How Can Yoga and Meditation Improve Hair, Skin, and Nail Health?

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Discover how yoga and meditation can enhance hair, skin, and nail health. Learn techniques, tips, and routines to nourish your beauty from the inside out.

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Yoga and meditation are often associated with mental and physical health benefits. However, it is through these benefits that these two practices can also bring you a beautiful outer glow to your hair, skin and nails, from within. The great thing is that most classes will incorporate both. You may have noticed how relaxed you feel after a yoga class, with the side benefit of a little glow. Here’s why.

How does Yoga help with stress relief?

Stress and the skin

Stress is linked to our appearance, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. The skin is the body’s largest organ, and so internal issues can turn up on the exterior. In this sense, there really is truth to the saying that “Beauty comes from within.” During stress, the hormone cortisol is released, which can lead to inflammation, including in the skin. As board-certified dermatologist Keira Barr MD, FAAD said, “Our brain and skin are intimately linked, and they communicate with each other. This means that when we experience chronic stress from work, relationships or current events, the skin is both a target and a source of stress hormones, which can make the skin more vulnerable to itch, inflammation, irritation, and infection.” Stress can also increase oil production and trigger skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. Stress can also accelerate ageing, as it breaks down collagen and elastin in skin and interferes with rejuvenation. Hair thinning and hair loss associated with stress is normally temporary, but the stress needs to be addressed before it becomes chronic and leads to permanent hair damage or loss.

Breath work

During yoga, the body moves through flowing poses that sync with deep, mindful breathing. This breathing aids relaxation, leading to a more positive and calmer mind and face. Just look at the difference in photos of you on holiday versus photos of you on a normal day. The practice includes stretches, some of which are held for minutes at a time and encourages deeper breathing. The longer stretches also offer an opportunity for meditation and to still the mind.

Meditation

Meditation also involves focusing on the breath, usually sitting or lying in stillness. This practice slows down the sympathetic nervous system aiding in relaxation.

Enhance circulation for healthy hair

The yoga movements and poses help to increase blood circulation to help carry oxygen and nutrients to the skin, aid in cell renewal to contribute to glowing skin. It also increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the hair for better growth.

Aids rest and sleep

Research shows that a consistent bedtime yoga routine can help you get in the right mindset and prepare your body to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Due to yoga's relaxing and meditative benefits, which come from stretching and deep breathing, yoga can help with getting to sleep, as some research suggests. For example, one 2014 study found that mind-body exercises such as yoga showed significantly better sleep compared to individuals participating in aerobic exercise.

Yoga styles best for sleep are yin, nidra and hatha. More vigorous styles, such as vinyasa, are more suited to daytime for energising.

Improves digestion

Because of the brain-gut connection, as The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation reports, a person’s stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of stress. The foundation points to studies that have shown that yoga classes significantly reduce stress and quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal issues.

Simple yoga poses for glow

Some of these poses have multiple purposes. For instance, child’s pose can be relaxing, while also lightly stimulating digestion.

Relaxation

Corpse Pose (Savasana)

The name of this pose is quite telling, as it does allow you to completely let go, lying on your back like a corpse.

Seated forward bend

Let your belly release onto your legs, and you may require pillows to rest under your belly. You can focus on relaxing rather than stretching.

Child’s pose

Relaxing, this pose calms the nervous system and the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation notes that the light compression on the stomach in this pose can also activate digestion.

Boosting circulation to the skin

Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose

This pose also perfectly fits into the relaxation category, as you can effortlessly relax, letting the wall hold your legs. Ensure your bottom is right next to the wall.

Standing forward fold

This is another pose that is also very relaxing. According to The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation, this pose stimulates circulation, which also helps to encourage digestion.

Inversions

Inversions help to move blood flow in the opposite direction, which means the skin on the face gets stimulated with a fresh supply of blood and oxygen For example, the bridge pose is a mild inversion, also stimulating digestion.

Digestion

As The Art of Living describes, yoga poses stretch the body, massaging the abdominal muscles to help food move efficiently along the digestive tract. They can also improve the circulation of blood to the digestive organs, which aids digestion.

The Canadian Digestive Health Foundation suggests the following poses may be helpful to improve digestion.

Wind relieving pose

This pose relaxes the abdomen, including the bowels and intestines, as the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation describes, which can relieve bloating and trapped gas through compression and release.

Seated spinal twist

The twists in this pose help to massage the intestines and abdominals and stimulate blood flow.

Cobra

This pose stretches belly muscles, improves posture and supports general digestion.

Daily yoga and meditation routine

Try to set up an area in your home dedicated to yoga and meditation, with an oil burner or candle placed in a safe spot. Have some blankets around in case you get cold while meditating. As you wake, you could arrive at this spot, ready for your meditation, whether it be 5 or 20 minutes. You could set a gentle alarm on your phone.

If you have time to complete your yoga practice, you could then do it at this point, or otherwise at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, if it is a gentle practice. More active sequences of yoga should be carried out during the day, as they can be quite energising. Another good time to do some meditation is at the end of the day. Even just five minutes will help to clear your mind at the end of the day.

Other lifestyle measures to support healthy skin and hair

Combine yoga and meditation along with other lifestyle strategies so that they work together for optimal results. For example, daily exercise in the form of walking can help keep the circulation of blood to transport oxygen to the skin, resulting in that post-exercise glow. Diet is intricately tied to the skin, too, so eating a diet of more fresh, whole foods and fewer processed foods should be helpful to your digestive system and reduce inflammation.

Gentle yet moisturising skincare is recommended to keep your skin in good condition. This includes daily cleansing to remove toxins and the occasional scrub to remove dead skin cells. Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, as lack of sleep can show up on your skin, while hydrating well is important to keep the skin moisturised.