What Happens To Your Body When You Start Practicing Yoga?

Yoga, like all physical activity, contributes to the well-being of the body. Its constant practice will help you achieve greater mental control and focus on the present moment, among other benefits.

Yoga is a discipline that brings multiple benefits, such as enabling a connection between the body and the soul. However, if you are new to it, it is normal at first to wonder what happens to your body when you start practicing yoga.

The spiritual change generated by practicing yoga will be noticeable with your regular practice. But in the short term, one of its main advantages is that stress and anxiety will decrease, you will have an easier time to quiet the mind and you will be more connected with the present.

Main benefits when starting to practice yoga

As the book Yoga as Medicine indicates, this discipline has long been used to improve people’s quality of life. Through yoga, you can complement the treatment of health problems such as heart disease, poor blood circulation, arthritis, back pain, among others.

Yoga means ‘vitality’, because by doing it, the body will change and you will feel strong. It will also complement certain medical treatments and help maintain balance, because the worries generated by the disease will be reduced when practicing it.

The benefits of yoga are ancient. At the beginning of Hinduism, the human being sought the connection with the gods for spiritual and therapeutic purposes. Illnesses and ailments were cured with yoga practices, because the power of the mind helped people to control the body.

By starting the sessions of this activity, the body will change and you will feel healthier. Next, we will explain what happens to your body when you start practicing yoga.

Increases the capacity of the lungs

Breathing is a key element in yoga practice, as it helps oxygenate the brain and perform the postures or asanas correctly. Specifically, it is abdominal breathing that contributes to maintaining balance and gives strength to perform and maintain postures.

Breathing deeply, inhaling and exhaling through the nose, strengthens the resistance of the respiratory muscles, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology .

With this, the incidence of respiratory diseases could be reduced, and even the brain would be able to think faster, thanks to the oxygen that enters the body. Oxygen is the fuel of the body, so yoga will feed the lungs with air and you will feel the changes in your breathing. Breathe and enjoy the activity!

Muscles and joints are strengthened

The book Yoga as Medicine highlights that, with regular practice, the muscles will be strengthened and you will be able to tone regions such as the legs, buttocks, back and arms. The force applied in the postures allows the muscles to work and the muscle mass to increase. In this way, the body will be more toned.

On the other hand, the same source indicates that the problems with the joints will decrease, because yoga will keep them strong and healthy. Stretching and twisting postures will enhance flexibility, and thus you will be able to improve the technique both in your own practice and in others, such as Pilates, for example.

Strengthening the heart and circulation

The postures or asanas, in addition to toning, providing greater flexibility and helping to release accumulated tension, allow blood flow to be more efficient and the heart receives enough blood to keep the body functioning properly. Therefore, it can be said that the engine of the body, which is the heart, will go full throttle with the practice of this ancient discipline.

As the practice not only focuses on the execution of a posture, but also on maintaining adequate breathing, this also makes its respective contributions.

The breathing exercises of this discipline will help you keep your blood pressure at normal levels. In this sense, according to a study published by the Alternative Therapies magazine , if you suffer from hypertension, this activity will be a possible therapy to enjoy good health.

Development of physical endurance

The practice of the different yoga postures will help you develop physical endurance. Tiredness and exhaustion will decrease because the body will feel vital to perform exercises.

Thanks to this, you can walk and do other daily activities without any inconvenience. In addition, breathing in yoga will help you to have greater resistance when performing cardiovascular exercises. You will feel less physical fatigue because your body will be full of energy.

You will lose weight

According to a study published by the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, yoga helps to lower body weight because the body is in constant physical activity that contributes to calorie loss.

Likewise, the research highlights that it is an activity that promotes other healthy lifestyle habits, such as relaxation and good nutrition. With all this, the changes in your body will be noticed and you will enjoy more vitality. Remember, however, to accompany physical activity with a balanced diet.

If you start practicing yoga, you will have better health

In yoga, the body is a temple that must be balanced with the mind. For this reason, the fundamentals of this discipline indicate that you must take care of it daily.

The benefits of practicing yoga will be felt on the body on multiple levels. Focus your energies on the practice and you will notice the progress in each class. Strengthen your body and spirit with yoga!