Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga and meditation has a lot of health benefits such as management of stress, anxiety and improvement of musculoskeletal problems, physical and mental fitness.

Now there’s clinical evidence that suggests that yoga can also be used for reduction of performance anxiety and consequently, be beneficial in enhancing performance in musicians. Dr Satbir Singh Khalsa (PhD), Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, who has studied the effects of yoga on a group of musicians, has gathered data that proves this.

Dr Khalsa, who was in the city for some days, said, “Musicians when performing in front of thousands of people are faced with performance anxiety. In situations such as these, the relaxation response of the body is not activated producing chronic stress. However, yoga helps them to overcome this problem in many ways.”

Combinations of yoga techniques - “pranayama” or breathing exercises, “asanas” or physical exercise and meditation - helps in the production of Cortisol hormone. This hormone is helpful part of the body’s response to stress.Further, practicing yoga also regulates the autonomic nervous system responsible for controlling stress and anxiety.

Yoga not only catering to performance anxiety, but also helps to remove stage fear through its unique mechanism. Researches on this subject reveals that yoga and meditation helps in reducing stress and the effects of stress.

For instance, Dr Satbir adds: “A research paper on Yoga by Herbert Benson published in 1972, is a strong evidence on benefits of Yoga. It gives the information that Yoga and mediation reduces the consumption of oxygen in the blood, thereby lowering the physiological activity. However, stress is known to have increase physiological activity. Hence, it proves that stress or at least effects is lowered by mediation.”

Apart from secreation of stress hormones, yoga especially if practicised before a particular performance, directs the body and mind to concentrate on a particular thought rather than waving away. Yoga thus breaks the cycle of tension which otherwise builds up in the mind causing performance related anxiety.