Yoga classes can make you smarter and improve your concentration – Here's how

Yoga is a form of exercise that benefits multiple areas of your health. Things like flexibility, strength, and stress can all be improved through yoga practice and you can even sharpen your brain.

When you first perch yourself on one of the best yoga mats you might find that your mind is busy trying to focus on where your limbs should be positioned, how to marry your breath to your movement as well as hold a pose steady at the same time. But the more you practice yoga, the more these things should feel natural and your brain can actually relax while benefitting from the exercise.

A research paper published in the Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine journal revealed that students who practiced yoga six times a week had enhanced cognitive skills after five months compared to a control group who didn't practice any yoga.

They discovered that specific brain skills such as memory and visual information processing were enhanced. The research team also saw improvements in areas of the brain that are responsible for problem-solving, planning, and reasoning.

Not only did the results leave scope for more research to dissect if yoga could effectively improve academic performance but it also saw improvement in heart rate variability (HRV). This can also be improved by other healthy habits such as regular exercise, getting in good amounts of sleep, and eating well (the best vegan cookbooks can help find nutrient-rich inspired dishes).

Science can't necessarily point to exactly why yoga positively impacts people's cognitive function but it does suggest that the combination of breathwork, movement, and meditation boosts brain health better than if you just focus on each of these components by themselves.

Aside from the technical aspects, we are sure most people can agree that exercise is great for waking up or clearing the mind. Some like to blow off some steam or get out of a funk with high-intensity cardio perhaps on one of the best rowing machines. 

But that doesn't mean that low impact and low-intensity movement can't provide you with some much needed mental exercise as well. Activities, like yoga, Pilates or even getting your daily steps in wearing a pair of best shoes for walking can help to sharpen your brain.