Yoga can be a great stress reliever, as well as a way to become more flexible and get in a workout. And while yoga provides many advantages to the body, did you know that it can also help to strengthen your joints?

In this post, we’ll discuss how yoga can benefit different areas of your body, including your joints, and how by practicing it, you’ll not only strengthen your body but your mind, too.

Increase Your Range of Motion

Your joints have a range of motion that is measured in degrees. Take your lumbar spine, for instance. Its range of motion extends approximately 30 degrees backwards, and flexes approximately 70 degrees forward. By practicing yoga, you can regain some of that flexibility to do daily things like picking something up off of the ground, which you may not have been able to do without pain before.

Build Bone and Muscle Strength

Healthy bones are good for your joints, and activities that are less stress-bearing like yoga can help to increase bone cell production. A strong bone helps to keep solid joints. Stronger muscles also help to improve your joints, as well as relieve stress and strain and improve your body’s overall health.

Mental Benefits

Yoga can help to improve your mind and reduce stress, and who doesn’t need a little more of that? With stress comes headaches, back and neck pain, and sleeping problems. In yoga, exercises also include meditation and breathing, which can help to relieve chronic stress patterns and increase body awareness. And with a good sense of body awareness, individuals are able to detect physical problems early on.

Physical Benefits

Increased flexibility, cardio and circulatory health, and protection from injury are just a few of the physical benefits to practicing yoga. It also helps to lessen chronic pain, like arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

This article was adapted from Do You Yoga and the American Osteopathic Association. Read the full articles here and here.

If you have any questions about the benefits of yoga, please contact Campbell Clinic to meet with a physician.