We all know of yoga as a workout that connects the mind and the body, through poses, breathing, and meditation. It has also been recognized by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The practice brings about numerous benefits, which have been touted by yogis and yoginis, anyone who has embraced the yoga lifestyle.
But there’s more to the usual list of benefits of practicing yoga regularly. Here are unexpected reasons why yoga is good for you.
Yoga can improve your sex life.
In the study published in the National Library of Medicine, yoga was considered to be a ‘low cost, easily available alternative’ in dealing with premature ejaculation for men. The study also noted the belief that practicing yoga is beneficial to both men’s and women’s sexual desire and reproductive health.
Physical benefits concerning one’s sexual health include regulation of the hormones, an increase in serotonin 5-HT levels, which is important for ejaculatory control, and strengthening of the pelvic and perineal muscles.
For the ladies, the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that yoga greatly improved women’s levels of sexual functions like desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.
Yoga can help ease your hangover.
From ouch to om! While your pounding headache after a night of too much fun might tempt you to just lie down and sleep it off, a yoga session might be more beneficial to deal with your hangover.
There is no concrete proof yet that yoga can eliminate toxins from the alcohol binge. However, the workout can help by increasing your heart rate, elevating your body temperature, and getting you to breathe and intake more oxygen, which will help your hangover.
B.K.S. Iyengar, an Indian yogi, also suggested twisting poses for their “squeeze and soak” effect – you squeeze your organs like a sponge while doing the pose to push out the old blood, giving room for fresh blood and oxygen.
To put it simply, you just get to sweat it all out and get the blood flowing, though hot yoga is not recommended as you may get even more dehydrated.
Yoga is pregnancy-friendly.
Mothers-to-be turn to yoga for a myriad of reasons, which can have physical and psychological effects.
Prenatal yoga can help in reducing pains, headaches, and nausea. It can also decrease the risk of preeclampsia or high blood pressure during pregnancy and lessen labor pains. With all the changes in their bodies and the pressure of keeping their baby safe until delivery, moms-to-be can practice yoga to lower their levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Even after delivery, yoga was also said to be beneficial in reducing the impact of postpartum depression.
There is no specific limit as to when pregnant ladies can practice yoga but it was noted that hot yoga should be avoided during pregnancy. There are several complicated poses that the ladies should avoid as well, and workouts should be modified to account for the growing belly and changing center of gravity. The main principle is that the pregnant lady should be comfortable, safe, and relaxed to maximise the benefits for her and her unborn child.
Yoga can complement the treatment of PTSD.
Being reminded of a traumatic event or experience may cause one to freeze and trigger the brain to go into a self-protection mode.
Yoga is not like a therapy session that will bring you back to when it all happened. Practicing trauma-sensitive yoga will deal with the present, allowing you to be mindful and conscious of how your body is reacting to the triggers. It will push you to slow down and focus, instead of your brain going into overdrive.
Yoga can reduce the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks.
Migraine is a debilitating headache that can be induced by various reasons, including stress, muscle tension, exhaustion, depression, and anxiety.
Yoga can complement medications and treatments as it helps to alleviate stress, by increasing the heart rate and sending new blood and oxygen to the body. Physically, yoga can also release tension in some pressure points in the body, such as the head, neck, and shoulders.
Yoga can help you deal with asthma.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information posted a clinical trial that was conducted on 24 patients. In the said study, it was found that the subjects that practiced yoga showed improvements like decreased number of asthma attacks and reduced usage of asthma medication. However, the trial was still too small for conclusive evidence.
Yogis who are suffering from asthma found that yoga breathing techniques are helpful especially during attacks. It helps in lung capacity and breathing patterns and keeps the person calm despite the stress or triggers.
Final Thoughts
More and more benefits of yoga are still being discovered and studied. But the impact and effects are indeed invaluable as yoga heightens your awareness of your body and pushes you to let go of what troubles you.