Some of the many benefits of Yoga:

Increases Flexibility: Flexibility is the range of motion you have around your joints and the length of your muscles. When you stretch, you are lengthening muscles but after you stop stretching, the muscles return to their resting length (their original size). With continued practice, you can make longer lasting changes so that the resting length is longer. With the vast variety of yoga poses, you can stretch many of your muscles. As we age, our muscles and muscle fibers gradually shrink and lose mass. We become stiffer and muscles take longer to respond to stretching than when we were younger. Practicing yoga can help maintain the flexibility and health of your muscles and joints.

Strengthens Muscles: We need our muscles to be strong to move through our daily lives. Getting out of bed takes muscle. So does getting in and out of our cars. We use muscles all the time. If we do not maintain our muscle strength, the simplest of activities will become more difficult. Strong muscles also protect our joints. As different muscles contract as we move in and out of various yoga poses or hold the poses, our muscles are getting toned and strengthened. Strong muscles allow us to hold yoga poses longer and provide muscle strength for all our activities off the mat.

Improves Balance: Balance is the ability to maintain a stable position. Maintaining our balance is essential to stay safe in our everyday lives. Balancing is a skill you can learn and practice. In yoga, standing poses and balancing poses strengthen the muscles. Practicing yoga barefoot improves the sense of touch on the bottom of your feet, which helps you to balance. Yoga is an excellent way to work on your balance.

Improves Posture:  Our spines provide structure and support to our upper bodies. Having poor posture impacts the organs and glands in the torso. Rounding forward or hunching can lead to hyper kyphosis. Yoga helps by moving the spine in 6 directions (forward bending, back bending, side bending to the right, side bending to the left, twisting to the right, and twisting to the left). Yoga also helps to strengthen the muscles in our backs and our core, helping us to sit up and stand up taller.

Improves Lung Function: Yoga does this through good posture and focused breathing. A slumped or hunched over back restricts movement of the ribs and lungs.

Nourishes Intervertebral Disks:  The cushiony discs between each vertebrae bone lack any blood supply. It is movement that delivers nutrients from nearby blood vessels. A yoga practice that includes forward folds, back bends, and twists helps prevent the drying out and degeneration of the discs.

Leads to Healthier Habits:  As you practice yoga and become more in tune with your body, you may find that you are making healthier choices. You may start to walk regularly, eat healthier, or drop an unhealthy habit such as smoking, or late-night snacking. One of my first yoga instructors, Don, lost a lot of weight by being more mindful about his diet.