How Yoga Changes Your Body, Starting The Day You Begin

How Yoga Changes Your Body, Starting The Day You Begin (INFOGRAPHIC)

The Eastern practice of yoga has become a modern-day symbol of peace, serenity and well-being in the West. More than 20 million Americans practice yoga, according to the 2012 Yoga in America study, with practitioners spending more than $10 billion a year on yoga-related products and classes.

The mind-body practice is frequently touted for its ability to reduce stress and boost well-being, but it also offers wide-ranging physical health benefits that rival other forms of exercise. While the scientific research on yoga’s health benefits is still young, here’s what we know so far about its potential effects on the body. View the infographic below and scroll down for more detailed information.




Improved Brain Function.
Just 20 minutes of Hatha yoga — an ancient form of the practice that emphasizes physical postures rather than flow or sequences — can improve cognitive function, boosting focus and working memory. In a University of Illinois study, participants performed significantly better on tests of brain functioning after yoga, as compared to their performance after 20 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise.

Lower Stress Levels.
Yoga’s stress-busting powers may come from its ability to lessen the activity of proteins that are known to play a role in inflammation, according to a study published last year from University of California, Los Angeles researchers.

Alter Gene Expression.
A small Norwegian study suggested that yoga’s many healthy benefits might come from its ability to alter gene expression in immune cells.

Increased Flexibility.
A recent Colorado State University study found that Bikram yoga — a form of yoga in which a series of 26 postures are performed for 90 minutes in a heated room — is linked with increased shoulder, lower back and hamstring flexibility, as well as greater deadlift strength and decreased body fat, compared with a control group.

Lower Blood Pressure.
People with mild to moderate hypertension might benefit from a yoga practice, as a study from University of Pennsylvania researchers found that it could help to lower their blood pressure levels. Researchers found that people who practiced yoga had greater drops in blood pressure compared with those who participated in a walking/nutrition/weight counseling program.

Improved Lung Capacity.
A small 2000 Ball State University study found that practicing Hatha yoga for 15 weeks could significantly increase vital lung capacity, which is the maximum amount of air exhaled after taking a deep breath. Vital lung capacity is one of the components of lung capacity.

Improved Sexual Function.
A 2009 Harvard study published in the The Journal of Sexual Medicine showed that yoga could boost arousal, desire, orgasm and general sexual satisfaction for women. Yoga can also improve women’s sex lives by helping them to become more familiar with their own bodies, according to a review of studies published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, as reported by CNN.

Reduced Chronic Neck Pain.
A German study published in The Journal of Pain showed that four weeks of practicing Iyengar yoga (a type of Hatha yoga that stresses proper alignment and the use of props) is effective in reducing pain intensity in adults suffering from chronic neck pain.

Anxiety Relief.
A 2010 Boston University study showed that 12 weeks of yoga could help to reduce anxiety and increase gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels in the brain (low levels of GABA have been linked with depression and anxiety disorders).

Relief from Chronic Back Pain.
Researchers at West Virginia University found Iyengar Yoga to be more effective in reducing pain and improving mood than standard medical treatment among those with chronic lower back problems.

Steady Blood Sugar Levels in People with Diabetes.
Adding yoga to a typical diabetes care regimen could result in steady blood sugar levels, according to a 2011 Diabetes Care study. Reuters reported that just three months of yoga in addition to diabetes care resulted in a decrease in body mass index, as well as no increases in blood sugar levels.

Improved Sense of Balance.
Practicing an Iyengar yoga program designed for older adults was found to improve balance and help prevent falls in women over 65, according to a 2008 Temple University study.

Stronger Bones.
A 2009 pilot study by Dr. Loren Fishman showed that practicing yoga could improve bone density among older adults.

“We did a bone mineral density (DEXA) scan, then we taught half of them the yoga, waited two years, and did another scan,” Fishman previously told The Huffington Post. “And not only did these people not lose bone, they gained bone. The ones who didn’t do the yoga lost a little bone, as you would expect.”

Healthy Weight.
Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found an association between a regular yoga practice and decreased weight — or at least a maintained weight — among more than 15,000 healthy, middle-aged adults.

“Those practicing yoga who were overweight to start with lost about five pounds during the same time period those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds,” study researcher Alan Kristal, DPH, MPH, told WebMD.

Lower Risk Of Heart Disease.
As part of a healthy lifestyle, yoga may lower cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, according to Harvard Health Publications.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/body-on-yoga_n_4109595.html


Really helps you to get in tune with your body and where the weak spots and aches and pains are.

Wow, maybe I should try it out. Can you picture that?

I'll help veya with the "hatha yoga"

I'd be quite willing to help him attain a new posture....by tying his neck in a knot......

dunno if that would improve his "cognitive function" though..

Lord Foul wrote:I'll help veya with the "hatha yoga"

I'd be quite willing to help him attain a new posture....by tying his neck in a knot......

dunno if that would improve his "cognitive function" though..

Of course you'll need to take the pole out of you arse and to gain some flexibilty first

YOGA is great for straightening your body out, providing stretching routines, opening your systems up and getting things like circulation, breathing and digestion moving...

DOES FUCK ALL for either general overall strength, long term endurance, or specific training for other physical activities...

People who only depend on one type of exercise regime (such as yoga, tai chi or pilates, for example) can be found to be seriously lacking, if they then go out and try something else (let's say they tried to play a game of football or basketball, cycling or cross-country skiing..).

MUCH BETTER for combined fitness improvements overall, if you combine your yoga or tai-chi with some targeted weight-training and or isometrics, and some aerobic/endurance exercise such as running/fast walking, bicycling and swimming.

MANY PEOPLE who only rely on yoga, tai chi or pilates alone, will also be more prone to muscular and joint injuries if they attempt any heavy and physical work -- as they have loosened up and stretched their bodies, but haven't built up their underlying base and core strengths..

Some types of yoga do build core strength.
In fact it's mainly about core strength.

Some of the best and strongest exercises around are developed from tai chi and other eastern exercises.

You don't have to lift weights to be strong.

And as I said - yoga helps you listen to your body and when you start listening you will know what foods disagree and what foods make you feel like a million dollars, plus it makes you look great too as it tones and lengthens your limbs.

eddie wrote:Some types of yoga do build core strength.
In fact it's mainly about core strength.

Some of the best and strongest exercises around are developed from tai chi and other eastern exercises.

You don't have to lift weights to be strong.

And as I said - yoga helps you listen to your body and when you start listening you will know what foods disagree and what foods make you feel like a million dollars, plus it makes you look great too as it tones and lengthens your limbs.

Many dancers have great core strength, merely by doing dancing. I know several. Pilates does this too. Stretching the muscles is just as important as building them up.

YOGA won't provide the necessary strength for a hard days work, if the only form of exercise for that person is yoga alone...

IF I took a yoga devotee (or a ballroom or ballet dancer, as another example of exercise imbalance..) out for a days beekeeping, some general farm chores, or some of the factory/manual work that I've done over the years, then I can guarantee that they'd be done in, within a couple of hours..

THE ONLY WAY to build adequate body strength to handle such activities is via cycles of weight-bearing 'resistance training' and adequate recovery --  irregardless of whether those resistance/weight bearing sessions are through weight lifting, weight machines, body weight exercises (e.g. push ups, dips, chinups/pullups, crunches, one-legged squats..), isometrics/pliometrics, or/and calisthenics  --  or even through doing heavy manual work itself (gradually working one's way up to lifting decent weight/digging holes/carrying loads..).        

Yoga, Tai chi or Piltates alone simply won't cut the mustard, no matter how hard the devotee may wish it were so..


A PROPERLY STRUCTURED exercise fitness regime can be thought of as forming a triangle, built on a base of solid and healthy nutrition -- with well-thought-through exercise routines down one side, and adequate recovery and relaxation down the third side.

A properly organised exercise routine will look at all three areas of physical exercises --  strength,  stamina/endurance, and suppleness/flexibilty -- to provide an all round exercise system;  with the balance between the three areas adjusted to suit any sports one plays, the physical requirements of one's day-to-day existence, and the condition that your body is in..

Yoga is good on the suppleness/flexibilty score,
Adequate on the stamina/endurance/cardio' measures.
But poor on overall strength --  it may build on some specific core and lower back strengths, but falls down on overall body strength, lifting and pushing ability, and suitability for general ""weight bearing" tasks...

OKAY if you're an office or retail worker, or a yoga instructor -- but just not good enough by itself if you're a labourer, storeman, farmhand, soldier, firefighter, footballer, boxer, 'cyclist, canoeist, 'climber, or anything else requiring more than those who spend too much time on the suppleness/flexibility/balance areas can really offer..

UNBALANCED fitness regimes will lead to unbalanced mid-to-long-term outcomes; and muscular imbalances will make one more prone to muscle and joint injuries.        

So you agree yoga is good for you.
Great.

Aren't there different kinds of yoga though.

HoratioTarr wrote:Aren't there different kinds of yoga though.  

Yes tons. I'm a novice at the moment, I did it years ago but made up my own moves, just listened to my muscles and stretched the way I felt I needed. I'm like that with all exercise tbh, I'll adapt and mix it up. Can't stand rigid rules unless I'm doing a class then I've no problem being led.

eddie wrote:
So you agree yoga is good for you.
Great.

I SAID from my first comments that Yoga is good...

Just not the cure-all that the OP likes to make out..

That puff-piece reads more like advertising guff, rather than a genuine academic study.

Yes it is good for you. I agree.

Yes I'm a believer.

My take on it is that yoga, tai chi, pilates, reiki etc, all promote health by ultimately reducing the production of stress hormones.

It's well known that stress hormones stop our immune system from working properly, thereby reducing our capacity to fob off infections and cancer.

Jules_1 wrote:Yes I'm a believer.

My take on it is that yoga, tai chi, pilates, reiki etc,  all promote health by ultimately reducing the production of stress hormones.

It's well known that stress hormones stop our immune system from working properly, thereby reducing our capacity to fob off infections and cancer.

Stress is, I believe, a silent killer.

Stress is definitely bad, bad, bad, for body, mind and soul.

If you live in the past, you're depressed.
If you live in the future, you're anxious.
Only in the present, will you find peace.

Ben Reilly wrote:Wow, maybe I should try it out. Can you picture that?

Is that a shehe or a heshe in the foreground.....those skimpy pants seem to have rather a large "crotch bulge" that I'm sure aint accounted for by even the biggest "camel toe"

Now that, is a photoshop!