flexibility and strength. It can relieve stress, inflammation & anxiety and because of this, it is also known to improve the immune system and relieve chronic pain for people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lower back pain and osteoporosis.
As I’ve said, yoga increases our awareness of our own body and mind, and because of this it can help improve balance, cardiovascular functioning, self-esteem, bone health and brain functioning. It can promote better posture, and even help with burnout because this awareness we have of our bodies can help us notice the early signs of burnout and possibly prevent it getting worse.
One benefit of yoga that for me has been the most important is its ability to improve sleep. Not only is it a great way to relax and unwind but yoga has been proven to help improve sleep quality because it decreases cortisol levels, our stress hormone.
A study was done back in 2007 by Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and the Yoga Research Society. 16 healthy people participated in a 50-minute yoga class every day for seven days. On the day before their first class, they were instructed to sit quietly—reading and writing—for 50 minutes. There was not much difference in the participants’ cortisol levels before and after sitting for 50 minutes, which was expected, but once they did the yoga practice, their cortisol levels significantly reduced.
This study also looked at the reliability of the results by looking at the probability of getting the same results again. It ‘attained a “p-value” of .001, which means that if the study were performed 100 times, the probability of getting the same result would be 99.9 per cent’.
Another study that focused on the sleep quality of its participants found that ‘over 55% of yoga practitioners reported improved sleep and over 85% reported reduced stress.’ The study focuses on sleep quality rather than quantity because quantity does not necessarily mean improved sleep.
Our society prioritises mental health and well-being now more than it ever has before. There are endless ways that we can look after our mental health, but one of the best ways in my view is yoga. Meditation is also brilliant, but I find it tricky to focus for long periods on just breathing. With yoga, you are focusing on your breathing and the poses you are doing, so it is a much easier way for beginners of mindfulness practices to get used to focusing their minds. I couldn’t live without it now, and I highly recommend that all of you give it a go. You never know, it could change your life.
Edited by David Earley
