Those who have been practicing yoga for a long time, with confidence, speak about numerous positive changes in their life. Doing yoga, you can achieve quite objective improvements in terms of health – good sleep, remove muscle clamps, and even extend years of life. It seems that it sounds on the brink of fantasy? We give 12 arguments in favor of yoga for longevity.

1. Yoga prevents joint damage

When you do yoga, you make your joints work for 100%, which means you reduce the risk of arthritis and arthrosis, and even disability. The logic here is simple: joints ensure the connection of bones in the body and help us move. In this case, the joints are forced to work in extremely difficult conditions: with constant compression, pressure, friction, which can wear out their top layer – cartilage. To avoid this, the joints need a constant diet, which is provided by the synovial fluid produced in the joint itself. It nourishes and moistens the joint, reduces friction. At the same time, for normal production of fluid, constant movement is necessary, which is provided by yoga in full.

2. Yoga increases bone density

It has been proven that when performing exercises where it is necessary to maintain the weight of one’s own body, bones are strengthened and the risk of osteoporosis is increased, a disease characterized by increased brittleness of the skeleton. Many asanas in yoga suggest such an approach, giving an excellent load, for example, on the hands – a part of the body, especially vulnerable to fractures. And the ability of yoga to lower in the body the level of cortisol – a stress hormone helps to keep calcium stores in the bones, which also contributes to their strengthening.

3. Yoga accelerates the blood flow

Practice literally makes blood boil and flow with redoubled force. That’s because in yoga classes you, on the one hand, perform relaxing exercises that help improve blood circulation, and on the other – move intensively, so that more oxygen enters the cells and they begin to work better. Various twists and inverted poses contribute to the fact that the venous blood from the internal organs and legs actively comes to the heart and lungs, where once again enriched with oxygen. In addition, yoga increases the level of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which helps to prevent blood clots, the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes.

4. Yoga cleanses the lymph and strengthens the immune system

When you perform this or that asana, move, twist, stretch the muscles, then accelerate the process of lymph circulation in the body, and therefore ensure its purification from toxins and decay products, which allows to resist infections and even the formation of cancer cells.

5. Yoga increases the heart rate

It should be noted that not all directions in yoga are directly related to the increase in heart rate. The most influential here are dynamic types of yoga such as Ashtanga Vinyasa, where the exercises give the necessary aerobic load, which means they reduce the risk of heart disease, help fight depression. However, the less intensive directions of yoga can have a beneficial effect on heart health: they increase endurance, teach you to control breathing and use the greatest amount of oxygen at the time of intensive exercises. So for the best effect and health promotion alternate different types of yoga.

6. Yoga improves the work of the adrenal glands

The adrenal glands produce cortisol – a hormone that mobilizes nutrients in the body at the time of stress, but at the same time lowers immunity, and can also be the cause of depression, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, overeating. Therefore, it is important to control the level of cortisol in the body and not allow it to rise above the norm in quiet times. Here just help comes and yoga – a practice that helps to cope with stress, adds strength and good mood.

7. Yoga lowers blood sugar levels

Practice shows that yoga reduces the amount of sugar in the blood by lowering cortisol and adrenaline, and also stimulates weight loss and increases the susceptibility of the body to insulin, which is especially important for people with diabetes. As a result, it is possible to avoid complications such as myocardial infarction, renal failure and blindness. This factor, of course, demonstrates the benefits of yoga for longevity.

8. Yoga improves balance in your body

Regular practice of yoga increases proprioception – the ability to feel the position of all parts of your body in space. As a result, your ability to balance while moving improves, which means that the risk of falls and injuries is reduced.

9. Yoga strengthens the nervous system and promotes good sleep

Yoga and meditative practices are taught to cope with stress and irritation, which as a result has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, promote a sound and peaceful sleep. A good rest and peace of mind – a pledge not only for health, but also for achieving all the goals.

10. Yoga teaches to breathe in full breast

Breathing plays an important role in yoga – breathing practices or pranayama are an integral part of any training, contribute to calming the mind and properly performing asanas. In the class you learn to breathe completely differently than you used to in everyday life – the breath becomes deeper, the air fills the entire lung space, promotes their activation. Yoga also teaches to breathe properly through the nose – so the air that enters the body is pre-filtered, warmed, moistened and cleaned. This means that the possibility of asthma and other lung diseases, which are often provoked by pollution in the air, is excluded.

11. Yoga improves digestion

Yoga promotes healthy digestion, since the performance of certain asanas stimulates the intestinal peristalsis, ensures fast and effective food processing and body cleansing. As a consequence, the risk of developing colon cancer and the appearance of diseases of the digestive tract is reduced.

12. Yoga teaches us to lead a healthy lifestyle

Perhaps the biggest advantage of yoga for longevity is that practice instills a taste for a healthy lifestyle. Having started practicing and having felt all the beneficial effects of yoga on health, you will forever say goodbye to old habits, provoking heaviness, fatigue, bad mood. And conscious care of health will eventually become the most important pledge of a long and happy life.

Yoga can really change life for the better. But you can see this only from your own experience. So leave doubts and at least try to stand on the rug. And believe me, your body will not slow to say thank you! And will become younger with yoga.