Incorporate a yoga routine into your week for all-around wellness.

Greater flexibility is just one of yoga's many benefits.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Regular stretching and use of breathing techniques can go a long way. Yoga is famous for improving flexibility and encouraging relaxation, but more and more research shows that the practice offers benefits that go beyond calming you down. For example, a recent study in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine found that 75-minute yoga sessions, performed three times a week for 10 weeks, eased symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a group of women between 45 and 75. The yoga classes also improved their disability related to RA, improved their balance, and decreased symptoms of depression in the women. Read on for other ways you can use yoga to improve your health.

#1: It helps you fight food cravings
Keeping off unwanted weight can be a little easier with a regular yoga routine. According to Prevention magazine, in a study of 15,500 average-weight adults, people gained three fewer pounds annually over the course of four years if they followed a routine of 30 minutes of yoga per week. The weight loss may be a result of creating a closer relationship between mind and body during yoga, allowing participants to fight overeating. Iyogalife.com, a website that provides yoga workouts, articles, and research, suggests moving into a simple yoga pose when food cravings threaten to overwhelm your better judgment. Cravings generally strike when our bodies are tense; loosening muscles with yoga movements makes it easier to reflect on whether or not you really need that candy bar.

#2: It helps you have a healthy pregnancy
Honing in on your happy and calm place with yoga meditation may insure your little one arrives just as relaxed. According to Prevention, a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that doing yoga while pregnant increased the odds of a healthy delivery. The 335 women studied added a yoga routine during their second trimester; the result was higher birth weights and lower pregnancy-induced hypertension compared to non-yoga-practicing participants.