20 minutes Yoga/Physical exercises provide better mental health – say Experts

In today’s super accelerated and busy life, it becomes hard to save time for relaxing, meditating or going for morning/evening walks in order to maintain our brain’s health. The good news is only a few minutes exercise can balance our mental health. A research done by the students of University of Illinois revealed that practicing Yoga for 20 minutes a day can keep our brains healthy.

The research was headed by Neha Gothe and team of University of Illinois, Washington. The research was done on thirty people including teenagers, women and students pursuing graduation. The participants were said to perform Yoga exercises while their mental and physical stability was being observed throughout the process. After practicing Yoga for about 20 minutes, the researchers found a considerable improvement in their performance, speed and accuracy. The research also included an aerobic exercise for the participants that resulted in better self awareness in them.

Edward McAuley, who is the professor of Illinois kinesiology and community health and the director of the Exercise Psychology said, “Yoga is becoming an increasingly popular form of exercise in the U.S. and it is imperative to systematically examine its health benefits, especially the mental health benefits that this unique mind-body form of activity may offer”.

The research team included kinesiology and community health professor, Charles Hillman from University of Illinois and professor of kinesiology, Matthew Pontifex from Michigan State University.

Neha Gothe, the lead researcher from India said that Yoga is an ancient Indian science and a way to life which does not only include physical exercises and body postures but meditation and breathing exercises as well.