Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Every emotion affects your physical health

Two happy women jumping into the sunset
Emotions affect health.

How negative and positive emotions affect our health

1. Anger causes insomnia and heart issues
2. Loneliness and sadness make people feel cold and depressed
3. Jealousy weakens your immune system
4. Crying gets rid of stress chemicals
5. Laughing makes you live longer
6. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain
7. Happiness improves immunity

How do different emotions affect your health? It's a well-known fact that your stress can negatively influence your physical condition.

Few people know that every single emotion, be it happy or not, has an impact on your body. All of your feelings have physical consequences.

Some people are so negative that they say no seven times before saying yes once. This will affect their physical health. Let's look at some of the things that occur as a result of negative emotions. 

Emotions affect your health
Emotions and health are connected.


1. Anger causes insomnia and heart issues

Anger is a healthy and normal emotion. We get angry in response to a threat that we need to take care of. It would help hunter-gatherers to defend themselves and kill prey.

It is also considered a negative emotion. Too much anger will lead to insomnia.

The kind of anger that leads to insomnia is chronic (long lasting) and tends to spiral out of control.

Anger increases the blood circulation to your limbs and your heart. This stops you from relaxing to rest and sleep properly.

Too much anger, too often, does more than negatively affect your sleep.

Anger has similar long-term health effects to stress.

Staying in this state for too long can result in diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and a weak immune system.

Don't lose your health for the sake of the wrongs of others. Let it go.
Let things go.

2. Loneliness and sadness make people feel cold

People who feel lonely, sad, or excluded tend to estimate the temperature around them as a few degrees colder than it really is.

This makes them long for hot food and beverages to compensate for the unwanted emotion.

Moreover, sadness and depression have the ability to influence your appetite. This may lead to weight gain and consequently increased blood pressure.

Loneliness and sadness leads to weight gain and depression. Find a friend you can trust.
Find a good friend.

3. Jealousy weakens your immune system

Jealousy is one of the most unwanted, but extremely strong, human emotions.

Since it is a mix of anger, stress and fear; jealousy can lead to elevated adrenaline levels, an increased heart rate and blood pressure.

What's more every time you feel jealous it weakens your immune system.

Jealousy elevates adrenaline, increases heart rate and raises blood pressure. It weakens your immune system.
Jealousy hurts you.

4. Crying gets rid of stress chemicals

Surprisingly, not all tears are the same.

Dr. William Frey, an American biochemist, compared the chemical composition of tears from emotional distress and those produced when a person was cutting onions.

He was amazed. Emotional tears have significantly higher levels of stress hormones and neurotransmitters.

Dr. Frey drew the conclusion that the main goal of emotional crying is to get rid of stress chemicals.

If you hold back tears; you might weaken your immune system, ruin your digestion and even impair your memory.

Emotional tears are good for you. They release stress hormones and neurotransmitters. Holding tears back can weaken immunity, ruin digestion and impair memory.
Cry when you need to.

Health benefits of positive emotions

1. Laughing makes you live longer
2. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain
3. Happiness improves immunity

Negative emotions have a bad effect on our health. Positive emotions have a very good effect on the body.

You may have noticed that people who laugh a lot or who are very positive have good health in comparison to negative people. Why is this?

Emotions have a strong effect on your health.

Positive emotions such as laughing, happiness, joy, and excitement strengthen the immune system.

Positive emotions improve your health
Positivity is healthy.


5. Laughing makes you live longer

You will live longer if you laugh more often.

Laughing not only encourages you to live more but it has many other benefits also. It boosts the immune system and works as a natural painkiller.

Read more (16 amazing benefits of laughing).

Laughter increases lifespan, reduces pain and strengthens the immune system.
Laughter is the best medicine.


6. Excitement increases energy and decreases pain

When you feel excited, the sympathetic nervous system is engaged. The heart rate increases and signals are sent to the brain to release more endorphins.

These endorphins help in recovering damaged cells and thus decrease pain naturally. 

This will give you an enormous amount of energy because excitement engages the cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Excitement releases endorphins, increases energy and reduces pain.
Encourage healthy emotions.

7. Happiness improves immunity

Happiness helps to manage stress and lowers blood pressure.

It boosts blood circulation throughout the body which results in better heart health.

Happiness releases endorphins and strengthens your immune system. You are less likely to catch a cold or get an infection when you are happy.

Happiness releases dopamine and endorphins. It improves heart health and improves immunity.
Your heart loves happiness.

Check out some articles from Sparkle Purpose:


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7 surprising benefits of honey

Friday, January 22, 2021

Train your brain with meditation

Woman meditating in front of a large body of water
Benefits of meditation


Meditation is one of the most powerful activities that you can do.

Everyone knows about it but not everyone does it. Only some people practice meditation regularly. 

The current population is roughly around 7.8 billion. Only 200 to 500 million people meditate. This means that only 2-6% of people in the world practice meditation.

There are a lot of benefits of doing meditation.

Through meditation, a person can control the world’s powerful tool. That is nothing but their brain.

You are not controlling your brain. Your brain is controlling you.

You can do anything with your belief system.

Mental benefits of meditation

1. Slows down the aging process

2. Relieves stress and chronic anxiety

3. Builds self-esteem

4. Treats and prevents depression

5. Increases attention span

Mental benefits of meditation
Mediation is good for your brain.

1. Mediation slows the aging process 

As you age, your body gets slower and you start to lose your edge.

Meditation can actually slow down the aging process in your brain.

This comes from a 2015 study from UCLA that found that people who meditate have healthier and younger brains than people who don't.

Even the researchers were shocked by their findings!

They expected a small difference, if any, in the size of their brains.

Instead, they found significant changes in brain volume.

By meditating regularly, these people developed more gray matter. Their brain volume stayed far more consistent.

In other words, meditation held back many of the most detrimental effects of aging in the brain.

This awarded them a healthier and more productive mind for years to come.

Studies find that meditation prevents age related mental decline.
Meditation keeps your brain young.

2. Meditation relieves stress and chronic anxiety

By learning how to meditate, you significantly reduce your stress without having to make any other major changes to your lifestyle.

The more positive lifestyle changes that you make, the better. The point is that meditation on its own is a very powerful tool.
 
Sitting in silence for 10 or 15 minutes has such a huge impact on your life.

When we're stressed about repaying student loans or giving a big presentation, our bodies produce a hormone called cortisol.

Cortisol is responsible for most of the common negative side effects associated with stress.

Cortisol can impair your memory and increase your blood pressure. It can disrupt your sleep. These things make you feel fatigued and unmotivated.

Cortisol can also lead to depression and chronic anxiety. This can bring your productive lifestyle to a crashing halt.

Luckily, a 2013 study found that meditation (specifically mindfulness meditation) effectively deals with stress by decreasing the negative side effects of cortisol production.

Another study that examined over 1,200 participants found that regular meditation lowered stress more than any medical treatment on the market.

In both of these studies the results were consistent for people of all ages and experience levels. 

No matter whom you are or how much you know about meditation, it can be an incredibly effective way to reduce your stress.

Studies find that meditation lowers stress more than any medication on the market.
Mediation reduces stress and anxiety.

3. Meditation builds self-esteem

Self-confidence is something that almost everyone struggles with on a daily basis. 

In a world filled with critics and bullies, it can be really difficult to develop and maintain a lasting positive self-image.

Without a strong self-image, you may be struggling every day just to avoid another period of depression.

If this sounds like you, mindfulness meditation can help you build a kind of self-esteem that won't fall apart the next time that something doesn't go your way.

Mindfulness meditation is actually a pretty simple concept. To practice mindfulness all you need to do is bring your complete attention to the present moment.

By focusing exclusively on where you are and who you are; mindfulness can help you stay calm, relaxed and aware.

It can also reduce your anxiety while allowing you to think clearly and rationally.

The ultimate goal of mindfulness meditation is to get you in touch with your senses and emotions. This gives you a deeper understanding of yourself.

A 2005 study showed that this deeper understanding results in the development of positive self-esteem.

In this study researchers had a group of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer practice mindfulness meditation exercises for 12 weeks.

At the start of the study, each participant was tested and showed very low levels of self-esteem but after 12 weeks of meditation, the entire group showed dramatic improvements despite their chronic illness.

While mindfulness meditation does help build self-esteem it's even more effective at stopping your self-esteem from decreasing.

When you experience failure or social rejection you might start having cyclical negative thoughts which can quickly destroy all of the self-esteem that you built up.

These harmful thoughts discourage you from doing the things that make you happy so it's incredibly important to address them before they get out of control.

Mindfulness meditation is a great way to do just that because it offers you the opportunity to bring your attention to the negative thoughts or habits and find ways to correct them.

Mindfulness exercises improve your sense of self-worth.
Improve your self-image.

4. Meditation helps you to avoid depression

Mindfulness meditation has been used as a form of therapy for individuals struggling with depression. 

Not only does it reduce the production of chemicals in our brains associated with depression, but meditation also fosters a more stable emotional mindset by decreasing the presence of unhealthy behaviors.

Brooding, for example, is common among individuals with depression allowing for negative emotions like sadness, anger and self-criticism.

A study by the University of Exeter looked for this kind of behavior in two groups of people who were recovering from depression. 

The first group used only depression medication while the second group practiced mindfulness meditation at least once every day.

The researchers found that about half of the medication group ended up relapsing because of unhealthy behaviors like brooding which prevented the medication from doing its job.

On the other hand, those who practiced meditation were significantly less likely to relapse because they were less likely to engage in any of these depressive behaviors.

If you're hoping to improve your emotional health, mindfulness meditation can be a safe and effective way to cut depression off at the source.

Studies find mindfulness as effective as medication for treating depression.
Meditation helps with depression.

5. Meditation increases your attention span

Most people are not able to concentrate on their work for a long amount of time without drifting off. 

Mindfulness meditation can help you to build your attention span.

At first, you will find it harder to concentrate while meditating.

As soon as you have learnt this important skill, you’ll find it so much easier to concentrate on any type of mental work.

The hardest thing about meditation is keeping your mind from wandering.

You're so used to constantly thinking about your work and all of your responsibilities that it can be hard to focus on something simple like your breath or the present moment.

But by practicing this kind of concentration, you're actually increasing your attention span so that you'll be more clear-headed and productive. 

Meditation improves your ability to concentrate and focus.
Meditation improves mental output.


Check out more articles from Sparkle Purpose:

16 Amazing benefits of laughing
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41 Remedies to treat acne scars
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Monday, January 18, 2021

Exercise improves mental health

Lady smiling while running in a forest
Exercise for the sake of your mental health.

Exercise will help you to improve your mental health. Here's how.

Mental health benefits of exercise

1. Exercise gives you a sense of accomplishment.

2. Exercise releases happy hormones like endorphins, serotonin and dopamine.

3. Your brain needs blood flow for oxygen and nutrients.

4. Exercise provides the perfect, healthy escape.

5. Physical activity improves sleep quality.


Mental health benefits of exercise
Exercise for yourself.

1. Exercise gives you a sense of accomplishment

One of the challenges that many people face when they struggle with mental health is an overwhelming sense of worthlessness or failure.

Exercise improves your mental health because it gives you a sense of accomplishment – it gives you a reason to be proud of yourself.

Exercise will give you a goal to work towards. The human brain thrives on challenge. When you have something that you want to achieve, like becoming more fit, you have another reason to wake up in the morning.

Exercise gives you a strong sense of achievement. It will make you want to achieve other things in life.
Exercise causes a positive chain reaction.

2. Exercise increases the release of happiness hormones like endorphins and dopamine

Exercise leads to the release of endorphins in the brain.

Endorphin release during exercise is often referred to as the runner’s high.

Endorphins do two major things in the brain: They are a natural pain killer and they make you feel happy by triggering the release of dopamine.

Dopamine is known as the happy hormone. It is also known as the reward hormone.

Depression occurs when the brain does not release enough dopamine.

Exercise is a great way to boost your dopamine levels naturally every day.

Exercise makes your brain feel happier - naturally.
Exercise to be happy.

3. Movement increases blood flow to the brain

Exercise helps the body to increase blood flow to the brain.

This is very important because the brain needs blood flow to function properly.

When you exercise, your body increases the amount of oxygen in your blood. Your brain needs oxygen to work at its best.

The increased blood flow also allows the brain to regulate its hormonal and chemical levels better. It is able to get rid of the chemicals it doesn’t need while allowing for faster transportation of the nutrients that it does need.

Exercise directly affects brain function.
Mental function declines without exercise.

4. Exercise gives you a mental break from the rest of your life

Many of us work or study really hard.

This puts a lot of pressure on our minds to perform at their best all of the time.

Exercise gives us a mental break where our minds can relax and enjoy the endorphin release with extra blood flow.

When you exercise for long enough, you start to look forward to your exercise sessions because they become your special ‘me time’ where you can think about the rest of your day and reflect on life in a positive way.

Find healthy ways to escape from the stresses of life.
Exercise is a great coping mechanism.

5. Physical activity helps you to sleep

Sleep is very important for your health.

It can be hard to get good sleep when your brain is drained but your body has plenty of energy to spare.

Exercise increases sleep quality by increasing the body’s physical need to recover.

As sleep quality increases, your brain can recover better every night.

Very often a lack of physical activity reduces our ability to sleep well, which negatively affects our brain health.

A small amount (20-30 minutes) of exercise every day will help your brain to recover better because of improved sleep.

I used exercise to improve my own sleeping patterns and it worked out wonderfully.

Exercise every day to sleep better every night.
Sleep improves with movement.

Start a new exercise plan slowly

If you've decided that you want to start an exercise routine to boost mental health, start slowly. Give your body time to adapt. The worst thing that you want is an injury. That will stop you from building the habit.

Also make sure that you drink enough water and give your body plenty of rest between exercise sessions. Stay Strong!

Mental health benefits of playing digital games

Children playing on a laptop
Computer games are good for your brain.

Gaming is considered one of the most enjoyable activities by the children.

Children aren't the only ones who play games. 33% of online gamers are around 33 years of age.

Does that sound weird? It’s the truth. Games aren't only for children.


Billions of people play online games worldwide

There are approximately 2.2 billion gamers around the world. The population of the world is around 7.6 billion. 

This means that a third of all the people in the world are gamers. This number is quite huge, isn’t it?

Out of those 2.2 billion gamers, 1.2 billion are those who play games on a desktop computer.


Playing online games is good for your mental health

You need to be physically active in order to stimulate your body on a regular basis. Lack of physical activity is a killer. Just like how regular exercise keeps your body healthy by proving a physical challenge, games keep your brain healthy by challenging it to think and respond.


Playing games for the sake of mental health

Do you really think that playing games could be very beneficial for your brain and your mental well-being? Well, it can be.

People often consider gaming as a waste of time. This isn't the case when it is done is proportion with other healthy activities like exercise, social interaction and earning an income.

Gaming has many positive mental benefits. It can even turn into a lucrative career for many people.

Here are the great mental advantages of playing games.


Mental benefits of gaming

1. Improves vocabulary
2. Increases IQ and thinking power
3. Stimulates decision making with immediate and long-term consequences
4. Raises reflexes with eye-to-body coordination
5. Good practice for multitasking

Mental benefits of gaming
Games are good for you.

1. Games improve vocabulary

Many people practice learning a new language in a fun and interactive way by playing a game with other people in a language that they want to learn.

Think about how playing video games can improve our vocabulary skills.

Games force you to master key words quickly

When we play digital games; we use key words like resume, reload, pause, go, stop, reverse, redo and many more.

Children learn these key words, along with their immediate meanings, at a very young age. This is a very good thing.

Gaming gives you the opportunity to implement words and use them with immediate feedback. You will learn the value of each word very quickly.

The youngest person in our household improved his reading skill very quickly after we introduced him to video games. The games forced him to read new phrases and sentences if he wanted to further his progress in the game.

There are many more words that each game requires the player to learn.


The eye-damaging effects of playing video games are in direct proportion to the amount of games that you play

Some people think that screen-based games are not good because of the light from the computer or laptop. It can affect our eyes.

This effect is harmless if you do it within moderation. You should balance out computer light with natural light, time spent with other people in a physical setting and time spent outside.

Stimulate your eyes by looking at a variety of differences to keep them healthy.

Gaming is like a form of exercise for your eyes because you need to focus on different parts of the screen at different times.

Just like how your body can take too much strain if you exercise too much, your eyes need variety to stay healthy.

Too much of anything is unhealthy. Even too much water can harm your health.

While screen-based games can positively stimulate your eyes, too much will cause ocular imbalances.

Don’t sit idly and play games for too long for the sake of these benefits. Variety is the key to optimum health.

Half an hour playing games is okay to refresh the brain and enjoy for some time. Limit yourself to a set, maximum of amount of time each day. This will allow you to reap the benefits without negatively affecting any other part of a healthy life.

Video games improve your vocabulary.
Games are a fun way to learn a language.

2. Games improve your IQ and thinking capacity

There is a direct relationship between your thinking power and playing games.

You will notice that your mental skills improve dramatically from the time that you first start playing a game. Thinking time decreases and mental reflexes (mental output) improves very quickly.

When you play any game like Ninja Fruit, Call of Duty, or the famous PUBG, these games require a lot of thinking power. This results in a form of exercise for the brain. 

Before doing any particular task in a game the player must think. This is a very good way to increase your IQ.

This will benefit you in your daily life.

You will have a greater ability to think on a particular topic and make a decision with regards of the consequences to that decision.

Virtual games can increase your IQ
Games are exercise for the brain.

3. Games improves decision making skills

Decision making skills are very important. They will ultimately determine the long-term outlay of your life.

Games are a great way to introduce you to the consequences of every decision that you make. They also improve the amount of time that it takes for you to make each decision.

There are many rules and regulations about what any gamer should have an eye on in a game. These little things can help you to have a greater mindset. In many games, you have to think about the bigger picture with every decision that you make.

Games help you become a problem solver.

Actual life decisions are not the same as in the game, but the developed thinking capability of any gamer will easily help them to make better and more effective decisions.


Games help you to make better decisions automatically.
Use games to improve your decisions.

4. Games improve eye coordination

Almost everyone knows that eye-hand coordination increases as you play games.


Benefits of better eye coordination:

1. Improves reaction time

2. Increases productivity

3. Enhances life skills


Child psychologists explain that children who have better hand-eye coordination develop better and more strategic thinking.

Reaction time will improve at almost any kind activity. For example, if you are looking for something in a room; the person with better eye-coordination has the highest chance of spotting the item first.

People who play games are better at strategic thinking.
Games improve brain function.

5. Computer games improve your multi-taking skills

Gamers are better at multitasking.

Games teach us how to handle many things at a single time.

If you playing an action game you need to be concentrated, focused, and managed to see what’s happening around you in the fame. You need to look at your enemies and deal with them along with many other things like your personal status, items on hand, etc.

These skills will not only help us in the games themselves. They can even help us to manage multiple projects at a time.

Our brain can become so developed at multitasking that it feels like you’re playing a game in your personal reality too. This is a common phenomenon among many avid gamers.

Games help you to handle multiple things at the same time.
Games improve coping skills.

Games are a great way to relax, break away from the stresses of life and improve our mental capacity.


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Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Brisk walks during work can increase productivity

Lady walking at work
Movement gets the blood flowing.

Sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time can wreak havoc on your health.

Extended time at your desk can damage your eyes if you’re focusing them at the same distance for too long.

Sitting can decrease your energy levels if your body does not get the chance to move around and regulate blood flow.

Reduced physical movement may raise cortisol (stress) levels as we constantly feel the urgency to get one thing done after the other. Elevated cortisol can harm more than just your mental state. Prolonged, elevated cortisol levels can damage muscle tissue.

Our posture can also suffer the negative effects of being in one place for too long. Thankfully, a few brisk walks every hour or so can negate these negative effects, while increasing our productivity at the same time.

How will taking a brisk walk increase my productivity?

If you feel like your energy levels start to drop during the second half of your working day, it is because your body (and mind) is not made to do the same activity for too long. We can only focus on a specific task for a set period of time before our attention starts to dwindle.

By taking a mental break, you give your mind a chance to recollect itself before the next bout of mental output.

The increased blood flow from standing up and stretching your legs will also give your brain a healthy dose of oxygen-rich blood.

You don’t need to run a marathon every 5 minutes to get the productivity-boosting benefits of exercise. A simple lap around the office every hour or so will do.

Incorporating this simple yet effective change can be done in a few ways to make sure that you make it a habit (and don’t get fired in the process).

Blood flow from physical movement improves brain function.
Move the body to energize the brain.

How to walk more during working hours

The water detox

This is one of my favorite methods to make sure that I walk more often.

Simply keep a bottle of water at your desk and sip on it regularly. 

Dehydration on its own can cause a decline in mental performance. You will empower your body to detoxify itself just the way that nature intended. Additionally, dehydration has been linked to unhealthy cravings for sugar and salt. 

Regular water consumption will increase your need for bathroom breaks. This is very beneficial for your body because it now has the raw ingredient that it needs to clean house and get rid of nasty toxins.

By going to the bathroom, you naturally force yourself to take a break and catch a mental breather. A short walk to the lady’s (or men’s) and back is more than enough to change up your posture, reduce eye strain and give you a mental breather.

Break up your daily workload into mini tasks

If your job is as monotonous as most people’s, you can break up your daily routine into smaller tasks that allow you to walk to the end of the office and back after completing every few sets.

You can take a small walk for every 50 emails that you answer, or like me, for every 300 words that you write.

Decrease the mental load of a large task by breaking it into smaller tasks.
Make your job more manageable.

Say in person what you would in an email

You’re not the only one in the office that gets frustrated by the amount of emails that you get from the person two steps away from you.

Before sending an email to a co-worker, think about whether it would be more constructive to get up and tell them in person. You get the chance to increase blood circulation and change eye focus, while possibly getting an answer or feedback immediately.

As a bonus, healthy social interaction can reduce cortisol levels and lower blood pressure.

To quote Sarah Ban Breathnach, “Little changes and little choices add up to be revolutionary changes in your life”.

Here’s to having a better work day while improving your health! Stay Strong!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Health benefits of yoga

Woman practicing yoga in a yoga studio
Yoga is good for you.


The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word for ‘Yuji’. It means yoke (so connect to the head). Yoga is an ancient practice that was designed to bring the mind and body together. Practicing yoga can improve both mental and physical health in multiple ways. Waking up early in the morning to do yoga is the best. This is because it gives you a sense of calm positivity that will last for the rest of your day. Regular yoga practice will help you to live a calm and peaceful life. 

Health benefits of yoga

  1. Improves flexibility
  2. Corrects posture
  3. Lowers blood sugar
  4. Burns fat
  5. Increases metabolism
  6. Stimulates muscles
  7. Protects joints, ligaments and bones
  8. Improves breathing
  9. Gives a sense of relaxation
  10. Better blood circulation
  11. Higher energy levels
  12. Reduces pain
  13. Improves cardiovascular health
  14. Better brain function
  15. Greater sense of happiness


List of benefits of yoga
Yoga is great for the body and mind.

1. Yoga improves your flexibility and posture

It only takes a few minutes a day to benefit from the health-promoting effects of yoga. You will notice that your body becomes more strong, supple and flexible. Regular yoga will stretch and tone the muscles, joints, ligaments and bones. This will make them stronger. Yoga helps to improve your bodily posture when you stand, sit, sleep or walk. This will help to relieve body pain due from bad posture (which is one of the biggest contributors to muscle aches and pains).

Bad posture causes aches and pains.
Work on your posture.

2. Yoga lowers blood sugar

Yoga lowers blood glucose (blood sugar). It also lowers LDL or 'bad cholesterol'. The form of exercise boosts HDL or 'good cholesterol'. For people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways. One of the ways that it does this is by lowering cortisone adrenaline levels. This encourages healthy weight loss while improving your sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Yoga will get your blood sugar levels down and decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure and blindness (often caused by too much sugar in the blood of people who are diabetic).


Yoga improves heart health by lowering blood sugar, reducing bad cholesterol and improving good cholesterol.
A calm heart is a happy heart.

3. Weight loss

Yoga is an effective way to lose weight because it will boost your metabolism. It also stimulates your muscles and strengthens them. This causes your muscles to burn up more calories.

If you're going to do yoga for weight loss, I'd recommend that you also focus on eating whole, organic, natural food in place of processed food. This will help you to lose more weight. The less processed your food, the better.


 4. Better breathing 

Pranayama refers to the conscious control of your breath during yoga. Breathing control is incorporated into your movements during yoga. This is very good at reducing your internal (biological) stress levels. Cortisol (stress hormone) drops sharply during yoga for this reason.

Improved lung function and enhanced relaxation

The breathing practices in yoga focuses on the slowing down, and deepening, of your breath. This puts your body into a state of rest and recovery. Deep breaths help the lungs to work better.


5. Circulation

Yoga improves blood circulation through the combination of stretching, movement and breathing. Nutrients and oxygen moves easier throughout your body during yoga - and constantly if done regularly. This leads to healthier organs like the skin and the brain.


6. Energy

You will feel strangely calm yet energized at the same time after a yoga workout. Overall energy levels will increase and stressful situations won't drain you of the same amount of energy that it did before. A good yoga workout will energize you immediately.


Stress drains you of precious energy. Practice relaxation to boost energy levels.
Relaxation brings energy.

7. Yoga naturally reduces pain

This is one of the most attractive benefits of yoga. Yoga is, surprisingly, extremely effective at reducing the sensation of pain. People with arthritis, Fibromyalgia, migraines and other forms of chronic pain rely on yoga to make their conditions more bearable. Many people notice that back pain disappears completely because of yoga. 

This happens for a variety of reasons. Improved posture deals with some bodily aches at their root cause. Stress is known to aggravate the sensation of pain, while relaxation dulls its effects. You interrupt the messages that communicate pain to the brain when you focus on deep breathing. A calmer state is more conducive to rest and recovery.


8. Cardiovascular conditioning

Just a few minutes of gentle yoga will improve your cardio-vascular health. Your heart rate will decrease while physical endurance increases. Oxygen uptake improves as nutrients are shuttled throughout the body more easily.


Just a few minutes of healthy activity is enough to give you long term benefits.
It only takes a few minutes.

9. Mental sharpness 

Regular yoga will improve your memory and concentration. Some studies suggest that it can help to prevent (and even treat) mental illnesses like Alzheimer's disease. That's amazing! Simply doing yoga regularly will help to heal your brain and fortify it against future damage.


Yoga heals your brain and protects it from future damage.
Look after your brain.

10. Yoga will make you happier and healthier

A few minutes of yoga, at least three times a week, will boost your emotional health as much as it improves your physical and mental health. Your brain will be sharper, you will feel happier and your body will be healthier.

Invest in your own happiness. It will take time and effort, but the results are totally worth it!
Invest in yourself.

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