Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga
© Yoga Alliance 2006
1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging
relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits
include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the
immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression,
fatigue, asthma and insomnia.
2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga
asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with
conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as
well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners
report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.
3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to
improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of
oxygen available to the body.
4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement
and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga
class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons
and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to
improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint
and muscle problems.
5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to
increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body,
they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.
6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by
reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga
also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and
self esteem.
7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various
poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.
8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular
benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving
oxygen uptake during exercise.
9. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware
and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination,
reaction time and memory.
10. INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more
spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other
reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of
their daily lives.
This is from www.YogaAlliance.org
Soul Shine Yoga and Wellness
Soul Shine Yoga & Wellness is located only 2 miles from Interstate 85, off of Highway 53 – very convenient location in a peaceful, beautiful studio dedicated to Yoga and Wellness for everyBODY.
159 Towne Center Parkway
Hoschton, GA 30548
404-213-9182
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