International Yoga Day : 5 Ways Yoga Is Benefitting Your Mental Health, Helping You Become A Better Person

June 21 is International Yoga Day 2019 and yogis around the world gather on this day to practice yoga and raise awareness about the many health benefits of doing yoga.On Yoga day, we are going to talk about the mental health benefits of practicing yoga and how it can help in relieving stress, depression and anxiety. Taking excessive stress or being chronically stressed can lead to adverse health outcomes like weight gain, obesity, depression, diabetes and thyroid to name a few. This is because stress disrupts hormonal balance in the body by increase production of cortisol or stress hormone. Keep reading to know how yoga can help combat stress and other mental illnesses.

International Yoga Day: How yoga helps in improving your mental health

1. Yoga moves you from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system

This means that yoga moves you from flight and flight to rest and digest. It involves coordinating your breathing with every asana, thus reducing your anxiety and helping you enter a more relaxed state. Taking deep breaths itself slows you down and calms your nervous system.

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2. Yoga helps in building a sense of self

Yoga helps a person know himself/herself better. It helps in making you more non-judgemental. Yoga helps in improving your self-trust. It makes you value yourself and increases your self-worth. This in turn helps in making you more confident, develop a healthy and balanced ego. It is said that with regular practice of yoga, you are no more afraid to hide difficult conversations with yourself, or with anyone.

Yoga day: Yoga helps in building a sense of self
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3. Yoga improves relationships

With better self-worth and better confidence, you become at peace with yourself. You are likely to be the same with your partner, with a lot more compassion and love. Yoga helps in making you more patient and less reactive.

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4. Yoga makes you more accepting of your situations

The idea of cribbing about being in a family and its problems, is essentially karma. With regular practice of yoga, you tend to become more mindful, begin to take responsibility and become less complaining. The only person who is capable of change is you. Only you have control over your action and behaviour. Poses like warrior pose help you rise up and do your best, no matter what.

5. Breathing exercises can calm you down instantly

Sometimes when you feel you are losing it, getting so angry you can't control yourself or feeling so sad you're on the verge of an emotional breakdown, just sit down with your back up straight and take good 10-12 deep breaths. Breathing exercises like pranayama and kapal bhati have detoxifying and calming properties. You can resort to these to get an instant relief from stress.

Also read: Health Benefits of Surya Namaskar And Why You Should Do It Daily

Happy International Yoga Day everyone!

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.