Yoga and mindfulness meditation are similar in that they both require concentration and focus. The ultimate goal of both of these practices is to feel peaceful, relaxed, in a state of self-awareness, and connected to the universe. This is done through pranayama or regulating and focusing on your breath (Mohammad, 2019).
People often do yoga and meditation for the many health benefits they provide. Together, they can work synergistically to help the body in complementary ways.
Because yoga meditation is typically done after a yoga session, you receive the benefits of yoga and meditation simultaneously.
Here are 12 benefits of yoga meditation:
1. Easy to do
Yoga meditation works great for people who have difficulty focusing or feel like they can’t slow down enough to meditate. It’s easier to let go, be still, and relax after working out your body. If you don’t feel confident with meditating, yoga meditation may help you find your way.
2. Helps relieve pain
Yoga meditation may help relieve pain. A review of several studies found pain relief receptors in the brain were activated by yoga meditation Jurisic, 2018.
Yoga and meditation can help with back pain, specifically lower back pain Chang, 2016; Cherkin, 2016). In fact, the American College of Physicians suggests trying yoga if you suffer from chronic low back pain Chang, 2017.
3. Improves your mental health
Yoga meditation is associated with increased mindfulness and an improved mood. In one study, people who practiced yoga and yoga meditation had better mental health, more profound spiritual well-being, and fewer depressive symptoms than people who didn’t do these practices Gaiswinkler, 2017.
4. Decreases anxiety and depression
Yoga meditation also increases your level of a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Low levels of this neurotransmitter can be linked to anxiety and depression. Some brain scans performed on meditators have shown increased activity in parts of the brain that produce GABA Krishnakumar, 2015.
In a study that compared a group getting cognitive-behavioral therapy, a control group, and a group that did a Sahaja yoga meditation, the yoga meditation group significantly decreased their anxiety and depression. This type of yoga meditation is based on the Kundalini method that wakes up “chakras” or energy centers in the body (Krishnakumar, 2015).
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5. Reboots your brain
The neural pathways in your brain are not set in stone. Both yoga and meditation help form and maintain connections in the brain and increase overall healthy brain activity Kora, 2021).
The breathing in yoga meditations helps to change your brain waves from excited to relaxed. When you slow your brain waves down, your mind can become clearer, and your brain health can improve Lee, 2018).
Yoga meditation also helps increase the size of parts of the brain that help you reason, make decisions, and strengthen your willpower Froeliger, 2012).
6. Reduces stress
Yoga and meditation both reduce stress by promoting physical and mental relaxation. When you’re relaxed, you activate a part of the nervous system called the parasympathetic nervous system. This helps to lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and levels of stress hormones like cortisol. When you reduce stress, you decrease inflammation throughout your body, as well as anxiety. This leads to overall health, especially for your heart Pascoe, 2017).
7. Improves your sleep quality
Yoga meditations may help you sleep better, which also helps decrease stress, stress-related anxiety, depressive symptoms, and inflammation Zhou, 2017).
8. Lowers your blood pressure
Yoga meditation helps lower blood pressure, an important factor in heart health and overall wellness Chung, 2012).
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9. Decreases inflammation
There are many markers in the blood that can be measured to gauge inflammation in the body. Yoga has been shown to decrease many of them Djalilova, 2019).
10. May have anti-aging effects
There’s a chance that yoga meditation may have anti-aging effects. Each chromosome in our DNA has a special sequence of nucleotides (building blocks of DNA) called telomeres. These are at the ends of the DNA “spiral” to protect the chromosome from being damaged. Telomeres get shorter as we age, which is one theory on why aging happens at all. Studies show that yoga meditation like savasana can positively impact telomere length (Mohammad, 2019).
11. Brightens your mood
Yoga and meditation improve your self-awareness and self-compassion, which can help relieve sad or heavy emotions. In a study testing a type of yoga-based emotional training technique, practicing daily for two weeks improved self-compassion and emotional regulation and decreased negative emotions (Patel, 2019).
12. Makes you more resilient
Resilience, or the ability to bounce back from difficult circumstances, is a vital component of physical and mental health. Yoga meditation may help build your resilience through physical exercise, breathing, and meditation in the yoga sequence