Practise Yoga For Healthy Living

Dr. Shyam P Lohani

Yoga, primarily, helps in enhancing flexibility and strength. It can be done by anyone and at any place, indoor or outdoor. An ancient practice and a form of meditation, yoga is increasingly becoming popular throughout the world. Yoga, indeed, provides a retreat from the chaotic and busy lives of today's people. Yoga is a mental, physical as well as spiritual practice that has been practised for ages. There have been numerous studies that show many health benefits associated with yoga. 

Yoga not only helps burn calories but also strengthens muscles. It is a practice that involves both the body and the mind. Yoga encourages people to change their lifestyle habits such as moderation in diet and abstinence from smoking and alcohol. The multidimensional aspect of yoga has been shown to have profound impact on maintenance of health as well as prevention of diseases. 

Benefits

Out of hundreds of different techniques and postures, anyone irrespective of age and sex can practise it. Besides flexibility and strength, it provides many other physical and mental benefits. There are several areas where yoga may be beneficial. However, more research is required to establish links between health effects of yoga and particular health outcomes.

Yoga provides people with numerous health benefits ranging from decreasing chronic pain, stabilisation of blood pressure, normalising blood glucose and reduction of stress. There are other studies which suggest that yoga not only improves strength and flexibility, but also contributes towards maintaining breathing balance, spine and mental health, and blood flow.

Yoga develops in creating inner awareness and helps focus our attention on our body's abilities at the present moment. It helps develop breath and strength of both the mind and body. Working for long hours on a desk could not only hurt the spine but also make people feel tired at the end of the day. Practising certain exercises could help in improving the posture and also prevent pain in our neck and lower back.

Yoga cannot only help us in increasing our flexibility but also let us perform complex postures. It has been shown to have positive impact on mental tension and anxiety. It also increases our exercise capacity. Yoga assists us in strengthening our weak muscles and helps in toning muscles which prevents their frequent straining.

Yoga helps in retaining the vitality in our body along with keeping it fit. Yoga has been shown to help us for healthy eating and improves the metabolic system of the body. Numerous studies have shown that yoga helps in lowering blood sugar and also reducing bad cholesterol and boosting good cholesterol. This is associated with weight loss and improves the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

The relaxation exercises in yoga regulate blood to all parts of our body. Yoga exercises have a beneficial impact on the immune system of the body as well. Improved immune system helps fight infection causing microorganism, therefore help our body fight off diseases. Practising yoga would help us explore a different side of ourselves. It would make us feel good about ourselves and helps us take a positive approach to life.

Breathing exercises have been found improving our lung function. Doing such exercises in a long run could have positive effects on respiratory problems as they boost the capacity of lungs. Yoga helps in reducing stress and thus improves sleeping pattern. Indeed, a relaxed body gets a deeper and more peaceful sleep. Several randomised controlled trials have shown beneficial effects of yoga for the treatment of depressive symptoms. However, the data is insufficient to conclude whether there is a substantial clinical justification to consider yoga as a treatment for depression as comparative to active controls.

Accreditation

Yoga, as a therapeutic intervention, has only recently been used. However, studies are relatively few. Further investigations are warranted as there is a possible link between the underlying psychophysiological effects and positive health outcomes. Nonetheless, yoga is promoted as part of physical activity policies worldwide owing to its multidimensional benefits such as improving muscle strength, balance, and flexibility that produce measurable and perceived improvements in physical and mental wellbeing.

Like any other physical exercises, yoga may cause injuries if wrongly practised. The most common injuries are sprains and strains. Therefore, it is important to undergo yoga session with only certified yoga instructors. In our country, however, there is no organisation or agency entrusted to certify yoga instructor and thus an urgent need of the time. At this time, it is recommended that beginners should start it in private classes before practising it in a group. Beginners are also suggested to avoid difficult poses and what is important is to adjust different yoga exercises as suited to individual need. 

(Dr. Lohani is the clinical director at the Nepal Drug and Poison Information Centre. lohanis@gmail.com)