In honor of September being National Yoga Month, we wanted to talk about the benefits of yoga for travel nurses (there’s a lot!!). Travel nursing and nursing, in general, can take a toll on your body both mentally and physically. Practicing yoga can be both restorative and even improve your capabilities as a nurse. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), many people practice yoga to maintain their health and well-being, improve their physical state, relieve stress, and enhance their overall quality of life.
Travel nursing is always bringing you to new places and environments, but the best thing about yoga is that you can literally do it in your bedroom, you can really do it anywhere! There are benefits to joining a studio or taking classes as well, but that is not necessary to get the benefits of yoga. Keep reading below to learn about some benefits of practicing yoga….
Stress Relief
The second most cited reason people that people say they do yoga is to relieve stress – and it’s scientifically proven that it works! Along with the physical element of the practice, yoga also has a large focus on meditation and breathwork. Nursing can be overwhelming and leave a million thoughts running through your brain and spending a bit of time doing yoga every day can give your brain a much-needed break and rest from all of the stress. Check out some additional stress relief tips for nurses.
Strength & Flexibility
Depending on what your nursing specialty is, there’s a high chance your job involves at least a little bit of heavy lifting and physical activity. “The relaxation techniques incorporated in yoga can lessen chronic pain, such as lower back pain, arthritis, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome,” explains Dr. Nevins. “Yoga can also lower blood pressure and reduce insomnia.”
Improves Mental Health
Just like how yoga is proven to be an effective stress reliever, it is actually also proven to aid in mental health. Regular yoga practice has been shown to significantly improve depressive symptoms. Even if the physical nature of yoga is unattainable to some, the meditation and breathwork portion can be a huge help to many people. In fact, a study done in 2017 of 23 interventions looking at the effects of yoga-based treatments on depressive symptoms overwhelmingly concluded that yoga can be considered an effective alternative treatment for MDD.
Now that you’ve learned about the benefits yoga has for travel nurses, it might be time to plan your next travel placement! Head to our jobs page to get started.
