Being Yoga

BENEFITS
by Timothy McCall, M.D.

Improved Flexibility
Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won't be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you'll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible.

Better Posture
Your head is like a bowling ball-big, round, and heavy. When it's balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

Supple Spine
Spinal disks-the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniated and compress nerves-crave movement. That's the only way they get their nutrients. Yoga helps keep your disks supple.

Blood Flow
The relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Yoga also boosts levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. And it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes.

Heart Start
When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of heart attack and can relieve depression. But even yoga exercises that don't get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning.

Lower Cortisol
Yoga lowers cortisol levels, a stress hormone. Excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call "food seeking behavior" (the kind that drives you to eat when you're upset, angry or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.

Lose Weight
Move more, eat less-that's the adage of many a dieter. Yoga can help on both fronts. A regular practice gets you moving and burns calories, and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of your practice may encourage you to address any eating and weight problems on a deeper level.