International Day of Yoga is celebrated on the 21st June across the world. India celebrated the first version in 2015 in New Delhi. The goal is to popularize the concepts of Yoga across the world. With this year’s theme, Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home, in mind, this is about Yoga and Mental Health .
There are different forms of yoga, for specific purposes. Yoga can vary from gentle and accommodating to strenuous and challenging. And the choice of style tends to be based on physical ability and personal preference. So it has benefits in physical , mental and spiritual aspects of human life.
Yoga works just like other self-soothing techniques, such as relaxation, exercise, or even socializing with friends. Thus bringing in a multidimensional means of well being.
Photo source: Kejal’s thoughts
By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This decreases physiological arousal — like, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration etc. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress more flexibly.
For many patients dealing with depression, anxiety, or stress, yoga may be a very appealing way to better manage symptoms. The scientific study of yoga demonstrates that mental and physical health are not only closely allied, but are essentially equivalent. The evidence is growing that yoga practice is a relatively low-risk, high-yield approach to improving overall health. We can safely say that there is a co-relation between yoga and mental health .
Also read what Yoga professionals , Darshan Sharma, from Trisholin Yoga and Wellness and Samikhya Kalita, from Yoga by Sam have to say about other benefits of Yoga in Discover East.
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Source : Harvard Medical School
(Feature image source: 2013 Rainbow Roundtable)
