How Yoga Can Improve Your Mental Health

When you go along to yoga classes, you can expect physical benefits including improved muscle tone, increased flexibility, better blood flow and reduced blood pressure, and higher energy levels. However, along with the obvious physical benefits, yoga can also have a positive impact on your mental health. Today, we’ll be looking at the different ways that yoga can improve your mental health.

Calms the nervous system

Due to our modern lives, we spend a lot of time with our sympathetic nervous system activated. This means that your fight or flight response is switched on more than it should be which leads to higher blood pressure, heart rate and sugar levels. On the other hand, yoga helps you to tap into your parasympathetic nervous system which has a calming effect on the entire body. Activating the parasympathetic nervous system helps to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. It also means that blood flow improves to your non-vital organs which has a restorative effect on the body.

Reduced stress levels

During your yoga practice, there is an ongoing focus on your breath as you flow through different movements. This deep breathing reduces stress levels as you become more focussed on your breath and your body. When you go along to your yoga class, you’ll find that your body slowly lets go of any

tension and you become increasingly calm and mindful. Yoga also teaches you simple ways relax your body, such as deep breathing, so you can translate these techniques into your everyday life to reduce the impact of situational stress.

Better concentration and focus

Not only does yoga calm your body, it also sharpens your focus and improves your concentration. Yoga’s ability to calm your mind means that distracting thoughts are kept at bay and you’re better able to focus on important tasks. Research has shown that following yoga, people are better able to focus their mental resources and process information more quickly. These cognitive benefits that come from regular yoga means that your work and other tasks become easier.

Improves mental health issues

Studies have shown that yoga can have a positive impact on mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, with some research even showing that yoga can have a similar effect to anti-depressants. Yoga helps release gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, which can have a positive impact on individuals who suffer from anxiety disorders. Yoga can even help improve symptoms of

schizophrenia when practiced alongside appropriate medication.

K?YA Health Clubs offer authentic Melbourne yoga classes from our state of the art studios. Our passionate teachers have the knowledge to guide you through your yoga journey so you can get the most out of your experience. Join us today to escape your hectic life as you find peace in your

regular yoga practice.

For yoga classes in Prahran and the Melbourne CBD, contact K?YA today on (03) 9090 1000.

Nathan Aron is a fitness trainer, who writes for many online journals and portals that are related to fitness classes.