Staying Young with Yoga
Reported December 17, 2008
For centuries, Hindu devotees have talked about the miraculous effects of yoga. In the last century, the world has woken up to Yoga and its many benefits. Today, we talk about how yoga helps us stay young.
Ever since the dawn of the 21st century, the health and beauty industry has been growing in leaps and bounds. The markets are flooded with age-defying products of all brands and composition. Botox and Plastic Surgery have become very popular.
But slowly, people are growing aware of the harmful side-effects of these chemicals and surgeries. They are looking for a healthy alternative to look young and be healthy at the same time.
A young and beautiful face is achievable only through a healthy body. If every system in our body is not functioning properly, the face and the skin will reflect that. When we start taking care of controlling and ensuring the smooth functioning of all the systems, our skin glows making us feel young and vibrant.
A number of researches have been conducted on the many benefits of yoga. A study published in the journal Rheumatic Diseases Clinics of North America
, February 2000 issue, found that yoga helps with pain associated with osteoarthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Another research featuring in Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, April 2000 issue, showed that yoga may be as effective as drug therapy in controlling hypertension. Until this is established by additional research, yoga is said to be a compliment to drug treatment rather than a substitute.
How Yoga Helps in Slowing Down Ageing
Yoga can help reduce most of the signs of ageing by regulating the breathing and also through the proper exercise of every part of the body.
Yoga can help reduce weight by ensuring the movement of muscles through stretching and bending. A ten year study conducted by the University of Washington researchers on men and women of over age 45 found that those who practiced yoga lost 2kgs regularly, while the control group gained 6kgs.
Yoga can reduce wrinkles by reducing stress which in turn reduces worry lines, clenched jaws and furrowed brows. Yoga helps the skin gain back its elasticity by reducing the oxidative stress. In fact, in a study conducted by AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) in 2005, it was found that yoga can reduce the oxidative stress by 9 percent after only 10 days.
Matsyasana and Urdhva prasarita padasana, are two asanas (exercises) among a long list of asanas that help in easing pain. We all are aware of the side effects of the pain killers. Yoga, on the other hand, helps reduce and finally remove the pain which, in result, helps in having a pain-free glowing skin.
Yoga also helps in having a peaceful nights sleep. As people grow older, the level of the brains natural night time sedative, melatonin, decreases. Yoga helps restore the natural level of melatonin and regularize sleep. Proper sleep automatically reduces signs of aging.
Last but not the least, yoga improves concentration and helps your mind to be alert. Stress hormone, cortisol, contributes to most of the age related memory problems and yoga helps in keeping cortisol under control, as researchers at Jefferson Medical College discovered in their study.
Yoga has for years been trusted as one of the best ways to keep yourself healthy and young. Many yoga practitioners claim that yoga can prevent most of the illnesses, thus preventing the ageing of our body. As leading yoga practitioner, Jean Cotner (77) said, “Of all the aids to self-improvement, mental as well as physical, yoga is surely the most reliable, the safest, and the best.