5 Immediate Benefits of Starting Yoga

Yoga has the capacity to pave the way for change and everyone who does yoga usually feels the power of transformation. We know these changes can happen over a long period of time as part of an organic and subtle process but can it sometimes happen immediately?

Yoga helps you to rebuild and reconnected with your best self so lets explore five benefits of doing yoga which can be noticed immediately!

1. Yoga helps you to shift your focus away from unhealthy patterns

The first few days of a beginners yoga course will initiate the healing phase. Once you have embraced this healing phase, the first benefit of doing Yoga is enacted. It urges you to shift your attention from unhealthy life habits. These could have been along the lines of procrastination, poor posture or just simply not being aware of your own body. When you stick to an unhealthy way of life for a long time, you tend to believe in it. Yoga breaks these patterns and helps to remove the psychological and emotional barriers that foster these inhibitions. Yoga helps to unwind. There is a fresh lease of energy which evokes clearer resolve toward embracing a better life.

2. The weight loss process is kick-started

Studies have shown that once you become habituated to the yoga mat, your body will start behaving in a new manner. Any form of yoga gives our many muscle groups a workout and the intensity only varies with the differing yoga types. The mind-set of body awareness helps to curb unhealthy eating habits. Instead of indulging in unhealthy snacks, you start developing healthier eating habits by simply being more aware of yourself. This transformation will generally appear within 10 days of starting a new yoga regime. Certainly a big incentive for those considering whether Yoga is right for them!

3. Increasing the blood flow within the body

It is a known fact that yoga relaxes the body. Indeed, the many relaxation exercises that are the foundation of yoga can help circulation especially in the feet and hands immediately. As more oxygen travels to the cells, and the instructor tells the class how to breath deeply, this improves the overall functioning of the body. The twisting poses tend to wring-out the blood from the internal organs which in turn helps oxygenated blood to flow in again once the twist is released. Yoga postures also work as a blood thinner by curbing the clot-promoting proteins in blood. This decreases the chance of heart attacks among yoga students.

4. Working with your brainwaves

As your body learns to harmonize between the different bodily senses, you can discover a range of spiritual and mental benefits of yoga as well. Yoga helps you to focus more. If you start practising yoga for just one week, you will be able to realize a noticeable difference in your way of life. A few minutes of yoga every day and gradually you will experience a feeling of deep peace seeping through your body. This is the first step towards wholesome wellness that yoga is known to bring almost immediately.

5. Reduces stress levels within the body

When the body is stressed, it releases a hormone named cortisol to help cope with the stress. Sometimes we may not even be consciously aware of our stress levels. Excessive cortisol can lead to many health complications like weak immune systems, headaches, high blood pressure, excessive weight gain, depression and anxiety. Yoga is primarily based on good breathing, which is the most effective way to handle stress. Concentrating on breathing relaxes the body and the mind, and quietens the thoughts. When someone says that yoga drives away negative thoughts, it is for this reason that their stress is reduced.

There are many benefits of yoga and there are some within immediate reach. In order to experience them first-hand you need to start practising now. Once you have invested a short time into building your new yoga habit there really is no looking back!