9 Surprising Benefits of Yoga Practice!

You've probably heard before that yoga is good for you, but it does so much more than help you gain flexibility, improve your balance and de-stress. Here are some surprising benefits of yoga that you should know about and which may even inspire you to pick up this healthy pastime!

1. Prevents and Relieves Stress
   One study examined the effects of yoga on reducing stress by presenting one group of yoga-practicing subjects and a non-practicing group with the same exam. The results revealed that the yoga group did not have a significant increase in stress, based on their heart rate, respiration and blood pressure, while the non-yoga practicing group did.

2. An elevated mood and increase in contentment
   When practicing yoga you are encouraged to regulate your breathing using meditation and deep breathing techniques. This enables you to slow your breathing; leaving you, feeling much more relaxed. However, there has also been research carried out that points to a stimulation of brain activity, leading to a more positive mood. The study found an increase in Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA)-ergic activity for those that practiced yoga regularly.

3. Improves concentration and focus
   Yoga has been proven to increase a person's ability to focus and concentrate. Research has shown that people are far more able to focus and maintain their concentration after a yoga session. Researchers compared a yoga group to one that had performed a regular workout at the gym and found the gym group, on being asked to perform tasks, lacked focus.

4. Improves Your Immunity
   Practicing yoga on a regular basis can help you build up a stronger immune system. In one study it was found that postoperative breast cancer patients that practiced yoga did not experience significant immune system depression that is common after surgery and had better odds of a successful recovery from their surgeries.

5. Balance Your Hormones
   Yoga is known to help bring the entire system back into equilibrium, particularly the glands of the endocrine system whose job is to secrete hormones in the body. You nourish these glands (both physically and energetically) every time you practice and some postures have a particularly powerful healing effect.

6. Removes Toxins from Your Body
   Yoga stimulates the lymphatic system in the body, which helps flush the toxins out of your body. With all the breathing you do in yoga, you may even noticed this happening! Make sure to drink plenty of water before and after you practice yoga to ensure that the maximum amount of toxins are pushed out of your body. Yoga will leave your body feeling lean and clean.

7. Protect Bone Density
   Yoga will give you stronger bones. The strength-baring poses in yoga have the same effect as running or lifting weights in premenopausal women, and doing yoga could reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life for all individuals.

8. Increases self-knowledge
   Self-awareness or self-knowledge is encouraged by many psychotherapists and natural healers. Those seeking this should be warned that it is not simple. However, yoga can bring about this awareness and the rewards are great. Once this has been attained, life becomes a much richer experience, with an outlook on life and general positive attitude that enables the yoga practitioner to experience physical sensations not usually felt within the confines of normal consciousness.

9. Help Asthma
   For those with asthma, yoga is a great exercise option. The deep-breathing exercises that are incorporated into most yoga practice increase the stamina of the lungs and raise awareness of how one should be breathing. Thanks to yoga, those that suffer from asthma can realize when they are about to have an attack and calm their breathing before the attack is able to escalate.