Stretch, Breathe, Feel Better: How Yoga Helps Your Mental Health

Yoga is a low-impact exercise, making it suitable for most people. It is also unique in that it can be done both solo and in a group. You can allocate a part of your day to yoga, as a way to reduce your stress and focus on yourself. You can also connect with other yoga practitioners in a studio or even on a virtual community.

WORDS AND PHOTO ATIQUE KAMARUDDIN / EDDY YOGA

FEATURED EXPERT ATIQUE KAMARUDDIN / EDDY YOGA Yoga Instructor Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

YOGA IS GOOD FOR BOTH BODY AND MIND

• A special aspect of yoga is that it allows you to focus on improving not just your physical well-being but also your mental well-being.
• It incorporates more mindful elements rarely found in other forms of exercise.

Helps You Feel Better

• It has been shown to lower stress hormones in your body.
• It also simultaneously increasing beneficial brain chemicals like endorphins and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These chemicals help to decrease your anxiety and improve your mood.

Good for Your Brain Functions

• The areas of your brain that process information and store memories shrink as you age. However, research has found that yoga can slow down this shrinkage.
• Regular yoga can help protect us against the effects of ageing on your memory and cognitive functions.

EVERYONE CAN YOGA — IT ISN’T LIKE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

The best way to start is to consult with a certified yoga instructor or your local yoga studio.

Ask about the Levels of Classes Available and Anything Else You’d Like to Know

• Most instructors are more than happy to clarify your doubts, and there are no such thing as a silly question!
• Yoga classes can be conducted physically or virtually, but I personally recommend attending a physical class if you are a beginner. That way, the instructor can get a closer look at how you are doing, and offer advice and instructions accordingly.

Don’t Worry about Making Embarrassing Mistakes

• If you’re new to yoga, you will be first taught how to focus on just the feeling of breath going in and out of the body.
• Once you are in tune with the feeling, you will cease to worry about other people’s expectations and opinion on how well you are doing.

Reference: Gothe, N. P., Khan, I., Hayes, J., Erlenbach, E., & Damoiseaux, J. S. (2019). Yoga effects on brain health: A systematic review of the current literature. Brain plasticity (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 5(1), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.3233/BPL-190084