I have experienced the amazing health benefits of yoga first hand. When I was in university I was dancing five nights a week, but when exam time came around dance classes stopped and I started getting really bad back and neck pain.

My mom (hypnotherapist and long-time yogi) suggested I try yoga. I found that going to a yoga class twice a week during exam time really helped relieve my pain. It also saved me a lot of money because, before I started doing yoga, I was getting massages which were really expensive. Although I did spend some money I would love to spend it on fun yoga clothes at Fabletics.

5 Awesome Health Benefits of Yoga

Health Benefits of Yoga for Overall Wellness

As you already know, yoga improves flexibility which is very important for your everyday health.

Tight hips can strain the knee joints due to improper alignment and tight hamstrings can contribute to back pain. As you become more flexible, your muscles and connective tissues loosen up and the pain you have been experiencing for a while may start to melt away.

Studies even show that yoga can also boost the immune system!

Health Benefits of Yoga to Fight Food Cravings

Research has found that yoga encourages mindfulness which translates to mindful eating and reducing food cravings. The study says:

Yoga encourages practitioners to adopt and maintain challenging physical poses with an accepting, calm mind and focus on the breath. This type of experience teaches mindfulness skills and may enable individuals to successfully navigate difficult food environments and more accurately judge their motivations for eating.

This will help you stay away from mindless eating in front of the TV and will help you evaluate your motivation for eating (i.e. not eating because you are bored).

Health Benefits of Yoga for Energy

When you can’t sleep, you feel like a zombie and your energy levels are inevitably low.

Studies have found that yoga can help increase sleep efficiency, total sleep time, the number of awakenings and overall sleep quality. When you sleep like a baby (and expression that doesn’t make any sense to me because my mom friends are up all night soothing their babies), you can wake up bursting with energy!

For more ways to increase your energy levels, check out my online course Eat Clean for Energy.

Health Benefits of Yoga for Detoxification

Sweating in a vigorous vinyasa class or hot yoga class is an amazing way to eliminate toxins from the body. Research has shown that:

Many toxic elements appeared to be preferentially excreted through sweat. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of many toxic elements from the human body.

Many also believe that yoga postures that twist and compress different organs stimulate the organs and help them eliminate toxins.

Health Benefits of Yoga for Stress

Are you stressed? Most of my clients rate their stress levels as a 6 or higher.

Stress can really wreak havoc on your body from your digestion or skin to many other health issues.

A yoga regimen can decrease stress and anxiety significantly. It acts as a physical outlet to release nervous or anxious energy that has built up in your body. Yoga also teaches you to be present on your mat and to focus on calming deep breathing that settles your nervous system.