Why Yoga

Faith Miller • May 20, 2020

Engaging in any form of physical activity is a positive way of coping with issues relating to mental health. Yoga or kinetic stretching is a soothing exercise for stress relief.

Yoga encompasses a range of practices beneficial for mental health, offering advantages for numerous conditions and diagnoses like depression, cancer, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome, and more. It also enhances attention and concentration, allowing the brain to focus effortlessly. It is regarded as therapeutic.

According to the International Journal of Yoga, research studies say that yoga should be considered as an “alternative method to medical therapy in the treatment of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders” because its results have shown to make improvements of managing well-being, increases of relaxation, improvements of self-confidence, organization, relationships, lowers irritability, and causes people to have a positive outlook on life.

Yoga comes in various styles, including hatha, which is slow-paced, and vinyasa, which is fast-paced. If you're experiencing depression, grief, heartbreak, stress, or low self-esteem, hatha yoga is ideal for when you want to move slowly. On the other hand, vinyasa yoga is beneficial for managing anger, as it aligns with the desire to move quickly. Practicing meditation after yoga can aid in challenging negative thoughts and fostering positive thinking.

Physical benefits

Yoga enhances flexibility, particularly when incorporating stretch bands and resistance bands for assistance. More than just a basic exercise, yoga resembles a dance, akin to ballet, as both involve flexibility, and each movement is executed with either pointed or flexed feet. The poses and stretches share similarities, such as a tree pose and a passé, dancer’s pose and scorpion stretch, star pose and bras à la ligne (second position arms), among others.

Additionally, it aids in reducing misalignments, injuries, and body cramps.

Now you might ask, “What if you have a misalignment during yoga practice?” It depends on what pose you were doing when a misalignment occurred. One of the keys of avoiding misalignments is to check your posture and check the way you’re doing the stretch. Or if you feel like improving posture isn’t working, you can try some yoga alternatives, such as PraiseMoves (a Christian alternative to yoga), WholyFit (its Christian alternative to yoga is called Gentle Body Power), Tai Chi (even though it’s a martial arts style), or Barre (a ballet-inspired flexible fitness that includes simple stretching). If you’re a musician or a dancer, yoga, as well as the yoga alternatives, help you improve your performing posture. Misalignments, injuries, and body cramps can also be avoided by getting a professional to create a plan that’s best for your needs.

Yoga can aid in weight loss. For this purpose, yoga cardio and yogalates (a combination of yoga and pilates) are effective styles. Practicing meditation after yoga helps curb junk food cravings and encourages a focus on healthy eating.

Social Benefits

Yoga goes beyond being merely an exercise. It serves as body language, significantly contributing to communication and speech. It aids in enhancing speech sound abilities, listening skills, and vocabulary. Additionally, it acts as an effective coping and calming technique for both children and adult.

Practicing yoga with a partner can enhance each partner's active listening skills, self-awareness of non-verbal and verbal communication cues, and help to build open mindful expression of communication through touch and mindfulness.

Overall Benefits

Overall, yoga is an advisable holistic healing practice for nearly any issue. If you've never engaged in any form of movement to manage your mental, physical, or social conditions, yoga is worth considering. It might seem intimidating initially because of the stretches that push you beyond your comfort zone, but afterward, you'll experience healing in both body and mind.