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Unexpected Ways Yoga Can Help Save Your Life

There are mountains of scientific evidence about the benefits of yoga, and most people know yoga can be helpful and healing in many ways. From relaxation to losing weight, the advantages of doing yoga are virtually limitless.

butterfly pose

Yoga is a full-spectrum practice in that it engages the body, mind, and spirit on different levels. Because it is such a versatile, expansive discipline, yoga has helped countless people achieve emotional and physical wellbeing. But can yoga save your life? Here are a few examples of how yes, yoga does have the potential and power to help save lives.

Remarkable Examples of How Yoga Can Help Save Lives

Practicing yoga has proven to reduce stress, improve sleep, boost energy levels and even help with personal relationships. Many people proclaim yoga is the single most important factor in achieving balance and renewal in their lives. Here are a few instances of how the discipline of yoga can be restorative and revolutionary to overall health and wellbeing.

Yoga for Addiction: If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, then you know it is a condition that cripples the body, mind, and soul. At the crux of all addictions is the lack of control over one's actions to repeat a life-threatening behavior. Yoga asanas (body posture or poses) have a way of encouraging focus and mindfulness. When an addict regularly practices yoga, he or she begins to feel a sense of unity and experiences a unique power from deep within. This power can liberate a person, eventually releasing them from the prison of addiction and freeing them to live an addiction-free life. Practicing yoga as a means of conquering compulsions or dependencies requires commitment and sincere resolve to quit. However, yoga has the potential to save lives from the brutal consequences of addictions.

Yoga and Cancer Recovery: If you were screened for cancer and the results showed you have the disease, that one moment likely changed your life forever. Thanks to advancements in oncology, cancer is more treatable now than ever before, but that doesn't make going through treatments any easier. That's where yoga can be a life-saver if you are battling cancer. Yoga has proven to lessen fatigue in cancer patients as well as improve sleep, lower stress levels and even decrease the risk of recurring cancer events. Yoga is also effective at maintaining balance, strengthening the body, and enhancing mindfulness while undergoing arduous cancer treatments.

Weight Control with Yoga: It's no secret that practicing yoga can help with weight loss. Many people are introduced to the healing wonders of yoga because they first started practicing it to lose weight. While yoga is an effective discipline for losing weight, it can also save your life. Obesity is one of the leading causes of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and a slew of other life-threatening maladies. Yoga can help reverse these and other negative effects of obesity like reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, and relieving hypertension. The harmful effects of being overweight can shorten your longevity, and the regular practice of yoga can help you regain optimal health.

Ways Yoga Can Extend Your Life Through Prevention

Incorporating yoga into your daily or weekly life is an excellent way to improve your health, and it is also a powerful way to protect yourself from illness or injury. Here are a few ways yoga can extend your life.

Building Better Bones: A broken bone could rarely lead to fatality, but building strong bones with yoga can certainly help you prevent the crippling effects of osteoporosis and improve your quality of life. Bones get stronger by doing weight-bearing exercises and motions found in some balancing asanas such as downward dog, tree pose, and plank pose.

Managing Depression: You might not think of depression as a life-threatening condition, but the effects of depression lead to illness, heart disease, and other ailments that can potentially shorten your life. Practicing yoga has proven to increase serotonin levels which is the body's natural antidepressant. Yoga is also known to decrease cortisol levels which is a stress hormone. Reduction in cortisol through yoga can reduce anxiety, and high blood pressure, all of which result in improved mood and a better quality of life.

Breathing Easier: Lung function can have a huge influence on your overall well-being. It can dictate how you travel and what activities you can or cannot enjoy. Living with a compromised respiratory system is no way to go through life, and yoga is proven to increase respiratory function as well as oxygen saturation in the bloodstream. Yoga helps maximize the volume of breath held in the lungs and improves exhalation. All of these benefits mean healthy lungs and healthier life.

Final Thoughts About the Life-Saving Benefits of Yoga

If you are coping with a life-threatening condition, give yourself the gift of yoga to improve your life and extend your longevity. The benefits of yoga on mind, body, and spirit are practically limitless. Pracricing yoga doesn't have to be hard, complicated, or expensive. All it takes is an open mind, commitment, and a willingness to live a better quality of life today and in the future.

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