Looking for reasons to try yoga? From increased strength to flexibility to heart health, we have 38 benefits to rolling out the mat.
Yoga has numerous health benefits but a recent study has added another one to the list. According to a new study, practicing mindful yoga can help people of younger age deal with harrowing situations like violence, family issues, negativity, etc.
The results of a long-term study out of the University of Cincinnati point to yet another reason to adopt a regular yoga practice. It can help with positive coping mechanisms and long-term resilience. The study analyzed the behaviors of 125 at-risk youth over a 10-year period, all of whom had early-life stressors.
The study is about the stress in life and substance abuse, delinquency, and risky sexual behavior. This study focuses on young people from the age of 18 to 24-year-olds. It further revealed that despite stress in early life, a positive coping mechanism either self-generated or learned can have protective effects.
Yoga, on the other hand, calms the mind and also helps defeat the ill effects of free radicals, in turn, helping you build your immunity. Therefore the take away here is that yoga next is one of the best ways to divert your mind away from stress and other harmful habits.
“These findings highlight the importance of implementing positive coping strategies for at-risk youth particularly for reducing illicit drug use and risky sexual behavior,” explains study author Jacinda Dariotis. “Mindfulness-based yoga programs designed to improve the ability to cope are needed at earlier ages in schools to help vulnerable youth channel their skills more effectively.”
The ability to develop stronger coping mechanisms is hardly the only benefits of a regular yoga practice. This year, researchers also found that yoga helps treat symptoms of depression, changes the structure of your brain (in a good way), and even alters your DNA.
The researchers found that the subjects who participated in weekly mindful yoga intervention programs developed significantly stronger coping skills, like the ability to take control of their emotions and breath.