By Kelly Kirles, L.Ac.
Yoga has been practiced for over 5000 years. It has an abundance of health benefits yet most people are unaware of what yoga has to offer. Here are just a few research articles on the benefits of a yoga practice:
A sunnier outlook: According to a study from Boston University School of Medicine and McLean Hospital reports, doing an hour of Asana’s: a sequence of standing, sitting and balancing yoga poses, helped raise levels of the brain chemical GABA by 27 percent. Low levels of GABA are linked to depression.
Back Pain Relief: A 2011 study on ‘Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain’ published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that yoga provides not just more effective low back pain than usual care, but also provides it faster. The study used 313 adults with recurrent low back pain, and half of the group underwent a 1 hour/week, 12 week yoga program while the other half used usual low back pain care for 12 months. The yoga group reported their pain decreased by half after the 12 week practice!
Better Sleep: Doing 3 sessions of Yoga a week may help you sleep more deeply. A study done by Brigham Women’s Hospital concluded that people who did 45 minutes of yoga poses before bedtime fell asleep faster and slept an hour longer on average.
Healthy Body Image: Research from the University of California in Berkeley found that women who practiced yoga rated their body satisfaction rate 20% higher than individuals who took aerobics, even though both groups were at a healthy body weight. Yoga requires you to tune into how your body feels and what it is capable of doing, not how it looks.
Overall Body Toning: Yoga uses your body weight to move from posture to posture instead of heavy, cumbersome weights.
Stress Relief: According to a study in Psychosomatic Medicine, women who did yoga one a week for two years or more released 41 percent less of a tension-triggered cytokine that can make you feel tired and moody.
Better Posture and increased flexibility: In one study people increased their flexibility by 38 percent after 8 weeks of yoga. When you are stronger and more flexible your posture improves.
Heart Health: Yoga has been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with high blood pressure, heart disease or people who have had a stroke. Yoga has also been linked to lower cholesterol levels and better immune system function.
These are just a FEW of the many studies indicating the benefits of regular yoga practices. East Wind offers many yoga classes along with free yoga every 4th Tuesday at East Wind Studios in Chesterton. Check out the schedule at ewstudios.com.
Life Improving Benefits of Yoga
A sunnier outlook: According to a study from Boston University School of Medicine and McLean Hospital reports, doing an hour of Asana’s: a sequence of standing, sitting and balancing yoga poses, helped raise levels of the brain chemical GABA by 27 percent. Low levels of GABA are linked to depression.
Back Pain Relief: A 2011 study on ‘Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain’ published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that yoga provides not just more effective low back pain than usual care, but also provides it faster. The study used 313 adults with recurrent low back pain, and half of the group underwent a 1 hour/week, 12 week yoga program while the other half used usual low back pain care for 12 months. The yoga group reported their pain decreased by half after the 12 week practice!
Better Sleep: Doing 3 sessions of Yoga a week may help you sleep more deeply. A study done by Brigham Women’s Hospital concluded that people who did 45 minutes of yoga poses before bedtime fell asleep faster and slept an hour longer on average.
Healthy Body Image: Research from the University of California in Berkeley found that women who practiced yoga rated their body satisfaction rate 20% higher than individuals who took aerobics, even though both groups were at a healthy body weight. Yoga requires you to tune into how your body feels and what it is capable of doing, not how it looks.
Overall Body Toning: Yoga uses your body weight to move from posture to posture instead of heavy, cumbersome weights.
Stress Relief: According to a study in Psychosomatic Medicine, women who did yoga one a week for two years or more released 41 percent less of a tension-triggered cytokine that can make you feel tired and moody.
Better Posture and increased flexibility: In one study people increased their flexibility by 38 percent after 8 weeks of yoga. When you are stronger and more flexible your posture improves.
Heart Health: Yoga has been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with high blood pressure, heart disease or people who have had a stroke. Yoga has also been linked to lower cholesterol levels and better immune system function.
These are just a FEW of the many studies indicating the benefits of regular yoga practices. East Wind offers many yoga classes along with free yoga every 4th Tuesday at East Wind Studios in Chesterton. Check out the schedule at ewstudios.com.