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There are a wide variety of yoga benefits and anti-aging is just one of them. As you practice your yoga poses, you can benefit from yoga and it can help you both appear younger than you are and more importantly feel younger than you actually are. Yoga is such a gentle form of exercise that you can do it every day of the week, yet it works effectively to build muscle and to relieve tension. If you practice yoga correctly, you should be able to see both the physical and emotional benefits of serious yoga practice. Many people who practice yoga find the benefits within a few weeks of starting, but they continue to expand over time.
Increased Flexibility
One of the anti-aging benefits of yoga is that it helps you to increase your flexibility. You may lose some of your flexibility as you age, and yoga can help you gain the additional flexibility that you need. Flexibility is important and it can prevent you from injuring yourself when you are doing every day activities like the laundry as well as when you are exercising. When you first start practicing yoga, you may not have very much flexibility, but the exercises are designed so that you can make modifications when needed. Yoga blocks and a yoga strap or towel make it easier to do the modifications. A good instructor will show you how to make the different modifications as you go throughout the class. When signing up, take a beginner’s class first. This will help you ease into the practice of yoga.
Improves Muscle Strength
Yoga helps to build your muscle strength. You may be surprised at how much you will build your muscles from holding a few poses throughout the class, but it really does work to build up each of your different muscles groups. It is also a good option if you are recovering from an injury and you do not want to strain your muscles. You should clear your yoga with your doctor or physical therapists before you start, but this gentle exercise is a good option. If you are regularly practicing yoga, you will be able to prevent losing muscle that happens naturally as you age.
Decreases Anxiety and Depression
Many people begin suffering from depression or anxiety as they age. Yoga is a great way to combat that. The guided meditation that you do with each yoga practice can increase your concentration levels and help you relax throughout the rest of the day. This is an excellent way to work on improving your mood naturally.
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Improves Balance
Another benefit of yoga is that it helps to improve your balance. This is really important as you get older and you have an increased risk of breaking a bone when you fall. The different yoga poses will help you strengthen your core, which can help you maintain your balance as you move around the home. This will help prevent injury and allow you to maintain an active lifestyle.
Reduces Pain
Movement helps to reduce the amount of pain that you experience from arthritis. It can also help to prevent stiffness and other types of soreness. Many people find that yoga can help relieve pain that pain pills cannot even reduce. As you practice yoga regularly, you may be able to reduce your pain, which can give you increased energy and help you feel younger.
When you attend your first yoga class, you will want to dress in loose fitting comfortable clothing that you can move easily in. . A live class is particularly beneficial because the instructor can work with you to correct your yoga poses, and then as you become more experienced you can practice yoga on your own at home. No matter what your current state of flexibility you can still take advantage of the yoga benefits. You can adapt the moves until your body increases its flexibility.
Author Bio:
Jane Hudson is a freelance writer and college English teacher. She writes on saving money and frugal living, and more. For more of her helpful blog posts, please go to her site or G+ to see useful tips on various topics