Yoga is keeping some big secrets! While most people picture twisting, turning, and bending when they think of yoga, this ancient spiritual and mental practice is actually so much more. It can also do so much more for the mind and body than most people realize. Ready for some fascinating yoga facts?
Interesting yoga facts
If you are new to yoga (or even if you have been practicing for a while), you might be curious about it. Check out these six yoga facts you didn’t know!
1. Yoga isn’t “one” thing
Yoga is a blanket term for a number of ancient Indian practices and disciplines combining postures, meditation, and breathing. In reality, a person who practices yoga may actually be engaged in any one of these yoga types:
- Vinyasa (Beginner or intermediate)
- Ashtanga (Advanced)
- Iyengar (Beginner)
- Kundalini (Advanced)
- Yin (Advanced)
- Hatha (Beginner)
- Bikram (Advanced)
- Restorative (Beginner)
More than 300 million people worldwide practice yoga in some form. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one out of six American adults say they practice yoga.
2. You don’t have to be a human pretzel to be good at yoga
Yoga builds flexibility! While having innate flexibility is helpful for beginners, yoga is also great for people looking for a way to loosen up becuase they’re struggling with pain and stiffness. In general, it takes one to three months to see improvements in flexibility with consistent yoga.
3. The word yoga means “union”
There are actually several ways to translate “yoga” into English. It can mean union, yoke, or to join. You get the picture. Yoga is about uniting your awareness with your body and energy. Yoga helps us to connect and harmonize with ourselves. Once we dive deeper, we can also discover that it helps us to feel in harmony with a much higher power.
4. Yoga works like magic for balance
Do you struggle with balance issues? Decades of research prove that yoga is one of the best ways to naturally improve balance. The exciting part is that yoga is a balance booster for people of all ages. For example, a 2016 study that looked at yoga-based exercise for people age 60 and over found that yoga improves balance and mobility. It could even help to reduce fall risks in older people! Another study that looked at yoga’s impact on healthy adults found that yoga is beneficial for balance. There’s even a 2019 study showing that yoga improves balance and flexibility in school-aged children.
5. Yoga might bust migraines
Here’s a yoga fact that alot people don’t know. The American Migraine foundation shares that yoga’s postures, deep breathing, and meditation aspects have been shown to reduce stress in a way that could help to bust up painful migraines. Experts believe that yoga’s benefits for migraines are owed to the fact that yoga postures help to relieve stress and tension in the neck and shoulders. A 2020 found that yoga as an add-on therapy in migraine treatment is superior to medical therapy alone.
6. Yoga was first practiced 5,000 years ago
Yoga’s origins can be traced back 5,000 years to ancient texts created in India. However, researchers say that its untraced origins could actually be much older. Yoga’s meditative principles are practiced in both Hinduism and Buddhism.
Ready to be surprised by yoga?
These six fun yoga facts are just the beginning. Just wait until you experience the surprise of stress relief, vitality, and a thirst to keep coming back for more sessions after you try yoga for the first time! Ignite Yoga of Dayton offers the friendliest, easiest way to start your yoga adventure. Book a beginner class with Ignite Yoga today!
