If you see your Health Score suffer because you put off running or other high-impact exercise, remember that something like yoga, which is a lot less intense, can bring just as many health benefits.
But how can yoga help you improve your Health Score, look and feel better, and get fitter?
Improves flexibility
It may sound obvious, but improving your flexibility can significantly change how fit you feel. Yoga can dramatically increase flexibility, which can also see aches, pains and areas of discomfort fade as you become more flexible. This is because tightening in your hips or back can cause pain in muscles and tissue.
Corrects your posture
Posture is related to a number of health issues, and doing yoga can work to encourage an erect spine. This helps to support your neck and back muscles, which reduces aches and pains throughout the body. This is especially apparent in office workers who sit down for seven or eight hours a day and usually have bad posture. Regular yoga sessions can help correct this and ensure you feel healthier.
Increases muscle strength
As you become more flexible, you will also increase your strength by doing yoga. This can help safeguard you against conditions like arthritis that can have a noticeable impact on your health and how fit you feel. As you build your strength by practicing yoga, your flexibility will also improve, which will improve your balance and prevent falls, especially in elderly people.
Maintains focus and concentration
Yoga gives you the time and space to focus your concentration, which studies have suggested could boost your coordination, reaction time, memory, and intelligence.
Encourages blood flow
Yoga helps to get your blood flowing around your body, aiding your circulation and the health of your heart. It encourages blood to get to your hands and feet, which can be an issue for people that are sedentary during the day. Yoga also helps boost the amount of oxygen in your cells, which enables them to function better.
Improves bone health
Yoga often requires you to hold your own weight and it is this factor that helps keep your bones healthy. Weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones, reducing your risk of developing conditions like osteoporosis.
Boosts your heart rate
Like other exercise, yoga increases your heart rate, lowering your risk of heart attack and can even relieve depression. Although not all yoga is aerobic, if you are able to boost your heart you will benefit from a whole host of health benefits.
Boosts immunity
Moving in and out of different yoga poses contracts and stretches your muscles, which boosts the drainage of lymph, helping your body fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.
Drops your blood pressure
High blood pressure can put your health at risk, and yoga can help reduce this danger by helping to boost your blood flow.
Improves your mood
Having the time to focus and take your mind off stressful events in your life with yoga practice, or another form of exercise, can help improve your mood and make you feel more productive about tasks ahead.
