The benefits of outdoor yoga have been documented thoroughly, and many of these benefits are valid. However, these benefits are not inclusive to all who’d like to do yoga. In fact, there are many reasons that someone can’t or shouldn’t do yoga outside. So, it’s only fair that indoor yoga get its own list of benefits, right?
Indoor Yoga For Sun Sensitivity
Photosensitivity is a side effect of certain medications. Disease processes and conditions, such as porphyrias, rosacea, and lupus erythematosus, can also cause photosensitivity.
The result of photosensitivity is the skin being highly sensitive to the sun’s UV rays and burning very easily. Exposed skin can quickly become itchy, swollen, and painful with even mild exposure to the sun.
Those taking a medication or with a condition that causes photosensitivity can practice yoga anytime indoors without unnecessarily exposing their skin to the sun.
Indoor Yoga For Allergy And Asthma Sufferers
According to Healthline, eight percent of the U.S. population, which accounts for 20 million people, have been diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
With a main component of yoga being breathing, it’s rather difficult when sneezing, coughing, sniffling, and such from outdoor allergens that are affecting your respiratory system.
The above is also true for the 25 million Americans who have asthma, which can be triggered by outdoor air pollutants.
Indoor yoga offers an escape from outdoor allergen triggers so that you can focus on your breathing and poses, not the threat of outdoor allergens causing you respiratory distress.
Indoor Yoga For Your Hair Health
Most people are aware that the sun can damage their skin. People with a family or medical history of skin cancer are strongly advised to wear sunscreen and minimize their exposure to the sun. But, did you know that the sun also damages your hair?
Prolonged exposure damages the cuticle that covers the hair strain, leaving it discolored, dry, brittle, and thinned.
You can wear a hat to help lessen the effects of sun damage to your hair, but do you really want to fight a hat falling off in yoga poses that are complex enough on their own? Prevent hair sun damage by practicing your yoga inside.
Indoor Yoga For Unfavorable Weather Conditions
Practicing yoga indoors means that you never have to worry about the outdoor elements delaying or preventing you from exercising.
From extreme heat or cold, rainy seasons, or snowy seasons, the elements common to your geographical location and the particular season of the year can mean that your outdoor yoga is sporadic versus a constant and reliable source of fitness.
Indoor Yoga To Avoid Distractions
We’ve covered how outdoor yoga can impact your breathing via outdoor allergies. Now, let’s take a look at how indoor yoga can be beneficial to your mindfulness.
Yes, outdoor yoga can make you feel closer to nature, but the problem is that nature doesn’t always behave cooperatively to mindfulness.
Nature has wildlife, and that wildlife can sting, bite, make noise, and so forth to distract and even harm you. Beyond the ant and bee attack, there’s also the consideration of your setting and how it detracts or enhances your yoga experience.
Few outdoor places exist that don’t intertwine to some degree with other people eating, traveling, working, operating machinery, and entertaining themselves. I
t’s rather difficult to be focused on your inner peace when the smell of a hot dog vendor around the corner is invading your senses and causing hunger, right?
Indoor yoga has the benefit of eliminating all such distractions so that the singular focus is yoga, not outside smells, sounds, and sights,
In closing, you can see there are many benefits that indoor yoga offer. Some benefits solve a necessity and others involve personal preference, but the point remains that indoor yoga should always be considered as an option to enable and enhance your yoga experience.