Yoga has increasingly become more popular as more and studios seem to pop up in cities. I took yoga classes all throughout college and it really helped my stress levels during test days and finals. It has been a while since I have practiced yoga but as I am slowly getting back into it, I have noticed a big difference in how it is working on my body. While many people make yoga their primary form of exercise, it is important to educate yourself on what exactly yoga does and doesn’t do.

Yoga exercises are mostly done to help with relaxation and breathing techniques and strengthening core muscles and balance. Yoga and its breathing techniques are even used with children to help them sleep, reduce anxiety, help with post-traumatic stress disorder and as pain management support during hospital procedures. Some instructors may argue that you should never finish a class short of breath but you should feel refreshed and relaxed.

For me, yoga has helped me with my lower back problems the more I strengthen my stomach muscles. Yoga helps to strengthen the muscles that have been weakened from a lack of movement. I’ve also found that it helps my sleeping patterns as I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with back pain. Because yoga helps you to become aware of every body part of your body and how it moves, Yoga has been found to improve quality of life as it reduce stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression. Although physicians don’t recommend it as a replacement therapy for these conditions, many like to recommend it as complimentary therapy to help symptoms.