If you’re still a non-believer, read our seven reasons to try yoga and see if we can sway you.

Yogis around the world scratch their heads in perplex trying to understand why anybody wouldn’t try yoga. Millions of people can’t be wrong about the benefits this ancient practice can bring to overall health and wellbeing. These seven reasons to try yoga will show you exactly what all the buzz is about...

7 reasons to try yoga

1.    Improved flexibility

Attending our first yoga class can have us questioning and doubting the suppleness of our bodies and raising an eyebrow to whether we’ll ever be flexible enough to master the Bird of Paradise pose. But over time we start to notice the subtle improvements to our flexibility. This is because our muscles, tendons and ligaments are all stretching, enabling us to engage in a progression of poses at ease.

2.    Stress relief

Yoga is believed to be one of the best forms of stress relief, helping to rid our bodies of an over accumulation of the stress hormone cortisol. While cortisol helps us with our natural ‘fight or flight’ reaction, too much of it is toxic to our bodies and can lead to mental and physical difficulties.

3.    Improved balance

Many of us are no longer able to stand confidently on one leg for long, like we could as children. That’s because we aren't as active as we used to be and aren’t using the muscles we did when we were young. For many older people this inability to balance can lead to falls and injury. Stretching and balancing techniques used in yoga improve our core strength which in turn enables us to hold a particular stance for longer periods of time.

4.    Perfect your posture

The accessibility of technology literally in the palm of our hands via mobile phones and laptops has undoubtedly created a nation of sedentary slouchers with questionable postures. Yoga involves stretches and elevation of the bodies alignment which leads to long-term improvement to our posture. If it’s your posture you worry about then definitely go one step beyond and try Holmes Place Antigravity classes. This aerial yoga class suspends and decompresses the spine helping towards that perfect posture.

5.    Pain relief

For those who experience back, joint and various other pain then yoga is as good, if not better than your pain relief medication. Exercise is probably the last thing you’d think of when you’re aching, but easing yourself gently into yoga classes can be life-changing. Make sure you find a class carried out by professional instructors who can advice you on how to practice the poses correctly with gentle stretching and posture enhanced exercises. From vinyasa to ashtanga yoga, each class has been developed to align your body harmoniously.

6.    Holistic health

Yoga isn’t just exercise: it’s an enhanced spiritual, mental and physical health regime, practiced by Hindus for thousands of years. Yoga and meditation go hand-in-hand in calming the mind and boosting our energy levels. If it’s holistic health you aspire to then treat yourself to a serene spa treatment after a an energising yoga session. You’ll come out feeling brand new.

7.    And breath

Like any living creature, breathing comes naturally to us. But are we breathing correctly? Yogis vouch that the meditation and breathing control involved in yoga sessions is the bee’s nectar to them. So when life has you dashing around, short of breath and with no time to think, take time to try yoga and see what improvements it can bring to you.