5 Ways Yoga Benefits Your Skin

  1. It helps detoxify. Certain Asanas (yoga postures) help stimulate detoxification and flush out toxins from your body. A cleaner environment on the inside translates to clearer skin on the outside.
  2. It reduces stress. Chronic stress can have a huge impact on your health as well as the condition of your skin. Yes, our bodies are designed to handle stress via our inborn Flight–or-Fight response. The problem is that on a day to day basis our stress response gets stimulated hundreds of more times than it was designed to and therefore it’s critical that we adopt lifestyle habits that help to combat the effects of stress. Stress can lead to dull skin, acne breakouts and premature wrinkles. Yoga helps to stimulate the relaxation response and combat the negative effects of stress leading to clear, healthy, glowing skin.
  3. It helps increase circulation to the face. Inversions, a certain type of yoga posture, help to increase blood supply to the head, which can lead to healthier skin. Some examples of inversions include Shoulder Stand, Head Stand, Triangle Pose, Plow Pose, Fish Pose and Cobra Pose.
  4. It contributes to solid sleep. Deep sleep stimulates collagen production and helps our skin cells repair and regenerate themselves. In addition, when you are sleep deprived your body produces more cortisol (the stress hormone), which may lead to an increase of inflammation in your body. Increased inflammation results in more acne breakouts, greater skin sensitivity and an increase in skin rashes.
  5. It improves digestion. Certain yoga poses such as Wind-Relieving Posture, Kneeling Pose, Bow Pose, Nadi Shodhan pranayama and Kapal Bhati pranayama help to stimulate and improve the digestive process. Improved digestion naturally leads to clearer, healthier skin.