THE BENEFITS OF YOGA DEMONSTRATED BY SCIENCE

THE BENEFITS OF YOGA DEMONSTRATED BY SCIENCE

A few years ago I entered the group of "soft gymnastics", to then fit it into a new practice, restricted to a few "enlightened" and that suddenly has been in the limelight for the aesthetic photos of the "celebrities". But beyond entertainment and popular prejudices, yoga is a very old discipline full of benefits for the athlete.

 WHY SAY YES TO YOGA

As, nevertheless, we are very skeptical and until they do not enumerate us contrasted scientific tests we do not usually believe what they tell us, we leave you what science. What few know is that the benefits of yoga are scientifically proven and that there are published studies that confirm what teachers and yogis already knew: that yoga is a medicine for the body and the heart and that, applied to athletes, it can be key to achieve our goals of strength, stability, even speed and, of course, prevention and rehabilitation of injuries.

The studies are born not only in India, the summit of yoga, but there are more and more studies carried out in medical research centers and universities such as Duke and Harvard , or the University of California in San Francisco, the nerve center where it was popularized. in the 60's western yoga. 

We recommend you to visit the website of Dr, who in 2013 cited references for 75 health problems that improve with yoga. From anxiety to cancer, going through obesity, cardiovascular problems and diabetes, the most common evils of our day. The list advances every year, we do not have space to count the 75, so I recommend you to enter its website, it is a very conscientious job.

ALL THE BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR OUR HEALTH AND SPORT

  1. RELIEVES PAIN

Yoga relieves most chronic pain, as has been confirmed by several studies: a group of German researchers compared Iyengar yoga with a program of self-care exercises in people with chronic neck pain and discovered that by doing yoga those who suffered from this pain pain scored lower on his neck pain, almost half less . Another study conducted by UCLA researchers with young women with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that produces intense joint pain and reduced mobility, found that half of those who participated in their 6-week Iyengar yoga program managed to reduce their pain and also their levels of anxiety and depression.

  2. HELP MOTIVATE US

Those endorphins that we produce when we go running, also occur with yoga in a natural way. A small 2007 study by UCLA researchers found that yoga in people with clinical depression to whom antidepressants did not give them more than partial relief, after 8 weeks of Iyengar yoga three times a week, had a significant decrease of anxiety and depression

  3. IMPROVES CONCENTRATION

Athletes who practice yoga learn to synchronize movements or asanas with breathing or pranayama, without forgetting to advance through meditation or mindfulness (full attention), so that the benefits that yoga brings in favor of concentration and even mental agility: researchers at the University of Illinois found that just after 20 minutes of Hatha Yoga, participants were able to perform mental challenge tests faster than just after brisk walking or running.

  4. IT KEEPS US YOUNG

The intense and long-lasting sport is an oxidant that alters cellular DNA because it increases the production of free radicals, and accelerates muscle, cellular and cerebral aging. For the most unbelieving, there are recent studies that suggest that yoga and meditation can affect DNA, protecting it from harm and also avoiding and reversing the negative changes that affect the aging process of the body.

A study analyzing the telomeres, or endings of the chromosomes, which are shortened with each cell division until the cell can no longer divide and die, has found that one hour of yoga daily, six days a week, caused an increase in 30% in the activity of a telomerase enzyme , key to protect the telomeres in each division. And another study with people who practiced Kundalini Yoga meditation, together with Kirtan Kriya, revealed that they had a 39% increase in telomerase activity, compared to people who only heard relaxing music. These benefits that yoga provides for anti-aging, could also prevent cognitive deterioration related to age, especially when combined with meditation. The study led by Dr. Khalsa has shown that the area of ​​the cerebral cortex associated with the processing of information and reasoning that grows thinner as you get older, is usually thicker in people who have been meditating for years.

  5. HELPS MAINTAIN WEIGHT AND BURNS CALORIES

Probably this is one of the benefits of yoga that most attracts the general public ... The truth is that a study, published in "Medicine & Science in Sports &  inyasa Yoga in regular yoga practitioners. Researchers at Adelphi University did a 15-minute program of a video sequence of Yoga Vinyasa video sequence, which included 6 to 13 yoga positions for people already familiar with yoga before the test. The researchers found that the average caloric expenditure was 7 kcal / min, during the yoga session, which is equivalent to burning about 507 calories per hour  or the equivalent of running an 11-minute mile.

  6. IT HELPS US TO REST AND REDUCES STRESS

Our level of stress and daily activation means that many times we can not rest. If this is your case or even if, despite sleeping, you get up tired, try doing yoga because one of the most rigorous studies, conducted at Duke University, discovered evidence of the benefits of yoga to treat sleep disorders . Your postures to stretch and relax muscles, along with coordinated breathing exercises that help lower your heart rate, prepare you for sleep. If you add meditation to this, you already have the perfect tandem to ensure a good rest.

A study by the University of Ohio (USA) published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicinerevealed that, when subjected to intense stress, the bodies of yogis respond with less intensity than those who lead a sedentary life or in front of those who practice another exercise physical.

  7. YOGA REDUCES INFLAMMATION

Yoga can be a natural solution for inflammation. A study by researchers at Ohio State University, conducted with two yoga groups, one regular yoga practitioner (who practiced once or twice a week for at least three years) and another novice, found that regulars had levels in blood much lower than IL-6, or interleukin-6, a marker of inflammation , than those in the group of beginners. When the two groups were exposed to stressful situations, those in the more experienced group showed smaller peaks of IL-6 than the novices.

  8. STRENGTHENS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

There are several studies that point out that yoga can strengthen the body's natural ability to protect itself from diseases , not only because of its good effect on the respiratory and digestive systems, but also that a two-hour program of gentle yoga has been discovered. meditation and breathing exercises, alters the expression of dozens of genes related to immunity in blood cells, directly to DNA.

  9. PROTECT AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR BACK

This may be one of the most well-known benefits of yoga and one of the reasons why many begin to practice it . Just meet seventeen postures of Viniyoga, an easy to apply style that combines movements and breathing, to end chronic back pain, especially if they affect the lower back, as you could read in a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine Participants in the research not only noticed the anesthetic effects of the exercise but, after a few months of practice, regained the ability to execute movements that months ago caused them excruciating pain.

To make matters worse, Taiwanese researchers scanned the vertebral discs of a group of yoga teachers and compared them with those of healthy volunteers of similar age. They discovered that the discs of the yogis had less evidence of the degeneration that occurs with age. The scientists pointed out that it has to do with the way in which the spinal discs are nourished and that the movements of flexion and extension can help to healthy.

THE BACK PAIN EPIDEMIC AND THE BENEFITS OF YOGA TO "ATTACK"

Considering that back pain is already considered epidemic (between 60% and 80% of the population complains of back or lumbar pain), yoga can be a good therapy. In fact, an investigation by the "Group Health Research Institute" in Seattle involving more than 200 people with back pain who were given yoga class with stretches, presented less pain and more mobility for several months. Do you need more proof of the benefits of yoga for your punished back? Give him a joy and cheer up!

  10. TAKE CARE OF YOUR JOINTS

We athletes tend to worry about the muscles and forget about the joints, until they hurt, we get injured and finally the pain and inflammation of arthritis. By doing yoga properly, with fluid movements, without repeated impacts, with balancing postures that reinforce the muscular groups and the skeleton and with control of breathing, the joints do not suffer, on the contrary, they remain flexible and strong, especially the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, etc., that suffer so much when running, pedaling, swimming, lifting heavy weights or making intense efforts without heating well.

  THE BENEFITS OF YOGA TO LUBRICATE JOINTS AND REDUCE STIFFNESS

The yoga asanas help to keep the complex joints lubricated, formed by tissues such as cartilage, with little blood supply, to which few nutrients and oxygen arrive and it is difficult to hydrate, nourish and recover, especially when aging. There are already studies that have proven that some of the most popular yoga series such as the sun salutation that is repeated a minimum of 3 times each morning when getting up, is able to keep lubricated the main joints, and help to regain mobility and avoid Pain and stiffness for the rest of the day.

  11. INCREASE ENERGY AND PHYSICAL ENDURANCE

If you think that in a yoga class you do not sweat you are very lost in your sporting way. You will be surprised how demanding a session can be if you start with those prejudices. If you let yourself be carried away by these popular sayings that have little real you will lose all the benefits that yoga can bring to all those who aim to tone or even gain strength.Yoga not only strengthens the muscles and fills you with energy, in the long run it prevents us from staying without that energy or the feared "pájara" that the runners call. Yoga gives us more physical, mental and emotional energy, you will train less time, less days, you will injure less and you will go further by holding more time.

  12. IMPROVES FLEXIBILITY AND BALANCE

This is obvious, right? In fact, elasticity is another of the benefits of yoga that has become more "universalized", in the sense that, when listening to "yoga" the first quality that comes to mind is "flexible". But it is not true that you have to start with a very high level of flexibility to start doing yoga, in fact, the worse your level is in this sense the more evident your progression and gain in flexibility will be and you will be amazed at all that you will advance to this respect. 

Keep in mind that flexibility is lost, especially when we just practice a single sport like running, which causes muscle shortening.

Balance is another component that is trained , there are many positions that introduce small and big challenges to our balance and that little by little and with practice you will be able to recover that ease to work on one foot, for example.

  13. IMPROVES HYPERTENSION, CHOLESTEROL AND COAGULATION

A couple of years ago a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) showed that the Iyengar yoga modality fights hypertension, which in the long run decreases the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. Add to this that recent studies carried out at the Santacruz Yoga Institute in India suggest that adopting yoga or asana postures with certain frequency reduces blood cholesterol levels by 23% . With these exercises also decrease the accumulation of fat in the arteries and the levels of fibrinogen in blood, a protein that participates in the formation of clots.

  14. STRENGTHENS THE PELVIC FLOOR

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) discovered that a specially designed yoga program can help women gain more control over urination control and prevent accidental leakage of urine. Surely because with yoga you become more aware, have greater relaxation and relieve anxiety and stress , explains the author Alison Huang, MD, assistant professor in the School of Medicine at UCSF.

  15. THE BENEFITS OF YOGA IN METABOLIC SYNDROME CONDITIONS

In a study published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine , with 3 groups, one of healthy people who do yoga regularly, another with healthy people who are taught to do yoga and another with people with metabolic syndrome who are He also teaches them to do yoga. It has been proven that the usual practice of yoga, reduces oxygen consumption, accelerates recovery at rest, and reduces stress. Especially in people who do yoga regularly, but also in the other groups that started doing yoga. Demonstrating that people with metabolic syndrome can benefit from doing yoga and improve their metabolic rates and oxygen consumption by improving the symptoms and complications of their metabolic alteration.