As any yogi will know, there is something deeply cathartic about stepping onto your yoga mat at the end of a long day.
The immediate sigh of relief that reverberates through your whole body as you take those first few footsteps onto the rubber mat could be considered as nourishing for the soul as being out in nature or enveloped in a hug.
While we know the way yoga makes us feel, and the science backed benefits it has from stress relief through to fitness, there is so much more to it than meets the (third) eye!
And with International Yoga Day this Friday 21st June, now seems the time to give a little bhakti (dedicated love and devotion) back to the age old practise that’s gifted us with so much love and more, by giving a little dedicated shout out to the latest science-backed benefits of yoga!
5 New Reasons To Get On A Yoga Mat, Stat!
1. It helps soothe practically everything
Yogic breathing, also known as pranayama, is found to be a safe practise that can aid in the prevention and management of various diseases and medical symptoms including and not exclusive to: heart conditions, bronchial asthma, aiding body weight, enhancing moods in those quitting smoking, managing anxiety and stress in students, modulating pain perception and even reducing cancer related symptoms and enhancing the antioxidant status in those undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
2. It helps your heart health
Getting down on your mat is so much more than a good stretch, research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology has found yoga also has a significant impact on cardiometabolic risk factors, especially compared to doing no exercise at all. The study found yoga not only reduces cholesterol but also blood pressure too!
3. It helps lower back pain
A new study published in the Cochrane Library Journal has found that yoga, compared to a non-exercise intervention and found yoga helped not only improved back mobility but helped back pain too.
4. It promotes body love
In a beautiful new piece of research, as published in the journal Sex Roles, practising yoga has been found to promote a positive body love, improving a negative self worth surrounding physical appearance in young women.
5. It deepens spiritual wellbeing
There’s nothing like a savasana for tapping into that soul space, but apparently, if paired with a sound bath meditation, according to science, it will also enhance spiritual wellbeing, release anxiety and pain and up your mood too. Sound like bliss? Check out Alo Yoga’s Sound Bowl Chakra Healing Meditation Series for beautiful guided music sure to soothe that soul stat!
