The Surprising Benefits of a Yoga Routine

As we begin to readjust to new routines following further easing of COVID restrictions, it is more important now than ever to take some time out of your busy schedule to focus on you.
A daily yoga practice can bring together your mind and body, incorporating breathing exercises, meditation and poses designed to encourage relaxation and reduce stress.
Here, Marica Carleschi, european consumer marketing manager at INNOVO, and part-time yoga instructor, discusses the many benefits of yoga including how it can give you control over bladder leaks, improve your sex life and strenghten your core muscles.
Yoga is known for its ability to relieve stress and encourage relaxation by combining many popular stress-reducing techniques, including exercise, breath control, the ability to clear the mind, and relax the body.
When we’re stressed we hold a lot of tension in the body, which makes us feel tight and can cause pain in certain areas. By stretching the body we release tension from problem areas, including the hips, lower back and shoulders.
Many people approach yoga for different reasons, but anxiety can often be a leading factor. Yoga gives us the tools to recognise the thoughts, feelings and actions that can cause heightened anxiety and enact effective self-soothing methods.
Yoga helps us to learn how to regulate our stress response and build resilience to stress. The breath work we learn on the mat can be applied to any aspect of our lives, therefore in times of stress or heightened anxiety, taking deep meditative breaths can help us control our emotions and feel a sense of calm.
A strong pelvic floor is essential for preventing bladder leaks. Situated in the pelvis, the pelvic floor is a key set of deep muscles that holds all of the pelvic organs (uterus, vagina, bowel & bladder) in place and supports the bladder to provide control when you urinate. Like any muscle group, these muscles need to be toned and strengthened in order for them to perform efficiently.
Yoga is hugely beneficial for your pelvic floor muscles as a lot of exercises focus on strengthening and engaging your core. Different poses encourage you to lift and squeeze, strengthening those key muscles.
Not only does a strong pelvic floor prevent bladder leaks, but it is possible that strong pelvic floor muscles could increase sensitivity during sex, giving you stronger orgasms. Yoga’s relaxing effects can also provide some sexual benefits as it teaches you to focus your attention on sensations and what feelings give you pleasure.
A regular exercise routine has an array of benefits including a boost in self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression and health problems.
Yoga is the perfect exercise to help you unwind, boost your endorphins and put you first.
Not sure where to start with your practice? Try out these poses, perfect for beginners or full time yogis which will help you strengthen your core and target your pelvic floor.
Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
To do this exercise:
Chair Pose (Utkatasana)
To do this exercise:
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)
To do this exercise:
Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana)
To do this exercise:
Locust pose (Salabhasana)
This posture works both the glutes, buttocks & the pelvic floor – 3 for the price of 1!
To do this:
Boat pose (Navasana)
To do this:
Yoga squat (Malasana)
To do this:
Bridge (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
To do this:
To breathe efficiently the pelvic floor must be involved, and to exercise your pelvic floor efficiently, the breath must be involved. Your pelvic floor moves in a dance with your diaphragm when you breathe. When we breathe in, the diaphragm moves down, and so does the pelvic floor; when we breathe out, they both move up. Start observing this connection and then start bringing the focus to your pelvic floor. Inhale and keep your pelvic floor relaxed, exhale and engage your pelvic floor by lifting it – How? Imagine you are holding a wee. With a bit of practice, you can begin to accentuate each end of the breath cycle, relaxing and engaging, relaxing and engaging,
Interested in some more pelvic floor exercises? Check out Innovo’s invisible workouts; a series of podcasts which can help you strengthen your pelvic floor no matter where you are.
Global Health & Pharma Magazine looks to keep readers and web users updated with the latest innovations and advancements within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
zfccn | session | Zoho sets this cookie for website security when a request is sent to campaigns. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_zcsr_tmp | session | Zoho sets this cookie for the login function on the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__gads | 1 year 24 days | The __gads cookie, set by Google, is stored under DoubleClick domain and tracks the number of times users see an advert, measures the success of the campaign and calculates its revenue. This cookie can only be read from the domain they are set on and will not track any data while browsing through other sites. |
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_7GTFNZD3Y9 | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_63302014_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
aigm_tracking_consent | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - determines whether the user has consented to being tracked by allowing cookies. |
aigm_tracking_id | 1 year | Created by Monster Tracking v2 for internal tracking/fingerprinting - contains the consent ID number of the user. |
iutk | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is used by Issuu analytic system to gather information regarding visitor activity on Issuu products. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Google DoubleClick IDE cookies are used to store information about how the user uses the website to present them with relevant ads and according to the user profile. |
mc | 1 year 1 month | Quantserve sets the mc cookie to anonymously track user behaviour on the website. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | The test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
4662279173 | session | No description available. |
cookietest | session | No description |
GoogleAdServingTest | session | No description |
zabUserId | 1 year | No description available. |
zabVisitId | session | No description available. |
zft-sdc | 9 hours | No description |
zps-tgr-dts | 1 year | No description |
zsc5bf6c5dde2ed4839ad2d941ab4c83bfa | 30 minutes | No description |