With history dating back to over 5,000 years ago, the development of yoga has its roots in spirituality and often represented itself as a ‘mishmash of various ideas, beliefs and techniques’. The practice of yoga itself often encourages the idea of ‘self-enlightenment’, a sense of peace in one’s mind and body. Over time, it has become highly attested that this practice of instilling peace and calm into your own physical and mental state can do wonders for your health and well-being. 

Focused on bringing harmony between mind and body, yoga practices can aid towards the preservation, maintenance and promotion of health. According to the American Osteopathic Association, the benefits of practising yoga are but a few. 

What are the physical benefits of yoga?

• flexibility
• muscle strength 
• balanced metabolism
• cardiovascular health
• improved energy levels 

Yoga itself varies in discipline with over 100 different types of schools. From hatha, iyengar to vinyasa, yoga is one of the most versatile exercise forms that can offer something for everyone. Likewise, different forms of yoga have varying focuses on muscle body groups and intensity levels. 

Over the years, practising yoga has demonstrated a significant impact on individual health, both mental and physical. As health insurance brokers, our team here at Expat Insurance Singapore firmly believe in the unbridled benefits brought on by good health and wellness. Wellness doesn’t rely on the insurance policies you take up in Singapore alone, it is also dependent on the type of preventive measures undertaken.

Why is a wellness program as important as health insurance? 

In a country like Singapore, where the costs of medical care can skyrocket to high prices, having a sound outpatient insurance plan can be imperative to keeping your financial spending low. Often, spending a night in the hospital is an event we don’t spend our lives anticipating or expecting to happen. When it does happen, we urge you to take the necessary steps to be capable of affording more extensive healthcare services. 

Buying health insurance is not an end-all solution for taking care of one’s well-being. A core component of some wellness programs, self-initiated or otherwise, is proactiveness. On top of a comprehensive health insurance plan, you must engage in activities such as yoga, coupled with good nutrition to lower risks for chronic illnesses. A better physical and mental state bodes far better for your outpatient insurance premiums in Singapore as well, effectively lowering premiums with fewer doctor visits. 

Playing a sport of your choice, meditating, eating healthy – these are all perfect examples of proactive management of health and well-being. 

Find out how you can build your immunity through nutrition. 

Yoga itself has low barriers of entry, making it a suitable choice for a diverse range of people looking to start incorporating exercise into their health regimes. Understanding the benefits behind regular yoga practice can help you develop a more comprehensive outlook on a wellness program that complements your health insurance. 

1. Yoga lowers dependence on GP insurance by enhancing fitness

Beyond flexibility, yoga does wonders for soothing tension and mellowing anxiety in the mind and body. It’s understood that mental stress can at times, translate into physical bodily effects, often resulting in chronic conditions such as headaches, body aches, or nausea. 

Over time, a daily yoga practice can positively impact your capacity for higher intensity workouts and exercise – with increased strength, flexibility and endurance. You also benefit greatly from the muscle strength and cardio-respiratory fitness, bringing your overall wellness to a better standard. 

Strong muscles and a lean body looks good, but it also protects you from other conditions such as arthritis and chronic back pain. Committing to yoga can help you strike a balance between flexibility and strength – a harmony we often overlook in exercise plans. 

Why does enhancing our fitness matter so much anyway? 

The short answer is, being in the pink of health directly translates to a lowered dependence on medical insurance needs – be it GP or outpatient insurance plans in Singapore.

2. Yoga improves overall body image

Another often overlooked benefit of yoga is its ability to teach us the importance of a healthy body image. Yogis – practitioners of yoga – are remarkably in tune with their body’s abilities, needs and changes. 

Yoga teaches you to understand your own body’s limitations and changing needs. With busy lives in a city like Singapore, it can be surprisingly easy to neglect what our physical bodily needs are. Worse, we may not even notice changes. A good example is how we often don’t identify hunger pangs from boredom. At times, we may long for a midday snack or some sugar in the form of junk food due to boredom, not hunger. How many of us are guilty of looking for snacks simply because we feel like eating? 

Learning how to curb unhealthy urges like these and moderate your diet can encourage a healthier you. Yoga can improve that relationship between ourselves and our meals. With better eating habits and healthier relationships with food, our physical and mental health will improve greatly. 

We can see ourselves as healthy beings, feel more in tune with our wellness program and lower our risks of chronic illnesses. Health insurance then acts as a safety net for truly unprecedented times.

3. Yoga instills mindfulness in diet & mental well-being

Many consider the effects of yoga to transcend physical benefits. It has shown to be instrumental in promoting mindfulness – not just in diet but also overall wellness. 

According to research by the Harvard Medical School, yoga practice appears to modulate stress response systems. In other words, it reduces the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and eases respiration. Upon studying MRI scans, it shows yoga practitioners as individuals who are able to regulate their stress and, consequently pain responses – effectively improving mental well-being. 

It can be counterproductive to evaluate physical and mental well-being as separate entities – both often influence and impact each other in many ways. A greater understanding of mental health will directly impact the choices you make in diet, rest and how you take care of your health. 

In the long-run, these benefits work together to lower your risk and exposure to weakened immunity and compromised health. Incorporating a mindfulness exercise like yoga can go a long way in developing a comprehensive wellness program that works in tandem with your health insurance plan to ensure the safety of your well-being.

Insure your health and wellness with insurance for safety in Singapore

In our years as health insurance brokers, we recognise that good health and wellness doesn’t come easy. Even with years of good habits, nutrition and exercise wise, people still find themselves in unexpected situations health-wise. 

We want to avoid a situation like this as much as we can. Developing a holistic wellness program with exercise like yoga together with nutrition can stave off negativity and in turn, nurture a healthy relationship with oneself. 

Still, safety comes first. Preempt financial strains that can crop up due to unprecedented medical causes by insuring yourself. A good outpatient insurance in Singapore can protect you from high medical bills. There is assurance in getting a safety net, in the event you do need assistance with medical costs. 

Unsure of how you can develop a comprehensive wellness program? Considering a health insurance plan to complement your lifestyle? Let us help you map an assessment of your needs to get you the right, tailored insurance coverage you will need as an expat in Singapore.