One key factor that separates yoga from other forms of exercise is that in bringing attention to the breath as well as coordinating the breath with the movement of the body, yoga is a practice in mindfulness. It holistically supports our well-being by promoting a mind-body connection. In addition, it can help us both prevent as well as ease the symptoms of many common health conditions.<\/p>\n
Research which has been conducted over the past 30 years has confirmed that the practice of yoga and meditation, in addition to a clean diet and lifestyle, can significantly reduce the fraying of telomeres which are the parts of our DNA that are related to ageing.<\/p>\n
The telomere is almost like the plastic cap on the end of a shoelace which prevents the shoelace from fraying and so rendering the shoelace unusable (or difficult to get through a lace hole). In reality, the telomere is a cap at the end of our DNA which protects our chromosomes. The telomere is linked to our biological age. As it frays, or becomes shortened, our longevity decreases.<\/p>\n
Telomeres naturally become shorter as we age and our cells replicate themselves. However stress<\/a>, smoking, poor diet as well as a lack of exercise have been shown to lead to the shortening of the telomeres according to a quicker timeframe.<\/p>\n Research which was done by Nobel Prize\u2013winning scientist, Elizabeth Blackburn, has shown that after four to six months of steady mindfulness practices, the activity of the enzyme which impacts the length of the telomeres (which is called telomerase) goes up by 30% and reduces their rate of decay.<\/p>\n