Does Yoga Increase Height? Fact or Myth…

 

Who doesn’t want to be tall? Unfortunately, not everybody is born with towering heights. This is why many shorter individuals will do anything to gain a few more inches, including doing yoga to grow height. But does yoga increase height? After all, this kind of exercise is known for its numerous physical and mental health benefits. However, even though yoga itself won’t increase your skeletal height, the good news is it can help improve your posture and make you look and feel taller!

Yoga for Height Increase through Good Posture

Your skeletal height won’t increase by the time you reach 20. It’s determined by genetics, nutrition, and lifestyle factors. Yoga helps elongate your spine and build muscular strength, which improves your posture over time. Those who do yoga to grow height noticed that having a more upright position can increase their height by a few inches, and they can feel it, especially in their upper body. In the All Yoga Teacher training, our student often feel taller after they have completed the 23 days yoga instructor certification course.

Yoga can also improve your posture by cultivating breath awareness. As you focus more on your breathing throughout the day, you’ll learn to maintain good posture to breathe at maximum capacity. This helps provide you with more energy, too.

Further, yoga is effective in preventing muscle degeneration because it’ll keep you physically active. Muscle degeneration typically occurs with aging and inactivity. Once you start practicing yoga, your muscles become more robust and more flexible, thus, improving your muscle mass. 

Many people experience height loss because of kyphosis or scoliosis. Yoga and other exercises can help correct the imbalances in your spine and improve your posture. You should also include having a healthy diet to minimize inflammation and manage stress effectively.

Yoga Poses That Can Improve Posture

Does yoga increase height? Those who want to discover the benefits of yoga for height increase are trying numerous yoga poses to elongate their spine and improve their posture. Here are the top yoga poses you must try:

1. Tadasana

This exercise has many benefits because it stretches all your muscles from head to toe. It improves posture and balance, strengthens the lower body, and provides peace of mind. Here’s how to do it:

• Stand straight on the floor. Make sure that your legs, waist, and neck are in a straight line. Keep your hands on your sides, palms facing the thighs, and feet together.
• Inhale and raise your arms upward, parallel to each other. 
• Stand on your toes by slowly lifting your heels and stretching your body upward while keeping your arms and legs straight. Stretch your body as far as you can.

2. Vrikshasana

Vrikshasana is also known as the tree pose. It’s an ideal yoga for height increase as it strengthens the muscles, stretches the body, calms the mind, and improves posture. Some believe this pose can activate the pituitary gland, which produces the growth hormone. Here’s how to do it:

• Stand on the floor with your feet and hands at the side. Breathe normally.
• Slowly stand on the left leg, then fold your right leg at the knee. Gently bring your right foot’s sole to your inner thigh.
• Balance yourself on your left foot and raise both your arms upward. Join your palms together without bending your elbows.
• Hold this position for a few seconds with your whole body stretched. Breathe slowly. 
• Do the same with your opposite leg.

3. Shirshasana

This pose combines sarvang asana and the headstand, which involve inversion against gravity. It helps in developing strength and flexibility while keeping you calm at the same time. 

It also improves memory and concentration and helps manage anxiety, depression, and mental fatigue. Here’s how to do it:

• Lie on your back in Shavasana with your palms facing downward.
• Lift your legs slowly, followed by your buttock and back, until you come up high on your shoulders. Use your hands to support your back.
• Straighten your spine and legs with weight on your upper arms and shoulders.
• Come out of the pose once you feel any strain in your neck. Stay in this pose for 15 to 30 seconds.

4. Ustra Asana

Ustra asana, or the camel pose, is also a popular yoga exercise for those who want to do yoga for height increase. However, it’s not recommended for those with fluctuating blood pressure and back injuries. 

It can reduce fat on your thighs, expand the abdominal region, improve posture, loosen up the spine, strengthen and stretch the back and shoulder, and relieve lower back pain, among others. If you’re one of those who are wondering does yoga increase height, you should try this pose. Here’s how to do it:

• Sit in the Vajrayana position or kneel on the yoga mat with your hands on the hips.
• Keep your knees in line with your shoulders. The soles of your feet must face the ceiling.
• Slowly inhale and draw your tailbone toward your pubis while arching your back.
• Carefully slide your palms over your feet and straighten your arms.
• Keep your neck in a neutral position and avoid straining or flexing it.
• Hold this position for a couple of breaths.
• Slowly breathe out and return to your initial pose. Straighten up by withdrawing your hands and bringing them back to your hips.

5. Paschimotan Asana

With this yoga pose, you’ll put pressure on your back, thigh muscles, and neck area. This position is not for you if you have a slipped disc or sciatica. It’s best for improving spine mobility and overall body flexibility.

Here’s how to do it:

• Sit on the ground and stretch your legs.
• Exhale while bending forward and holding your toes.
• Straighten your back and rest your head on your knees.
• Don’t bend your knees as much as possible and breathe normally.

6. Ujjayi Pranayama

Ujjayi Pranayama is referred to as the victorious breath. Many believe that breathing correctly can send vibrations to the glands and result in positive changes in your physical ecosystem. This famous yoga pose is practised by those who use yoga to grow height to soothe the nervous system, relieve insomnia, lower blood pressure, and calm the mind and body. 

According to The Yoga Institute, it helps in dealing with cough, cold, fever, indigestion, liver problems, and more. It improves the body’s fluid retention, clears phlegm, and helps increase appetite.

Some believe that pranayama or deep breathing exercises are effective among kids and adults who want to do yoga to grow height. As the body relaxes, the growth hormone is stimulated. 

Here’s how to do it:

• Sit or lie in your most comfortable position.
• Breathe in and out through your nose. Keep your mouth permanently shut.
• Inhale and exhale using long and deep breaths.

Other Benefits of Yoga

Those who use yoga to grow height also find themselves discovering other yoga benefits. Yoga can enhance your mental and physical well-being in many ways. Aside from helping you with your height by improving your posture, here are other ways you can benefit from it:

Physical benefits

Practicing yoga promises numerous physical benefits. There are yoga poses to develop strength, mobility, flexibility, balance, coordination, and better posture. All these benefits can help you face life’s daily challenges while minimizing your risk of injury. 

Yoga is also helpful for people suffering from certain conditions like arthritis by easing joint discomfort. Those suffering from heart conditions and diabetes can benefit from yoga by keeping their blood pressure normal and maintaining healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It can reduce inflammation and improve overall heart health.

Mental health benefits

If there’s one thing many people love about yoga, it must be its ability to help one relax mentally. According to the American Osteopathic Association, yoga improves mental well-being through its incorporation of meditation and breathing. You’ll have better control of your thoughts and have a more optimistic approach to life. You’ll have a brighter mood, too. 

Yoga can relieve stress, depression, and anxiety. You’ll also become more self-confident as you learn to accept yourself. Such mental health benefits help you to sleep better and be more productive, especially at work.

Connects you with a supportive community

Many people are doing yoga to grow height, so you’ll be surprised to find other people in your community doing it, too. There are yoga classes you can join, which can help ease your loneliness and provide a supportive environment. You’ll feel accepted and cared for by participating in personalized yoga classes.

Helps with burnout

Excessive stress or burnout can affect your overall health and wellness. This is where yoga-based meditation interventions come in. They can reduce the effects of burnout by helping people be more in tune with their body’s signals by improving interoceptive awareness.

Improves energy levels

Are you low on the hormone called cortisol? If yes, you’re most likely to experience low energy. Doing yoga can help boost your cortisol levels and, in return, reduce fatigue. It’s also one way of detoxifying your body through exercise. 

For instance, stretching your muscles helps massage your internal organs and eliminate toxins. Your energy levels increase as you receive new oxygen. You’ll feel revitalized after yoga.

Helps with weight loss

Yoga helps with weight loss, too. It is a low-impact exercise ideal for those suffering from arthritis and other joint inflammatory diseases. 

Your body still works hard while doing yoga poses, so you burn some body fat. Couple it with a balanced diet, and you’ll soon achieve your desired weight.

So, does yoga increase height? The truth is it can help you achieve better posture, which can make you look and feel taller. Many people are doing and training for yoga for height increase and for its other benefits, too. 

Don’t miss out by joining All Yoga Training to start your journey to a new and better you!