Grow and Glow: 4 Ways Yoga Helps Your Skin and Hair

You know you’re at least a tiny bit jelly of that one person who has the most amazing hair and perfect skin. Or maybe you are that person already! (Good for you!)

For many people, growing a thick, healthy mane of hair they’re proud of is hard. Like, really hard! Not everyone is fortunate enough to be blessed with beautiful hair and skin. Sometimes we have one but not the other, right?

The fact is no one’s perfect. And that’s, of course, beautiful in and of itself!

But we’re here to tell you a regular yoga practice helps you have healthy hair and skin. I talk more about this in my Yoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class on myYogaTeacher, so if you’re still interested after reading this, hop on over and check it out!

Not a MYT member? That’s ok too! Grab your MyYogaTeacher 2-week free trial here and get access to my class and tons of others here.

In the meantime, let’s go over some ways yoga promotes healthy skin and hair!

1. Breath is life

If you’re not a yogi or you’re a new yogi, you’ve maybe taken advantage of the fact that you breathe. Unconsciously.

Breathing comes naturally. But the quality of your breath does not.

When you’re stressed, anxious, depressed, or angry, your breathing changes. Some people hold their breath without even realizing it. You may take shorter breaths, faster or more shallow breaths. This reduces the amount of oxygen flowing through your body to your muscles and...you guessed it, your skin.

Your skin is your body’s largest organ! Getting enough oxygen to your skin and hair follicles is important for healthy skin and hair.

A regular yoga practice includes conscious breathwork. Deep, intentional breathing, belly breathing, is a major component of circulating more oxygen throughout your body.

Breathwork also reduces stress, anxiety and helps calm your nervous system so that you will unconsciously breathe better!

Speaking of circulation…

2. Yoga increases blood flow

This may seem obvious to you, especially during that fast-paced hatha yoga flow. You know when the sweat struggle is real and your muscles are on fire.

But there are specific yoga poses that increase blood flow to the scalp and skin. And better and more circulation of blood means more nutrients are being brought to those areas. Here are some poses I focus on in my Yoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class:

• Downward facing dog. Any time your head is below your heart, gravity draws more blood down towards your scalp.
• Camel pose. This pose is great if you’re struggling with acne because it helps balance cortisol hormones.
• Standing forward bend. Another good pose to promote healthy hair and scalp.
• Headstand or shoulder stand. Even if you’re unable to fully do these, the modifications for them still promote healthy skin and hair since they are inversion poses

There are many inversion asanas that help bring more blood flow to skin and scalp, particularly facial skin, which is where many people struggle with acne.

We cover most of these poses in my class!

3. Better digestion, better skin and hair

You’ve no doubt heard about how a healthy gut biome affects your health in almost every way – brain function, immunity, organ function and heart health. But did you know that a healthy digestive cycle also improves those things?

Your digestive system plays a huge role in healthy skin and hair as well. Your digestive tract absorbs nutrients from the food you eat, and then those nutrients are distributed to the various different tissues in your body, including your skin.

If your digestive system isn’t on track (pun intended ;-) ) it can’t absorb the nutrients your body needs to thrive. This means your skin and hair also suffer.

Know what’s particularly helpful for digestion? Yes! Yoga!

There are waaaaaaay more poses that exist to aid digestion than we can mention here, but here are some that are perfect for every body type and any fitness level:

• Seated or reclined twists. Twisting poses are particularly useful for better digestion.
• Cobra or upward facing dog. Both of these poses open up the chest and stretch out the abdomen, lengthening the digestive tract.
• Cat and cow. The gentle stretch and contraction of the abdominal muscles in this active asana stimulates digestion.
• Side stretches. Asanas like triangle pose, pyramid pose, and seated side stretch are also gentle poses that assist with digestion.

Next time you overeat or ate something that didn’t agree with you, try some of these poses and see if they help. Hold each pose for 5-10 slow belly breaths for maximum benefit.

4. Meditation makes a difference

I’ve talked before about how meditation affects your mental, emotional, and physical state. But you’re probably wondering how it helps your hair grow and your skin glow, right?

Inadvertently. That’s how.

A regular meditation practice is usually a part of a regular yoga routine. At least at myYogaTeacher it is. Yoga isn’t just about the physical. The work out. It’s about creating an inner and outer world that work together for the good of all.

When we meditate regularly, we stress less, worry less. We are angry less. We are happier, calmer, and more clear-headed. We’re more at peace. And when we are this way, we take better care of ourselves.

Meditation is a part of your yoga practice that is very, very important. Because when you feel good enough to take better care of yourself, your hair and skin will show it. Whether it’s brushing your hair more often or using hair and skin products that are better for you or work better for you. Maybe you go to the salon or you finally go see a dermatologist or holistic health practitioner about your skin problems.

Either way, yoga helps.

If you need help in these areas, definitely try out my Yoga for Healthy Hair and Skin Class on myYogaTeacher! I would be honored to help you move past the things in your life that are preventing you from having healthy hair and skin or things that are contributing to your bad health in general.

If you’re not a member of MYT yet, don’t worry! You can go here to sign up for your 2-week free trial and get access to 35+ different classes a day! Try it out. I’m sure you’ll love it.

Namaste.