yoga for mental health

The word Yoga is derived from the word ‘Yuj’  which means ‘to unite’ in the Sanskrit language. Yoga involves various asanas (or simply yoga poses), breathing techniques, and meditation. 

There are innumerable benefits of performing Yoga including the physical and spiritual benefits. A few examples are – Helping in losing weight, Activating K Power, Improving flexibility, Regulating circulation of blood, Infusing Self Control, etc. Apart from these, Yoga has the ability to prevent diseases or help one in fighting against diseases. 

Yoga not only involves twisting and bending the body for flexibility and weight loss but also involves several poses for improved mental health. There are also many mental benefits, proven scientifically, of practicing Yoga if performed in the proper and correct form. 

Relieves Stress 

Stress, in basic terms, refers to emotional, physical, or psychological strain. There are many reasons for the same, like living an unhealthy lifestyle, being under a lot of pressure, worrying about something, family problems, etc. The most important is loneliness. It is definitely important to deal with stress. 

There are plenty of ways to manage mental strain, loneliness, anxiety, depression, or in short stress. These ways include – exercising, spending time with pets, reducing caffeine intake, laughing, avoiding procrastination, deep breathing, listening to music, etc. 

But the most important and effective way of stress relief is performing Yoga and meditation. Yoga is the best and most effective to reduce stress as it reduces the release of hormones responsible for stress. 

Emotional and Mental Well-Being

Yoga helps in having better control over one’s emotions and in making one emotionally strong. Yoga apparently results in emotional well-being. Yoga is really helpful in healing us from within, as it removes all the toxic energies and infuses the positivity deep inside us. 

Helps in Better Focusing

It’s quite normal these days, for students, to have a poor focusing ability while studying or performing other activities due to the presence of electronic devices, especially smartphones, around. 

Even in the absence of these gadgets, not only students but even adults find it pretty hard to focus on a single thing at a time. This poor focus can be due to the type of lifestyle, busy schedule, pressure, burden, etc. 

Yoga, especially its meditating part, can act as a boon to help to focus better if performed regularly and properly.

Yoga helps in Boosting Confidence 

You might have heard that performing Yoga, on a regular basis, helps in improving and boosting metabolism. But not only metabolism, if performed regularly, but Yoga can also be really advantageous for boosting one’s confidence. Researches show that Yoga can help in enhancing the mental state of mind and boost confidence. 

Better Concentration

Concentration is definitely important to complete work. If one cannot concentrate on the work, it can’t be completed or finished at the given time. Several studies show that Yoga can be really advantageous to help in concentrating better. 

Infuses Positivity 

Yoga poses and breathing yogic exercises can help to release the hormones which make our bodies as well as minds healthy and help us feel better. Positivity too comes with performing Yoga. 

Improved mental health comes hand in hand with positivity. Positivity, better mental condition, and relaxation are some of the good outcomes of performing Yoga along with several others. Yoga infuses our minds with positive thoughts and emotions. 

Makes Happy 

Many regular performers of Yoga and meditation agree that there has been a noticeable increase in the levels of their happiness as compared to the times when they didn’t use to perform Yoga or meditate. Yoga instills positivity in a person and helps in shunning all the negative emotions. Hence, makes a person merrier. 

Overcoming Traumatic conditions

Yoga acts as an efficient tool for overcoming post-traumatic situations. There are several phases in one’s life when one has to undergo some traumatic experience or one or the other bitter and harsh situations in one’s life. Yogic exercises can help in dealing with stress, depression, or anxiety, which is the aftereffect of this kind of situation.

 Improves Mood 

As mentioned previously, Yoga poses instill positivity deep inside us. Hence, Yoga poses can definitely be helpful in uplifting and improving one’s mood. Yogic exercises and poses can lighten up the minds of their performers and can act as a powerful method to improve one’s mood in a positive way. 

Helpful in Calming Mind

Shavasana is considered to be the best asana or the best Yoga pose to calm one’s mind as well as instill peace and relaxation in the body. This Yoga pose includes lying down and relaxing just like a corpse. Apart from this, Asana, there are several other breathing yoga exercises that can help to calm the unstable mind as well as relax the strained body. 

The benefits of performing Yoga are not only limited to what is being mentioned in this article. There are several others as well. Start performing Yoga, and you will soon realize them.