Yoga’s Anti Aging Benefits
I was doing a half hour yoga session today, and was struck by something the instructor (on the DVD) said. She said you can enjoy not only the overall muscle and strength/breathing benefits of yoga, but also the anti aging benefits. So, I looked into it a little to see if yoga truly could offer some anti aging benefits, and found that in fact this is a true statement.
Yoga’s primary benefit is to regulate breathing and also to train the body to deal with stress better and to breathe on a more even keel all the time, no matter how stressed you’re feeling. One of the primary causes of aging is an acceleration of oxygen loss in the blood stream. Well, guess what? When we’re stressed out or anxious, one of the biggest side effects we will notice is rapid breathing or a shortness of breath.
When you’re not breathing right, you are essentially depriving your blood of the oxygen it needs to “breathe” and do it’s job. When the blood is starved of oxygen, it starves other areas of the body (including the skin and other major organs) of vital oxygen, which in essence helps speed the eventual death, or aging of the organ, including the skin.
I do notice that after yoga, I feel like my breathing is more even, and when I’m practicing it regularly, I can definitely tell a big difference in my body and mind’s ability to control my reactions to stress. I can tell that my breathing is more regulated, and yes, I do feel that my skin looks better.
My skin, personally reacts very badly to stress. It starts to look very red and uneven, but it also is very prone to acne when I’m stressed out or anxious. I can definitely see how yoga has helped me to prevent certain aspects of aging, or at least help me to slow them down. I might even say it’s a small part of my skin care routine!
