Yoga is one of the strongest pillars of ancient Ayurvedic science. As mentioned in the Charaka Samhita, yoga is an ideal Ayurvedic exercise as it revitalizes the body, fosters better digestion, and helps eliminate stress. Apart from being known for balancing the mind and body, yoga plays a vital role in promoting cardiovascular health and well-being.
Benefits of Yoga for Heart Health
The ancient practice of yoga involves a series of postures that focuses on flexibility and strength-building. It also includes meditation and breathing exercises directed at calming the mind. Wondering how yoga improves heart health and whether yoga can cure heart disease?
The different postures and Asanas in yoga boost cardiovascular health through the increased circulation and improved blood flow. Studies indicate that yoga can help lower blood pressure, keep cholesterol in check, regulate blood glucose levels, and stabilize the heart rate. This is how yoga can cure heart disease by curbing the risk of hypertension, stroke, and heart disease. Considered to be one of the best ways to keep the heart healthy, Asana and Pranayama are some yoga exercises for heart disease.
Yoga and Heart Diseases
Let’s check out some of the ways in which yoga can help manage and cure heart disease. As most of us already know, Yogic Asanas are one of the best solutions for relieving angina pains, which are is kind of chest pain caused by the reduced blood flow to the heart. Angina is a typical symptom of coronary heart disease and is caused by the constricted flow of oxygenated blood to the heart due to narrowed or blocked arteries. One way in which yoga prevents heart disease is through asanas that improve the blood flow in the body. Any form of exercise is a great way to improve blood flow but asanas are a better solution to preventing angina due to the long-term benefits of improved blood circulation. In addition to Asanas, Pranayama also goes a long way in keep heart disease at bay. Involving deep inhalation and exhalation, Pranayamas foster better lymphatic drainage throughout the body. Asanas and Pranayamas, two crucial aspects of yoga, play a significant role in keeping the circulatory and the respiratory systems of the body clean and healthy.
Doctors claim that worry-induced stress, depression and hypertension are some of the most common reasons leading up to cardiac incidents such as heart attacks. Yoga has a significant role to play in curing coronary heart disease by helping individuals reduce their stress and manage depression. Due to its ability to help individuals relax their body and mind, yoga can aid in stress elimination through deep breathing exercises and meditation. Meditation is well known as one of the best ways to relax the body and mind, relieve emotional stress, and enable the body to rejuvenate. Research indicates that practicing meditation for just 20 minutes, twice a day has significant capability to lower the blood pressure, reverse arterial blockage, and enhance resistance to heart disease and strokes. Meditation also retards the progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with severe coronary artery disease.
Yoga and Heart Performance
Yoga is known to boost heart performance. Practicing yoga on a regular basis helps lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. It also helps steady the heart rate and control blood glucose levels. Studies have also shown that patients suffering from heart failure have benefitted from practising yoga. They benefitted from a marked improvement in stamina, lung capacity, exercise capacity, increased energy levels and an overall enhancement in the quality of life. The study also revealed that these patients showed lower chances of inflammation, which otherwise contributes to heart disease.
A large body of scientific research has shown yoga to cure heart disease. In addition to helping cure coronary heart disease, yoga can help improve flexibility, promote muscle strength, calm the mind, and improve the balance of the body and mind.
The Takeaway
More and more people are adopting yoga as part of their life to witness and experience the wholesome benefits of yogic asanas , pranayams and boosting the quality of life and health. The modern lifestyle is busy and involves hours of work at the desk, with minimal scope for exercising. In this scenario, integrating yoga is a great way to stay fit and advance the quality of life.
