Yoga postures guides with WorldYogaForum today? Yoga can improve balance: Balance is not just important when you’re trying to stand on one leg in Tree Pose in yoga class. It’s also essential for simple everyday movements such as picking something up off the floor, reaching up to a shelf, and descending stairs. Yoga has been shown to improve balance and overall performance in athletes. Likewise, a review of the research conducted on healthy populations suggests balance may improve for most people after consistently practicing yoga. Still, falling can have serious effects for certain populations. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, falls are incredibly common among older adults in nursing facilities, and even the simplest ones can lead to an increased risk of death. Newer research suggests yoga can improve balance in older populations. However, more studies with large sample sizes are needed before a general conclusion can be drawn. Yoga asana can also be helpful at improving balance in people with brain injuries. Adaptive yoga or chair yoga can be especially helpful for older adults or people with injuries who are less mobile or for whom balance is a concern. Find more information at hatha yoga health benefits.
It’s well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog), help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. In an unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertebrae. Yoga’s ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol (see Number 11) may help keep calcium in the bones.
Ever feel like you could use some more inspiration? Meditation increases your creativity, according to various studies. It’s no wonder that famous creatives like Yoko Ono, David Lynch and Marina Abramovic make meditation a major part of their life. Whether you want to become a memory champion or you simply want to remember the name of that guy who works down the hall, meditation can help. Research has shown that it improves your ability to memorize things and to store and consolidate new information.
Studies have shown that meditation breaks the connection between the fear center and the ‘me-center’ in the brain, disrupting the entire stress cycle. As a result, we are more insightful and regain the power to ignore the negative feelings, and can successfully overcome depression and emotional lability. How Can Meditation Practice Help During Pregnancy? The endocrine system undergoes a massive spike during pregnancy, and the effect lingers for a few months after delivery. Pregnant women often find it challenging to cope with their emotions or talk about it. Despite being aware of the unreasonableness, they fail to control the automatic thoughts and get overwhelmed by the recurrent mood fluctuations. Work-life balance and personal happiness start going downhill.
Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by “squeezing and soaking” areas of cartilage that normally aren’t used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out brake pads. Spinal disks—the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves—crave movement. That’s the only way they get their nutrients. If you’ve got a well-balanced asana practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends, and twists, you’ll help keep your disks supple. Long term flexibility is a known benefit of yoga, but one that remains especially relevant for spinal health. Find extra details on Hasta Padangushthasana .
Moving the spine in a safe, healthy way encourages synovial fluid to be released into the column of the spine. In the morning, the spine contains a little more of this fluid, but in the evening the spine is more compressed and ‘dehydrated’ (hence why we’re somewhat ‘shorter’ in the evenings!). Practicing spine-lengthening postures like Downward Facing Dog, as well as inversions, can help to bring some moisture and life back to our all-important spine. While it’s controversial as to whether twisting yoga asanas actually ‘detox’ the body, it’s fair to say that a yoga practice definitely helps to clear toxins from the body. Getting things moving inside and outside helps shift any lurking toxins and rids the body of them quicker. Being aware and mindful of your thoughts too, can help to ‘detox’ the mind of any ‘toxic’ thoughts….