By Emma Hogan 

We all know that yoga is good for us… but why exactly? Always on the hunt for answers, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite facts about yoga – highlighting all the benefits that come from getting your ‘Om’ on.

As you can imagine, there have been plenty of studies performed over the years examining the effects of yoga. These studies have found that regular yoga can benefit a number of health factors and produce significant effects on psychological wellbeing. Here’s what you need to know …

Yoga can work wonders for psychological health

  • Yoga is beneficial when it comes to reducing stress. Research shows it is effective in treating emotional-stress related conditions when compared with mindful exercises such as qigong and tai chi.
  • Research shows the effects of yoga on depression were comparable to that of pharmacological treatment, group therapy, social support groups, and massage.
  • Due to its good compliance and lack of drug interactions, research shows yoga appears to be safe and could be encouraged to improve quality of life and, perhaps ease the symptoms of stress and anxiety.

There are physiological heath benefits

  • Yoga has moderate effects on physical fitness (strength, cardiorespiratory function) and function (balance, walking speed) in older adults.
  • The studies comparing the effects of yoga and exercise indicate that, in both healthy and diseased populations, yoga may be effective at improving a variety of health outcomes including blood glucose (helping to avoid diabetes), blood lipids and stress indicators.
  • Small beneficial effects were seen in triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL). cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure. Given the limited evidence to date, we are unable to determine the effects of yoga in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Yoga benefits body composition

  • Yoga is shown to be an appropriate and potentially successful intervention for weight maintenance, prevention of obesity, and risk reduction for diseases in which obesity plays a significant causal role. Gradual, moderate reductions in weight and Body Mass Index were seen across the majority of interventions when practiced for 60 minutes, three times per week for three months or more.
  • Yoga practice is an effective method to reduce body weight in overweight adults.

There are plenty of other benefits too

  • There is strong evidence for short-term and moderate evidence for long-term reduction of low back pain and back-specific disability after yoga interventions.
  • Hatha and Restorative yoga have the highest correlation with positive outcomes for managing pain.
  • The findings indicate small effects of yoga interventions on fatigue, particularly in patients with cancer.
  • In both healthy and diseased populations, research shows yoga may improve subjective measures of fatigue, pain, and sleep.

Yoga can be advantageous for pregnant women

  • Studies show a prenatal yoga program results in benefits during pregnancy as well as throughout labor and birth. Improvements were observed on psychological factors during pregnancy and labor, on physical and pain measures during labor and on birth weight and number of preterm births. To find out more about the benefits of exercising during pregnancy click here.

BODYBALANCE is a motivating blend of new yoga that features elements of tai chi and Pilates. It is designed to build strength, improve flexibility and leave you feeling calm and serene.

  • Research shows that 12 weeks of BODYBALANCE can improve balance and functional performance.
  • Studies highlight that, doing BODYBALANCE three times per week for 12 weeks can also drive reductions in anxiety, as well as significant increases in core strength and hip mobility.

GET YOUR BODY BALANCED WITH YOUR LEISURE, JOIN TODAY AND GET INTO THE GROOVE! 

With a Live Better GROOVE membership, you can enjoy a wide range of our own classes, plus world-class Group-Ex experiences designed by Les Mills, such as RPM, BODYCOMBAT, BODYBALANCE, BODYPUMP and more, and you can take advantage of our virtual classes. All while being able to book classes online up to 8 days in advance.  

Plus get more with a Your Leisure Membership and achieve all your health and fitness goals and have some fun while doing it. Live Better GROOVE also gives you some other great benefits: 

Unlimited Swimming and gym use* 

 Online Booking 8 days in advance 

Option to use the FeelGood Factory** 

 10% Discount on treatments at Your Spa, Ramsgate 

So, get into the GROOVE and JOIN ONLINE HERE 

Want to be able to book the most popular classes 14 days in advance and never miss out? Try our Live Better GROOVE PLUS Membership. JOIN ONLINE HERE

Non-members can sign up for a FREE Live Better GATEWAY membership to book classes on a Pay-As-You-Go basis (online booking 5 days in advance). Join Online HERE

Support: Call 03333 660661 or email memberships@yourleisure.uk.com and an expert will be able to help. Mon-Fri, 9am – 5pm   

*Unlimited swimming during public sessions and gym during centre opening hours

**FeelGood Factory at Hartsdown and Ramsgate Leisure Centres 

This piece originally appeared at lesmills.com.

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