How can yoga improve heart health? In recent years, yoga has become one of the most popular ways to stay fit in the modern world. Yoga originated, in India, as a form of physical and mental health maintenance, in hopes of attaining total peace. However, you do not have to be a guru to experience the many health benefits of a yoga routine. The modern lifestyle is often far from healthy. From the foods we eat, to the activities we take part in, many people eventually suffer from a heart-related illness. Luckily, the yoga trend is here to help.
Yoga and Heart Health
Yoga focuses on flexibility, breathing, and heart rate. All these things relate to heart health. The light exercise and stretching of a yoga routine have been known to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of developing a cardiovascular disease. These activities exercise and strengthen the heart, lowering the chance of a heart attack in patients with existing heart problems.
Yoga is essentially the perfect exercise. Yoga teaches people to listen to their bodies, rather than some intense trainer who teaches from personal experiences. Every human body is unique and requires unique care. When you become more in tune with your body, you can avoid injury and still get the exercise you need to improve your heart health.
The Therapeutic Benefits of Yoga
Patients, who suffer from a heart attack, will benefit greatly from yoga. Surgery helps in an immediate sense, but people with cardiovascular diseases must change their lifestyle if they expect to get better. Heart attack patients, who practice a regular yoga routine, are far less likely to experience another heart attack or develop any other heart problems. This is because yoga strengthens the heart and promotes physical fitness.
Practicing yoga and staying fit helps to lower cholesterol and balance blood sugar levels. There is no better preventative care when it comes to cardiovascular health. Yoga can be practiced through many levels of intensity. The young and the elderly, alike, can find a routine that works for them. A yoga instructor focuses on what individuals need. Patience is major parts of yoga, so there is no pressure to push yourself farther than you are willing to go.
Yoga Causes Change
The human body is a complex organism. Every little detail has an impact. Cardiovascular diseases are often cause by years of inactivity and poor dietary choices. Yoga is a great way for inactive people to gradually train their bodies and minds at a reasonable pace. Yoga reduces stress, which lowers blood pressure and helps patients to relax and stay focused. Try a yoga routine today and find out first-hand how simple it can be to take control of your health.
Yoga Today for Heart Health
In the world today, there is little question as to why there is such a high prominence of heart problems in adults, and in children and teenagers as well. More individuals than ever are reporting a high level of stress, increased work hours, and significantly decreased leisure time. All of this is a great burden on even the hardiest individual, and the heart is the organ that suffers the most during times of high stress. The long-term effects on the heart can be detrimental. Preventing heart disease is absolutely easier than treating it, and many people are unaware of one of the easiest methods available to keep their hearts safe.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
The number of people, who suffer heart attacks each year, in the United States alone, is disquieting. A statement released by the American Heart Association indicates that there are a recorded 1.5 million heart attacks in the United States each year; and this is not a completely accurate indicator, as many small heart attacks remain undiagnosed and, as a result, are not reported. This number is best used as a base reference, because this number includes all reported heart attacks, whether they are fatal or mild. Obtaining a statistic on the number of individual Americans who suffered heart attacks within the span of a year would be difficult, if not impossible.
Where Does Yoga Fit?
Yoga provides a significant improvement to heart health with regular practice. One of the main benefits of yoga is improved circulation, and circulation issues are responsible for the majority of heart attacks. There is decreased blood pressure and cholesterol, increased oxygen flow to the organs and tissues, and improved vessel health and elasticity. The decrease in stress levels, that is associated with yoga, will also greatly improve heart health. For these reasons and more, therapeutic yoga can be used to preserve, or improve, heart health in both people who have and have not had a heart attack.
Using therapeutic yoga poses involves primarily those that open the chest and shoulders. These poses are usually those that are standing or bending, and they should be held for extended periods of time with slow, deep breathing to allow for more oxygen intake. Standing and bending poses also help tone cardiac muscle. The mountain pose, the tree pose, and the cat stretch pose can be used therapeutically to greatly benefit circulation and help to prevent the onset or further development of heart disease.