SEVEN WAYS THAT YOGA COULD HELP YOU FEEL BETTER (AND YOUNGER)

1 Yoga alleviates stress and promotes mental wellbeing

“Yoga’s wonderful stretches release the chronic (and very ageing) tension that is held within the body,” explains Barbara. “By breathing deeply in every posture, you stimulate life-giving oxygen to every cell, as well as calming your mind and aiding deep relaxation. By concentrating on the balancing movements, you take your mind off its troubles, allowing you to feel peaceful.”

The body’s stress response, rooted in ancient survival instincts, involves the release of adrenaline to prepare for a fight-or-flight situation. In modern times, even though there are no imminent threats like sabre-toothed tigers, the body still reacts in the same way. And chronic exposure to stress without sufficient relaxation can lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, reduced disease resistance, headaches, cancer and heart attacks. Releasing this tension through yoga stretches improves blood flow, can alleviate symptoms and increases a brain chemical called GABA, linked to better mood and less anxiety.

Modern research, aided by data from MRIs and EEGs, is now helping us understand how yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices impact different emotional and mental states. Findings indicate that regular yoga and meditation can lead to changes in brain structure, such as the shrinking of the amygdala, which is considered the brain’s threat centre.

2 Yoga can improve brain health and mental sharpness

Yoga can also improve cognition. As tension decreases, individuals may experience improved clarity and focus. Harvard Medical

School reports that regular yoga practice can improve cognitive skills like learning and memory by creating new connections in the brain. Studies reviewed by the journal Brain Plasticity in 2019 show that yoga practitioners have a thicker cerebral cortex and hippocampus, the brain region crucial for processing information and learning.

3 Yoga can help neurological disorders

According to research in the World Journal of Psychiatry, yoga can also alleviate some symptoms of Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. “Yoga may enhance blood flow to areas of the brain that promote the symptoms of early dementia and delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease,” the report says. “Yoga can also improve the physical disability of [Alzheimer’s patients], such as walking, gait speed and balance.” In people with multiple sclerosis, clinical trials suggested that those who practised yoga saw improvements in walking speed, fatigue, quality of life and symptoms of depression. And for sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, “yoga exercises can improve flexibility and balance… and promote muscle strength” as well as reducing symptoms like pain and anxiety.

4 Yoga can help with lung capacity

Yoga incorporates breathing exercises that enhance lung capacity and regulate respiration. “There’s thought to be no way back from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),” says Fiona Adamson. “But I’m working with people whose lung capacities have massively improved. Their breathing improves, they’re able to walk further and that in turn makes them feel a whole lot better.” Research published in 2023 in the journal Annals of Medicine suggests that yoga, along with controlled breathing and aerobic training, can help lung function in people with asthma. It’s early days but, according to the research: “Breathing training, aerobic training, relaxation training, yoga training and breathing, combined with aerobic training, led to improvements in the levels of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) levels and peak expiratory flow (PEF).”

5 And it’s great for your heart

Practising yoga regularly has been linked to improved immune function and reduced blood pressure. One study found significant advantages in those who had been practising yoga for five years or more. “Our results indicate that yoga reduces the age-related deterioration in cardiovascular functions,” the report says.

6 Yoga makes you look better

The “yoga glow” is real. Yoga-induced relaxation leads to reduced muscular tension, decreased adrenaline secretion, slower breathing and heart rate, and normalised blood pressure. This state of relaxation improves blood flow to the skin and hair follicles and reduces frown lines.

7 Finally it ‘reverses’ the ageing process

“Regular yoga practice not only improves breathing but results in greater motor control, improved reaction times, balance, agility, stamina, fitness, endurance, functional strength and conditioning, mobility and stability – all anti-ageing benefits,” says Adamson.

“We know now that certain breathing techniques will light up different areas of the brain. We create different grooves in the brain that are more positive and then we learn how to shift into our parasympathetic nervous system – the part associated with ease and relaxation. At the same time, we’re creating the strength and flexibility to be mobile in life,” she continues. “From that, a different attitude towards ourselves emerges – an attitude of being able to care for ourselves and become optimistic about how we’re going to move forward and live.” Barbara agrees: “The young, frazzled, depressed me in my late 20s would never have believed that, due to yoga, I would still be bending and stretching at 81 – and about to embark on an exciting new chapter. I am so grateful that yoga has given me the flexibility, strength and energy to not only keep teaching all these years, but to now start a new adventure in my 80s. And yes, I’ll still practise yoga on my travels – that’s another great thing about yoga, you can do it anywhere.”

Always consult your doctor before starting an exercise programme

Regular yoga can reverse deterioration in many of the markers used to measure ageing

Yoga practitioners showed an increase in walking speed