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Faith Tison
26 April 2016
CSCI 101 MWF 9:00-9:50

Evaluating the Health

Benefits of Yoga

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Faith Tison
26 April 2016
CSCI MWF 9:00-9:50
Health Benefits of Yoga
Yoga is a practice that has been around for centuries. No one knows exactly where it
originated from and exactly when, but today most of the world either actively participates in
yoga or have at least tried a yoga class before. Articles all around the world talk about how yoga
is essential to health and can help many day to day ailments, whether physical, mental, or
emotional. It is these benefits that attract so many people to the art of Yoga. Yoga can help
strengthen muscles, improve flexibility, and improve mental health.
Before we analyze the multiple benefits of yoga, we must first get a proper understand of
what yoga is. Yoga is defined as any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, especially a series
of posture and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquility,
etc. (The definition of yoga). It comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to yoke or bind.
It is also usually interpreted as union. In the Sutra that yoga originates from, it is broken down
into eight limbs: restraints, observances, postures, breathing, withdrawal of senses,
concentration, meditation, and absorption. Most individuals who practice yoga focus on the
postures limb of yoga, which is referred to as asana. Asana is a program of physical postures
designed to purify the body and provide physical strength and stamina required for long periods
of meditation. The most popular form of yoga, which focuses on the idea of asana, is called
Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga refers to a sequence of asanas designed specifically to open the many
channels of the body, especially the spine in order to allow energy to flow freely through the
body. Hatha comes from the word ha meaning sun and the word tha meaning moon. It
refers to the balance of the masculine aspects of active, hot, sun and the feminine aspects of
receptive, cool, moon. Hatha is about uniting these opposites together (Lee, C.). Yoga targets
about all areas of the body, including the core, arms, legs, glutes, and back (Watson, S.).

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The first benefit of yoga is that it increases muscle strength and tone. Yoga is primarily
lots of poses that involves lots of stretching. Stretching elongates the fascia, a protective sheath
of connective tissue covering all muscle and muscle cells. This is ideal because when the fascia
is stretched the muscle underneath is given greater room to grow. During yoga, most of the
poses consist of using multiple muscles at once. A common yoga pose is called Downward Dog,
which incorporates using the leg and arm muscles at the same time. Another common yoga pose
is chair pose, which encourages strength in your legs, glutes, and back. Your abs and back are
the primary muscles focused on using during yoga. During almost all poses the ab muscles are
supposed to stay tight, so yoga is a good tool for strengthening and toning the core. Many asanas
also encourage a strong back. The back is either required to be straight throughout the pose like
in plank pose or its required to have a strong back for correct curvature like in forward fold or
cow pose. Yoga works to tone muscles all over the body while they remain in balance with each
other. Both small and large muscles of the body are used and they move in all directions and
planes instead of being committed to one as it is in typical weight training. In weight training,
muscles are typically isolated and one muscle or muscle group is flexed at a time. The exercises
are also typically done in a back and forth motion in a single plane like during a biceps curl. Not
only is muscle strength increased, but so is muscle endurance. Poses are usually held for
extended period of time and get repeated several times throughout the session. With other forms
of weight training, one usually sacrifices endurance for strength. Yoga is an eccentric workout.
An eccentric contraction is when the muscle stretches as it contracts. This gives the muscles a
sleek, elongated look while increasing flexibility in the muscles and joints. Traditional weight
training focuses on using concentric contractions. This means the muscle gets shorter as it
contracts. Without the use of proper stretching, the muscle fibers heal close together and give the

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muscle a compact, bulging look (Turner, K.). The stretching of the fasica, incorporation of
multiple muscles at once, and yoga as an eccentric workout all play a role in its increasing
muscle strength and tone.
Another main benefit of yoga is how it improves flexibility. Living a sedentary lifestyle
isnt the only reason for drops in flexibility. Even while being active, our bodies dehydrate and
stiffen with age. By adulthood, our tissues have lost around 15 percent of their moisture content.
When this happens the muscle fibers begin to adhere to each other and develop cellular crosslinks that prevent parallel fibers from moving independently. The elastic fibers get bound up
with collagenous connective tissue and become more and more unyielding. Unless regular
stretching is done, these tissues dry up. The stretching done through yoga slows the dehydration
process by stimulating the production of tissue lubricants. This pulls the interwoven cellular
cross-links apart and helps rebuild with healthy parallel cellular structure (McCall, T.). Another
way yoga helps with flexibility is by promoting the flow of synovial fluid. Synovial fluid is the
slippery liquid in joint systems that along with hyaline cartilage, allows smooth, painless
movement of the bones. It is found in joints like the knees, hips, and elbows where more free
movement of the bones is allowed. Synovial fluid is also essential for delivering nutrients and
oxygen to the hyaline cartilage which dont have any sort of blood supply. The various asanas
used in yoga allow the synovial fluid to flow to different parts of the body. Regular practice of
yoga can increase the flow of synovial fluid to the joints of the body, which can make one move
around more smoothly (Stanfield, K.). Yoga allows gentle stretching of muscles, tendons, and
ligaments without causing injury. Tendons connect bone to muscle and are extremely stiff. It
doesnt take much for them to be stretched to the point of tearing or being stretched too far to the
point of not being recoiled. This inability to recoil leaves us with lax and less responsive bone to
muscle connections. Ligaments attach bone to bone in joint capsule and are able to stretch a

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little more than tendons. Its more recommended to not stretch the ligaments because this can
lead to joint destabilization and increase the chance of injury. Thats why it is better to flex at
these joints, rather than hyperextend them. Yoga allows stretching that is gentle enough to give
the stretch necessary for tendons and just enough stretch on these ligaments. The asanas used in
yoga allow the body to be stretch in steps. A good example of this is the seated forward fold.
The stretch starts at the Achilles tendon and extends up the back of the legs and pelvis. The
stretch then continues up along the spine to end at the base of the head. During the asana, one
progresses slowly into the stretch and allows each ligament and tendon time to adjust (McCall,
T.). The hydrating of tissues, promoting of synovial fluid, and safe stretching of tendons and
ligaments are just a few ways yoga improves flexibility.
The final benefit of yoga is its ability to improve mental health. A part of day to day life
is encountering things that make us stressed. Yoga can improve mental health by improving
relaxation and putting stress at bay. When we become stressed our body releases the hormone
cortisol, which helps in situations of danger. However, cortisol can cause negative effects on the
body if the body is stressed by day to day events and does not need to take action. The nervous
system includes the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic states. The Sympathetic is the fight or
flight response and the Parasympathetic is the rest and digest response. The key to reducing
stress is to get the body to switch from the Sympathetic state to the Parasympathetic state. The
special breathing done during yoga allows for the body to automatically switch from one state to
the other, which lowers stress (Court, S.). Yoga also promotes an increase in the production of
serotonin, one of the Happy chemicals in the body. The promotion of these Happy
chemicals is part of how yoga helps fight depression. A big part of depression is low selfesteem. During yoga one experiences feelings of gratitude, empathy, forgiveness, and a feeling
of being a part of something bigger. The feeling of being a part of something bigger and a

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feeling of self-worth helps raise self-esteem. Another way yoga helps decrease depression is its
ability to give peace of mind. Along the same lines as it switching the nervous system from
sympathetic to parasympathetic, yoga also helps to slow down the mental loops of frustration,
regret, anger, fear, and desire. Depression can lead to other health issues like Insomnia. Whether
caused by depression or not, studies have shown that yoga can help with insomnia and provide
deeper sleep. Yoga helps to depress the nervous system and decrease stress, which helps with
sleep. Yoga also slows heart rate and lowers blood pressure, allowing for better and deeper sleep
(McCall, T.). Decreased stress, improved self-esteem, decreased depression, and better sleep are
examples of the mental health benefits yoga imposes.
Yoga has many health benefits, whether physical, mental, or emotional. Yoga improves
muscle strength by using multiple muscles at once and by stretching the fascia so it can heal and
grow appropriately. Yoga improves flexibility by promoting the flow of synovial fluid and
providing safe, but adequate stretching for tendons and ligaments. Yoga improves mental health
by reducing stress, decreasing symptoms of depression like low self-esteem, and providing better
sleep. These are just a few of the many benefits yoga provides the body. The best part of yoga is
that almost anyone can do it, so everyone is open to the many benefits it imposes.

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References
Court, S. (n.d.). How Yoga Relieves Stress. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from
http://www.active.com/health/articles/how-yoga-relieves-stress
Lee,C. (n.d.). 10 Beginner Yoga FAQs Answered | Yoga Frequently Asked Questions. (2014).
Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.yogajournal.com/article/beginners/yogaquestions-answered/
McCall, T. (2007). 38 Health Benefits of Yoga | Yoga Benefits. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from
http://www.yogajournal.com/article/health/count-yoga-38-ways-yoga-keeps-fit/
Stanfield, K. (2013, April 29). 3 ways yoga improves your Joint System and Skeletal Structure.
Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.gaia.com/article/3-ways-yoga-improves-yourjoint-system-and-skeletal-structure
The definition of yoga. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2016, from
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/yoga?s=t
Turner, K. (n.d.). Can Yoga Replace Strength Training? Retrieved April 25, 2016, from
http://life.gaiam.com/article/can-yoga-replace-strength-training
Watson, S. (2014, July 14). Yoga: Benefits, Intensity Level, and More. Retrieved April 25, 2016,
from http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/a-z/yoga-workouts