I guess I can’t just say, “because it’s awesome!” Truly though, these practices have changed my life, and I love to share them! Luckily, researchers have become more interested in these practices over the last couple of decades, so there is now evidence showing how beneficial yoga and meditation/mindfulness can be in a variety of ways. The physical practice of yoga can improve strength, balance, and flexibility, improve heart health, and numerous studies show yoga’s benefits in arthritis, osteopenia, balance issues, oncology, women’s health, chronic pain and other specialties. Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, ease anxiety, promote emotional health, enhance self-awareness, increase attention span, generate kindness, improve sleep, help control pain, and decrease blood pressure.