The Amazing Benefits of Yoga: How It Heals the Mind, Body and Spirit

Whether you've been practicing yoga for a long time or you're a beginner, there's a good chance you'll notice some of the health benefits of yoga right away.

Maybe you sleep better or feel stronger or just calmer in your daily life. Whatever the case, you know something good is happening to your body—even though you might not associate it with yoga yet.

To help you better understand the benefits of yoga, I've explored the many ways it can heal the mind, body, and spirit.

Have I piqued your curiosity? Read on to find out the benefits of yoga on the mind, body and spirit.

Benefits of yoga for the mind

In recent years, scientific research has proven what ancient yogis knew centuries ago: that mental benefits of yoga are limitless.

At a very basic level, people have known for years that yoga helps to calm the mind. It helps to focus on our breathing and movements and also helps to increase focus and attention in our daily life.

Although these things are incredibly useful, recently scientists are proving that the mental benefits of yoga are much larger. According to Harvard Medical School studies, practicing yoga helps reduce symptoms related to mental health such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

How?

Scientists have found that long-term yoga practice helps reduce the amount of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress and depression, in the body.

What the researchers found was actually startling: practicing yoga can help people relieve stress and deal with stressful situations in a much more positive way.

Benefits of yoga for the body

In addition to discovering the mental benefits of yoga, scientists around the world are also spending time researching the physical benefits associated with a consistent practice.

What they're finding is something practitioners have known for a long time: yoga helps the body develop strength, flexibility, and balance, as well as improving breathing, energy, circulation, and cardiovascular health.

Based on this research, doctors, physical therapists, and physical therapists around the world recommend yoga as a way to facilitate physical activity after injury and as a way to maintain physical endurance for people of all ages.

In addition to these benefits, researchers have also found that practicing yoga can improve metabolism and aid in weight loss. In addition, symptoms of asthma, insomnia, chronic pain and muscle tension are greatly improved with regular practice.

The benefits of yoga for the spirit

The way in which yoga affects on ours spiritual well-being is a very individual process and much more difficult to define.

Although some efforts have been directed at quantifying this impact, we must rely on anecdotal evidence provided by practitioners. According to one such anecdotal evidence, the spiritual benefits of yoga are tied to the way it makes people feel "happier with their lives in the moment" while allowing them to feel more connected to others.

In this regard, the practice has the largest spiritual benefits for yogis. It allows people to exchange energy in a shared space by teaching them how to build awareness of others and themselves while allowing them to feel part of a larger whole.