You might know someone who regularly does yoga. And they have probably bragged about the benefits at some point. Well, they aren’t wrong.
Yoga is beneficial for a fitter body and a calmer mind. It involves improving breathing techniques and activates many parts of your body that have been lying dormant.
Although you may be surrounded by people who do yoga, you may not be ready to do it just yet. However, the benefits of this practice are there in the back of your mind but you need a gentle nudge.
Well, here are ten signs from your body and mind that you’re ready to practice yoga.
10 Signs that your body and mind want you to practise yoga
You’ll find out if yoga can transform your life just by practicing it for a few months. It can work wonders in ways that might leave you astounded.
So since you’re already here, you should look through the next sections for sure. They’ll help you get a general idea, and you might even find signs that you missed.
So let’s have a quick peek at these signs:
Tightness of the body
There’s usually a rigidity that can be observed in non-yoga practitioners. In a way, it is inflexibility. However, there’s more to it than that.
Besides being seemingly a physical activity, yoga actually has a lot more to do with the mind. And the stretches you’ll be performing will help rectify this tightness.
In turn, it makes your mind more flexible too and helps you loosen up a little.
Quick breathing
Your breaths seem to be quick and short. That’s a typical sign of stress.
But yoga can help you breathe properly. In yoga classes, the yogi will remind you to deeply inhale first. And then slowly exhale.
That’s when you’ll truly notice that you haven’t been breathing right. And when you can sort that out, you’ll definitely feel relieved, both physically and mentally.
Hypertension
Has your blood pressure been on a high lately? Well, if you weren’t aware, yoga helps in this aspect too.
It can help decrease your blood pressure levels and allow you to cool down by slowing down your heart rate.
And this is something that will definitely benefit people who suffer from heart conditions.
Feel free to look through the health benefits of yoga which are supported by science!
Struggling to focus
If you have been struggling to hold your focus, yoga is just the thing for you.
In yoga, you end up having to focus on a single pose for a few moments at a time. With time, you will excel in it, and it will improve your concentration overall.
And you’ll see that you can concentrate on your day-to-day tasks and projects for a much longer amount of time too!
Issues with posture
If you have poor posture, you should certainly practice yoga. It can help you gain more physical strength over time since it provides a full-body workout.
You’ll also gain more flexibility besides an increased level of awareness regarding your body.
So if you catch yourself slouching, you’ll be able to correct your posture on the spot.
Low self-confidence
In yoga classes, there are usually all sorts of people. Some of them are experts, others are beginners. And in spite of how experienced or inexperienced you are, there’s no room for judgment.
So increasing your self-confidence through yoga is a definite plus. See, what happens with more body awareness is that you start learning to accept yourself.
And in turn, you’ll have newfound acceptance toward your body and toward yourself in general.
Try to ensure that you have all the necessary supplies required for a yoga beginner.
Difficulty in sleeping
If you’re struggling to sleep, this is another sign that your body requires yoga.
That’s because yoga helps you achieve a certain level of inner peace after you practice it. If your day has been rough, you can definitely use yoga to help you relax.
And once you’re relaxed, it will be much easier for you to doze off than normal.
Body aches, irritability, and nausea
These are signs that imply your body is desperately seeking detoxification.
The backward bending and awkward twisty poses in yoga can help you out. These poses end up boosting your body’s natural rhythms.
They can enable better blood circulation as you squeeze your organs while performing certain poses. And with good circulation, the waste will be carried away more easily and efficiently.
And now you have another natural remedy for detox. One which doesn’t require you to consume anything that tastes terrible!
Suffering from workout injuries
Did you know that muscles recover and heal much easier when they are well-stretched?
So if you’re suffering from any workout injuries at the gym, yoga will give you relief. The same applies to any muscle strain that you’re feeling too.
The increase in flexibility through yoga is what helps lower the recovery time.
Feeling mentally unbalanced
If you feel mentally unbalanced in any way, yoga might become your best friend.
Now “unbalanced” can mean that you suffer from mental conditions such as depression and anxiety. But you may also simply not be happy with the place you’re at currently. Yoga will help relieve tension since it can lower the levels of cortisol being produced.
This will help calm your mind to an extent where you can deal with those conditions more effectively.
Final thoughts
The daily grind adds a lot of stress not only to your body but to the mind as well. You tend to react differently to various sources of stress.
When you hear people around you talking about how yoga can help deal with all the pressure, you start to think about hitting the yoga mat. But somehow something holds you back.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
