Yoga is widely known to deliver tremendous mental and physical benefits, but can yoga make you taller? You are not alone if this question pops into your mind once in a while. In fact, people across societies and cultures consider tall individuals to be more dominant, more socially influential, and more likely to be the winner in a competition or confrontation, something that is highly conspicuous in those historical documentaries or ancient myths. This hence leaves many not-so-tall people with a burning desire to add some inches to their height.
Although we are often told to be happy with what we get, we cannot help but wonder if there is an exception to this and that we can increase our height, even by just a tiny bit. But can yoga do this for us? Before you venture into your yoga grow taller journey, take a look at this article where the truth is unveiled.
How Yoga Can Kind of Increase Your Height
First off, do not expect yoga to miraculously bestow you with a whole ten-inch extra. This pliable art cannot alter your true height in one day. With regular and consistent practice, yoga help decompress your spine and increase the length between your spinal discs, thereby making you look and stand taller.
Can yoga make you taller in another way? The answer is YES. While building muscular strength, yoga corrects your posture to make you appear and feel taller after elongating your spine. Besides, keeping the posture upright can add a few inches to your current height. The strongest lengthening effect might be felt in your upper body even though your lower body also plays a role. If you often find yourself slouching your shoulders forward or rounding your upper back, then practicing yoga is the way to go to improve your posture and stand a little taller.
If that is not enough to convince you to take up this exercise, then this health benefit may change your mind. As you age, your body will be experiencing muscle degeneration and worse, height loss. Yoga can help you prevent both of these by enhancing your flexibility, keeping your body active, and sustaining your muscle strength. It also ensures the oxygen supply to your blood and balances your blood circulation, which supports the nervous system and ensures good overall health.
Much as your height is largely dependent on genetics and nutrition, you can practice yoga to grow taller significantly during your growing years before the complete fusion of your growth plates. This is possible as yoga facilitates favorable conditions for your body to reach its full height potential. Besides, with good posture thanks to yoga, you can successfully achieve your ideal height.
Which Yoga Practice Is Best for Increasing Height?
There are a variety of yoga practices and poses, but some of them might be more useful in increasing your height than others. It is recommended that you match the benefits you want to achieve with the yoga practice you choose.
Some poses of yoga to grow taller are those that work thoroughly on releasing tension in the fascia and ligaments surrounding the spine, which ultimately lengthens and stretches your spine, lower back, hips, shoulders, and shoulder blades.
You can practice yoga in the comfort of your house or at the local studio or gym. Here are some beneficial yoga poses for height gain.
5 Yoga Poses to Make You Taller
Child’s Pose
This pose lengthens your spine, improves posture, stretches your knees, and relieves lower back pain.
How to do the Child’s Pose:
- To begin, kneel with your toes touching each other. Then open your knees until they are shoulder-width apart.
- Slowly bend your body forward so that your forehead is placed on the floor.
- Place your hands on the floor alongside your body with palms up.
- Release your shoulder fronts toward the floor.
- Stay in this position for 15 deep breaths through your nose.
Cobra Pose
This is probably the most well-known yoga pose for strengthening, stretching, and elongating the spine to make you taller. By providing conscious stretching and opening in the chest and shoulders, the Cobra Pose also boosts the energetic body and prevents fatigue.
How to do the Cobra Pose:
- Lie flat on your stomach.
- Place your hands under your shoulders close to your sides, your elbows pointing straight back.
- Squeeze your inner thighs, knees, ankles, and big toes toward each other.
- Inhale, press the tops of your feet and your pelvis into the floor. Slowly lift your chest away from the floor and use your core to lengthen the spine forward. Look forward, pressing the crown of your head away from your shoulders.
- Pull your body forward and up using your hands. Squeeze the elbows to your sides and pull your shoulder blades down and toward each other.
- Hold the pose for 15-30 seconds. Maintain easy breathing. Return to the starting position with an exhalation.
Mountain Pose
If you want to use yoga to grow taller, you cannot miss this foundational pose of all standing poses. The Mountain Pose makes a great resting pose, starting pose, and method to correct your posture.
How to do the Mountain Pose:
- Stand with your arms at your sides and your feet together.
- Flex your thighs to straighten your legs and lock your kneecaps. Avoid flexing too hard on your knees.
- Imagine a line running from the top of your head to your feet. Now adjust your body to make sure it is perfectly aligned with this imaginary line.
- Elongate through your torso while pressing your shoulder blades together. Maintain your head up straight and your shoulders in line. Broaden and expand your collarbones. Your arms should hang relaxedly at your sides.
- Elongate your neck while keeping your head in line with your pelvis. Make sure you are not tensing your throat or neck and that your chin is parallel to the floor.
- Hold the position for about 30 seconds.
Triangle Pose
The Triangle Pose opens up the hips, stretches your legs, and engages your core. While getting into the pose, it engages different parts of your body simultaneously.
How to do the Triangle Pose:
- Stand straight with your feet wide apart from 3 to 4 feet.
- Turn your left foot in slightly and your right foot out by 90 degrees. Ensure that you have heel-to-heel alignment.
- Keep your bodyweight equally balanced on both feet and your feet are pressing the ground.
- Inhale, extend your arms parallel to the floor.
- As you exhale, bend your body down from the hips and to the right. Keep your waist straight. Bring your left arm up into the air and your right hand down toward the floor. Make sure that both arms are in a straight line.
- Depending on your flexibility, your right hand can touch the floor or your shin.
- Keep your head in a neutral position. Turn your head slightly to the left and gaze up toward your left palm.
- Hold the position for several seconds and repeat the exact same process on the opposite side.
Seated Forward Bend
This last but not least pose of yoga to grow taller is a nice relaxing stretch for your hamstrings and spine. Not only can yoga make you taller with this pose but it also improves your flexibility, corrects your posture, and releases all of the tension in your muscles.
How to do the Seated Forward Bend:
- Start by sitting on the ground with your legs stretched out in front of you. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and your feet are flexed.
- Inhale and bring the arms up with palms facing each other. Exhale deeply and bend forward until your hands touch the feet, ankles, or shins.
- You can try a deeper stretch by grabbing your feet or holding a yoga block in front of your feet.
Now you no longer need to wonder “Does yoga make you taller?”. More importantly, you can practice the above-discussed poses of yoga to grow taller or at least feel and appear taller. With various physical and mental benefits, yoga should be incorporated as part of your daily routine.