Yoga is a meditation practice that slows down the body, demonstrates mindfulness, prioritizes body positivity, and has many different mental health benefits, along with physical benefits. Yoga is a form of body practice that forces you to focus on breath, awareness of oneself, and energy within the practice. This is beneficial in mental health practice, as it pulls from the mindfulness practice to deep breathing exercises that are given as coping mechanisms for maladaptive behaviors or feelings that become overwhelming. Practicing those breathing techniques in a controlled environment can be beneficial in incorporating that practice in other aspects of life as well, allowing for someone with anxious thoughts to use their yoga meditative breathing skills to help with an oncoming anxiety attack a lot sooner than someone who only incorporates the breathing exercise when in need of it. Along with breathing, somatic therapy is beneficial for people who intellectualize their mental health journey, making it hard for talk therapy to be beneficial. Yoga allows them to become in tune with their body and where their trauma is stored, allowing them to release stored trauma in their own way. The benefits listed include attention regulation and intention setting, decreasing stress, and regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and the sympathetic nervous system activity (Chawla et al., 2023). In addition to mental health benefits, the practice can also improve body image and increase physical health and awareness. Improving flexibility and mobility can improve mental health and self-image.
Yoga has many benefits that range from mental health to physical health. Incorporating a couple of minutes to meditate a day can drastically increase quality of life and even lengthen one’s lifespan up to 20 years! Begin practicing today!
Chawla, V., Brems, C., Freeman, H., Ravindran, A., & Noordsy, D. L. (2023). The Future of Yoga for Mental Health Care. International Journal of Yoga, 16(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.
Woodyard, C. (2011). Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase the quality of life. International Journal of Yoga, 4(2), 49. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-
