The connection between yoga and wellbeing cannot be debated. The comprehensive content of the yoga philosophy serves every aspect of wellness: physical, emotional and spiritual. As such, it is a complementary therapy that cannot be bettered. But yoga does not only provide a wellness routine to support your life, it also includes curative functions for those with specific problems.
By combining a range of physical positions and exercise with breath-work and meditation, yoga is a perfect saviour for those suffering from depression and anxiety. In yoga, the mind is joined in union to the body; it is a kind of moving meditation that takes you away from the troubles of everyday life. Furthermore, the breath-work or pranayama techniques involved in yoga actively work to balance the autonomic and sympathetic nervous systems, as well as bringing the two hemispheres of the brain into balance. You can expect a sense of calm and wellbeing that only deepens the more you practise.
Yoga’s ability to lower blood pressure makes it the lead complementary therapy for those with hypertension. It helps firstly by counteracting the stress and anxiety that is the root of this condition. Second, the steady exertion of slow stretches is combined with conscious relaxation, which greatly improves the elasticity of the veins and arteries, boosting the blood flow in the body.
Yoga provides a solution to another common and usually untreatable condition; sciatica. Sciatica is a debilitating condition that can have a terrible effect on lifestyle and general wellbeing. Yoga helps by giving awareness training and help in pain management, and most importantly by strengthening the lower back muscles in order to relieve the sufferer of sciatic pain altogether. If you do suffer sciatica, be sure to seek the guidance of a qualified yoga therapist in addressing the problem as certain poses, such as deep forward bends and twists, can actually worsen the condition.
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