10 Health Benefits of Daily Yoga [with Routine]

Yoga is a form of art that progresses with your body. It is not restrictive or rigid!

Does your schedule feel too jam packed to include a vigorous gym routine, but you also feel the need to get some movement in?

Yoga might just be your answer!

Yoga, an ancient art form

Yoga is one of the ancient methods of physical training that is known to solve several complications in the body and mind. Daily yoga benefits are life-changing. It helps in maintaining one’s self and aids in combating various ailments from back pain to depression.

There are three stages in Yoga – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

If you are a beginner, you need to move slowly and not make too many moves.

It is essential to focus on the quality of your practice and gradually try and improve instead of rushing.

Another important point to keep in mind is to connect your breath to your posture.

Your breathing should be synchronous with your movements, and this matters for every yoga posture.

Breathing, also known as prana, is the most important part of practicing yoga.

Right intentional breathing that accompanies the poses, helps remove energetic blockages and serves to purify the body. This in turn helps improve the prana flow.

With practice, you level up from a beginner to an intermediate, and eventually to an advanced practitioner, and with each stage, your moves get more complicated, but guess what?

You will still be able to do most of the poses because while you’re advancing from one stage to another, so is your body!

It gets more flexible and is able to adapt to most of your poses.

When should one perform yoga?

As the old saying goes, Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

This is true because going to bed early and waking up early is the first step in fixing your circadian rhythm, also known as the body clock.

Once that is in place, you can get started on connecting to your body and soul.

This is essentially what yoga teaches you; it keeps you grounded and brings a sense of peace within yourself.

Now the ideal time to practice yoga is in the morning.

Performing yoga with an empty stomach is optimal.

However, if you happen to miss your morning session, you can go ahead and do it in the evening 3-4 hours after lunch.

Finding an alternate time instead of skipping a day’s practice is what you should be doing while trying to start a habit, or when you’re trying to incorporate yoga into your daily life.

Now you should keep in mind that yoga should be practiced only on an empty stomach. If you do happen to have had a meal, wait for a good 3 to 4 hours before getting started.

What are the benefits of daily yoga?

Yoga is used as a therapeutic process for a considerable amount of time. In recent years, it has gained traction in the west, and they use it for curing complicated disorders. The following are some of the benefits of doing yoga daily,

1. Improves flexibility –

With the rise of technology and desk jobs, maintaining our flexibility is challenging. Performing yoga keeps your body relaxed and prevents stiffness that might develop while you sit for long hours. One can even improve overall performance with the right kind of exercise. (1)

The best asana for improving flexibility – Suryanamaskar

Surya Namaskar - benefits of daily yoga — Surya Namaskar – Image Source

2. Strength Gaining – Helps strengthen the body – In this fast-moving world, where everyone looks to be involved and on top of the ladder, it is vital to be energetic to be able to keep up. Regular yoga practice helps you increase strength and be active. (1)

The best yoga exercise for strength gains – Bhujangasana or Cobra Posture

3. Body balancing – Helps keep the body balanced – Balance is an essential part of daily living. To stand sturdy on your feet and to perform various activities, it is vital to be able to align your body and ensure you maintain a good balance. However, due to stress, it often becomes difficult to maintain balance in the body. Practicing yoga helps you to maintain balance and to reduce restlessness (2)

The best asana for maintaining balance – Tree posture/ Vrukshasana

4. Reduce Back pain –

Back pain is one of the most common issues that we face and has been prevalent for the past two decades. You have remedies such as medicines, physiotherapy, and massage oils to cure back pain, but most of them fail to address the root issue.

That being, posture. If you have bad posture, it is only normal to experience complications regarding your back. (3)

Yoga proves to be a permanent solution as you practice it every day.

The yoga exercise for reducing back pain – Cat cow pose

5. Improves heart health – The breathing process in yoga has vital benefits for people suffering from heart ailments. It reduces bad fat in the body and improves heart functioning.

The best exercise for improving heart health – Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

6. Reduces insomnia – Sleep and stress are interdependent. Lack of sleep causes stress and vice-versa. To manage your day and to stay stress-free one needs to be calm.

Yoga can help keep your mind and body calm.

Regular yoga practice can help improve your sleep patterns. (5)

The best asana to induce sleep – Legs up the wall pose.

7. Manage stress –

Living a professional life can often get stressful, and this stress can have adverse effects on your body. With the help of breathing exercises, you can manage stress. It helps you stay calm even under tense circumstances. (6)

The best breathing asana that can keep you calm is – Savasana.

8. Neck pain relief – Over time, back pain radiates to the neck and shoulders.

This can result in excruciating pain in these regions. Practicing yoga can help relieve neck, shoulder, and arm pain. (7)

The best exercise to relieve neck pain – Trikonasana.

Coupling trikonasana(triangle posture) with proper breathing relieves stress near the neckline.

9. Reduces fat – The most controversial benefit. You can lose weight using other forms of exercises like Zumba, Aerobics, Weight=-lifting etc. But these may not be sustainable in the long run.

Yoga is one best method to lose weight and stay slim.

The yoga asana for weight loss and burning fat – Dhanurasana(Boat Pose), Phalakasana(Plank Pose)

10. Prevents digestive issues – Unhealthy food and lifestyle are common factors of heart diseases and diabetes.

It also affects our digestion.

All the unhealthy fat and oil we consume can have adverse effects on our digestive system.

Acidity, constipation, and change in Ph levels are results of current food practices.

Though one can change their food habits to make a difference, practicing yoga helps in channelizing digestion, and can help manage Irritable Bowel Syndrome.(9)

The best exercise to reduces stomach issues and improve digestion is – Balasana (Child Pose)

balasana drawing — Balasana – Image Source

Daily yoga routine

Reading all this information might overwhelm you. So here is a daily yoga routine you could follow.

1. Suryanamaskara (or Sun salutation) – It is a sequence of 12 power exercises that act as cardio. It also relaxes the mind and the body.

Suryanamaskara is a part of Shakti yoga which is beneficial for women during their menstrual cycle and menopause.

2. Bhujangasana or cobra posture

3. Tree posture/vrukshasana

4. Cat cow pose

5. Bridge Pose/Setu Bandha Savangasana

6. Legs up wall pose/Sarvangasana

7. Trikonasana/Triangle pose

8. Dhanurasana/boat pose

9. Plank pose/Phalakasana

10. Balasana or Child’s pose

To Wrap Up

Daily yoga benefits are miraculous. It is one of the best medicines for the body and mind. Any age group can perform it. Use the routine mentioned above or choose a few yoga postures and do them every day. It helps you achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Nothing can replace a healthy and happy mind. If not daily, try to do yoga at least 4-5 days a week. Hire a trainer if you wish to move to advanced levels or if you have health complications.

What next? You could learn about,