Does it make you wonder how many men achieve smooth and glowing skin without any beauty products? If you ask them, most of them might point out the yoga benefits for skin.
Yes, yoga is a great way to achieve holistic health benefits. Yoga's benefits for men are innumerable - yoga to prevent snoring, yoga to regrow lost hair and prevent male pattern balding, to increase sperm count , and for better digestion and immunity.
One of the yoga's benefits is also radiant, healthy, and acne-free skin.
How does yoga help the skin?
Before discussing the benefits and how it works, it should be clear that yoga does not directly benefit the skin. There is no mudra for clear skin and no mudra for more oxygen, but several yoga positions help channelise our internal systems that are good for the skin.
Let’s take a deeper look at yoga benefits for skin.
1. Yoga Increases Blood Circulation
Skin wrinkles appear due to several reasons. Habits like smoking, drugs, alcohol, and stress are the primary culprits. Besides wrinkles, acne is another common skin problem caused due to hormonal changes or improper digestion.
Yoga stimulates blood circulation for glowing skin. Especially, inverted poses are an excellent way to circulate blood and improve skin texture and glow.
With inverted yoga poses like Sarvangasana, you allow more oxygen to flow through the brain and stimulate the nervous system.
2. Yoga Promotes Healthy Skin
To achieve healthy skin, you must keep a check on what you eat. Our eating habits affect the digestive system. Good digestion means efficient nutrient absorption in the body while eliminating toxins and impurities.
A digestive system troubled with bad health is risky and can easily manifest into skin issues like acne, allergies, and dull skin. So, the next time you go out to eat, make sure you are consuming a meal that is good for your tummy and not for your Instagram feed.
With yoga, one can improve the digestive system and treat gastrointestinal disorders, abdominal pain, and bloating. Another way yoga has proven beneficial is that it shakes up your gut to detoxify it efficiently.
3. Yoga Removes Skin Impurities
Exposing skin to impurities is the easiest way to develop acne and other skin-related issues. Yoga asanas that involve deep breathing increase oxygen supply and blood circulation in the body, making it a healthy environment, free of skin impurities.
Poses like Vinyasana spike up the core body temperature resulting in sweating. As a result, exercise benefits for the skin include sweating, which flushes out skin impurities, toxins, and dirt.
Besides this, sweating with yoga secretes Dermcidin (a natural antibody) that kills bacteria.
4. Yoga Heals Damaged Skin Cells
The Pranayam mudra for oxygen is not only de-stressing but also improves the flow of oxygen, leading to skin cell regeneration.
Deep breathing increases the lung capacity to shelter more oxygen, sending more blood directly to the skin cells. Since the blood has higher oxygen levels, it heals the skin and counteracts the damages caused by free radicals and sun exposure.
We hope this answers your question, does exercise improve skin or what is the effect of exercise on skin. Moving on, we will list a few important yoga asanas that you can add to your exercise regime for clearer skin.
What are the Yoga Poses that Help the Skin?
1. Matsyasana
This asana helps improve digestion and enhance the functional capacity of the pituitary, thyroid, and pineal gland. When the body muscles stretch, it helps in getting rid of the double chin as well.
How to do it?
- Position yourself in Padmasana (staff pose)
- While sitting in the position, lower the body back down until your head touches the ground.
- Once you are laid back, relax your body, and take deep breaths.
- Maintain this position for 2 to 3 seconds before returning to the Padmasana.
2. Sarvangasana
Another name for this asana is shoulder stand, and it helps increase the blood circulation for glowing skin by pumping more blood towards your face.
How to do it?
- Start by getting into the corpse pose (savasana)
- Join your feet and place your hands sideways.
- Bring your legs towards the chest and lift your lower body while placing your hands on the back, supporting the pose.
- Now slowly position your legs in a vertical position and stay there for at least 10 seconds.
3. Trikonasana
This is a great exercise for clear skin as the trikonasana enlarges the lungs and chest to absorb more oxygen.
How to do it?
- You need to start by spreading your legs and ensure that the length between the feet is more than the shoulder span.
- First, inhale and raise your right hand slowly, taking it above your head and holding that position.
- Hold the hand in that position and start exhaling while bending your body towards the left side.
- Make sure that your left-hand fingers and left leg toes are in the same position.
- Hold the position for 30 seconds and do it again on the other side.
Yoga is truly one of the best contributions of Indian society, to the world. The way it helps us improve our body is extraordinary.
There are many yoga benefits for skin, and you can also practice it to improve digestion and get help with diabetes. So, practice yoga regularly and harness its power to heal the body while giving yourself radiant and fresh skin.
