If you haven’t already tried yoga then here’s your sign to grab a mat and give it a go. You’ll feel better for it and here’s why yoga for university students can be both beneficial and enjoyable.
Improves Mental Wellbeing
Yep, that’s right. A lot of people probably just think that yoga only improves your body physically. But I would suggest that it equally supports your mental wellbeing too. Dr. Nevins from the Osteopathic Association states that “Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness, increases body awareness, relieves chronic stress patterns, relaxes the mind, centres attention, and sharpens concentration”.
So if you’ve had a bad day and need to clear your mind, then you might want to try doing a short yoga practice before you head to bed.
Improves Physical Wellbeing
And while it supports your mental health, it also supports your physical wellbeing too.
You can do many different types of yoga but by either doing consistent practices or strong, intense ones, it can have many physical benefits on your body.
This can include increased muscle strength and tone, weight reduction, flexibility and protection from injury.
See also: Easy Yoga Poses You Can Do From Your Bed
Improves Health
And while we know that yoga can improve and support your mental and physical wellbeing, it can also support your health too.
Yoga can help with back pain and relief, ease arthritis symptoms and even support your heart health.
By doing a simple yoga practice a couple times a week you’ll be supporting your health and letting your body refresh and restart before a new busy day.
Relieves Stress
If you get easily stressed, then yoga might be your problem solver. That’s why yoga for university students can be so beneficial. After all, doing a degree can be incredibly stressful.
During a yoga practice, you focus on your breathing throughout the entire thing which helps to relieve stress by activating the relaxation response, reducing cortisol levels and increasing blood circulation throughout your body. This then ‘increases oxygen levels in our bloodstream, which allows our brains to function better and stimulates endorphins, which make us feel happy and relaxed.’* And therefore you feel less stressed after a yoga practice.
This could be a really great thing to make time for during exam season to make sure that you give yourself a well-deserved break in between revision!
Routine
Sometimes all your body needs is a bit of routine and yoga is one of the best ways to get it. Set your alarm to wake up and do 10 minutes of yoga and meditation before starting your day. Or maybe try doing it before bed to help you sleep better.
By giving yourself time to do yoga you are giving yourself time to focus on you and what your body needs. This is extremely important!
If you’re totally new to yoga then try and book in with a local class or take a look at things like Yoga with Adriene on YouTube or the DownDog App, if you’d rather do it from your home.
You might even find that you’ve found a new hobby!
Read next: How To Stay Active In The Winter
