The positive effects of YOGA

Yoga works on the muscular-skeletal systems as well as the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, immune and nervous systems. The regular practice of yoga has been shown produce physical benefits including reduced anxiety, stress and blood pressure levels, and increased relaxation, flexibility, strength, endurance, and energy levels. The practice of Yoga can have profound effects on the mind and emotions as well as the physical body. As mental and emotional disturbances are dissolved, tremendous amounts of prana are released to affect healing. A practice of this depth offers far greater possibilities than could be expected from an isolated physical discipline.

How Yoga Facilitates Detox

In order to help your body keep up with the heavy demands our stressful lives and nutrient-poor modern diet place on our systems, is to give your body an assist so it can perform its natural detoxing function, and Yoga is an ideal companion. Yoga, with its focus on systematically stretching and compressing every part of the body, is particularly well-suited to keeping the waste-removal departments of the body functioning well. “In a well-rounded yoga practice, every part of the body is pushed, pulled, twisted, turned and upended. This facilitates the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and lymphatic fluid from the deep tissues and extremities of the body that a jog or a bike ride just don’t reach,” explains New York City yoga teacher Witold Fitz-Simon, founder of the yogaartandscience.com blog.

Yogic breathing also plays an important role in promoting detoxification. Sitting with poor posture impedes the lungs from inflating fully, and our chronic state of low-grade stress often leads to a clenched diaphragm—the parachute-shaped muscle at the bottom of the rib cage that assists in breathing. As a result, we don’t take in as much life-sustaining oxygen when we inhale, or expel as much of the potentially hazardous carbon dioxide when we exhale. “Yogic breathing helps clear out carbon dioxide from the lung tissue, stimulates the organs of digestion and can, over time, retrain the diaphragm to move freely,” Fitz-Simon says. And when the diaphragm moves with its natural fluidity, the abdominal organs are massaged and the lungs are fully emptied with every breath—not just the ones you take on the yoga mat.

In addition to its physical benefits, yoga aids in mental detox as well. “When we’re in a state of stress, fear or depression, that attitude creates a sensation in the body,” explains Patricia Moreno, founder of the intenSati workout. “Yoga helps purge toxic thoughts by teaching you to move your awareness away from the chaos of the mind and back to the present moment. That practice is not a basic component of other fitness pursuits.” As a result, a regular yoga practice helps you eliminate the tangible and intangible toxins that could otherwise keep you from feeling your best. "Gaiam Life"