Yoga: learn why the practice is good for your body – 01/05/2023 – Equilíbrio

Despite yoga’s popularity, many misconceptions still circulate about the activity and the ways in which it benefits the body and mind. When many people think of the method, what comes to mind are slender, flexible bodies practicing impossible contortions.

According to physical therapist and yoga and health professor Lori Rubenstein Fazzio of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, however, anyone can do yoga.

And you don’t even have to move your body much. Even if you focus primarily on breathing, you’ll still experience beneficial effects, says Laura Schmalzi, a neuroscientist and certified yoga instructor at the University of Southern California Health Sciences.

“The way I see it, yoga is really a breathing practice to which movement is added,” she points out.

Why practice yoga?

Yoga, which originated in India over 5,000 years ago, has become a common practice in the fitness field for many reasons. It requires little or no equipment and is accessible to almost anyone. It is linked to a growing number of health benefits, including stress relief, improved sleep and cognition, and reduced back pain.

Research also suggests that, at least for sedentary people, practicing yoga improves balance, strength, and flexibility as much as many stretching and strengthening exercises.

One possible reason for yoga’s many benefits is that it is an intentional practice that requires concentration of mind and body. Many people exercise while doing other activities or distracting themselves to pass the time. For example, they watch TV while doing elliptical training or listening to podcasts while running.

“But that doesn’t happen in a yoga class. Usually one’s attention is focused on the instructor, their own breathing, their body alignment and postures,” says Neha Gothe, director of the Exercise Psychology Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and a student of yoga. “For that very reason, the mind is very present at the moment of movement.”

Because of this emphasis on the mind-body connection, yoga may benefit mental health more than other types of exercise. Research suggests that yoga reduces anxiety and stress and improves mood possibly more than aerobic exercise. A 2023 clinical trial also found that yoga reduces symptoms of depression and improves sleep.

The act of practicing yoga slows down certain activities in the body that activate in response to threats — collectively described as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system, Fazzio points out.

Some studies suggest that yoga can also decrease the frequency and severity of migraines, and a recent review of five studies found that it can benefit cognitive function in people aged 60 and older.

“If you examine the brains of people who have been practicing yoga for a long time, you will see that the regions responsible for decision making and problem solving are better developed,” says Gothe.

Yoga can also bring relief from back pain. In a 2020 report, the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analyzed the results of ten clinical trials, concluding that yoga can relieve low back pain and improve low back function. The American College of Physicians now recommends yoga as the first-line treatment for chronic low back pain.

However, as is the case with any exercise regime, yoga can carry risks, and people with certain health conditions would do well to avoid certain poses. For example, people with diabetes, glaucoma, or heart disease shouldn’t do inversions or poses where the head is below the heart, says Fazzio.

How to begin?

Compared to many other types of exercise, yoga does not require a large investment of money or time. The only equipment you might want is a yoga mat and yoga blocks, but even those are optional. “You can do the Sun Salutation in your garden in the morning,” says Schmalzl. “Then you won’t need a rug or anything.”

One form of yoga that is especially suitable for beginners is Hatha Yoga, in which people maintain certain postures while breathing in a controlled manner. “It is very modifiable, it is smooth”, points out Gothe.

If you have physical limitations, you can try modified forms of this type of yoga. “If you have a hard time getting down to or from the floor, or if you have trouble sitting on the floor because you have a restricted range of motion, look into standing yoga or sitting yoga,” recommends Natalie Nevins, general practitioner, practitioner of yoga and assistant dean of the Western University of Health Sciences.

Kinesiologist Bhibha M. Das, who studies yoga at East Carolina University, says that if you go to an in-person yoga studio, you should introduce yourself to the instructor before class and explain that you are a beginner. “Inform the instructor of your physical limitations” and ask him to show the possible modifications of postures.

If you’re doing yoga to address a specific health issue, you may want to consult a physical therapist or certified yoga therapist who can tailor classes to your needs, says Schmalz. Low back pain, for example, can have many different causes, so the poses and stretches that help one person with back pain may not help another.

In-person yoga classes can be expensive, but there are plenty of free online classes that offer a similar quality of instruction, says Nevins.

For those interested in learning about other gentle forms of yoga, possibilities include Kundalini Yoga, which incorporates chants and recitations; Vinyasa Yoga, which involves linking poses together in a flowing sequence, and Iyengar Yoga, which focuses on precision and alignment.

Hot yoga, practiced in a heated studio, is another option, but researchers have raised fears that classes could lead to dehydration or heat-related illness if they last longer than an hour and don’t include water breaks.

Nevins, who enjoys Kundalini Yoga, suggested that people watch YouTube videos of people doing different types of yoga to get an idea of ​​what each one is like. “Do a little homework to identify the practice you most resonate with,” he recommends.

Translated by Clara Allain