A third of Americans that do this activity said their lives improve every year

A third of Americans that do this activity said their lives improve every yearA third of Americans that do this activity said their lives improve every yearAn analysis of a recentNational Health Interview Survey, comprised of 26,742 adults across the United States, published byFitrated.com,demonstrates a detailed comparison of the well being of Americans that regularly practice joga and meditation, and Americans that do not.By and large, these techniques offer considerable risk decreases for several serious physical ailments, the effects on mental health, however, is a bitless consistent.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThe breakdownFourteen percent of the participants observed in the annual study said that they regularly practiced yoga and about 6% said that they habitually meditated. Women accounted for the majority of the reported yoga and meditation practitioners (18.5%, 6.8% , respectively). Millennials tended to be frequent engagers as well, with Gen Xers following just ahead of Baby Boomers.The impact on physical healthThe majority of Americans dont feel as though their lives are improving. Only one in five respondents believed their life was better at the time of the survey compared to the year prior. However, these statistics were much more encouraging amongst individuals that regularly practiced yoga and meditation. Nearly a third of these participants reported that they found their life and health to be better than it was the previous year.Moreover, yoga and a combination of yoga and meditation seemed to correlate with improved BMI scores relative to those who engaged in neither practice. Those who practiced yoga (with or without meditation) had average BMIs in the overweight range, whereas people who did not typically belonged to the obese category, added the authors of the study.Twenty-nine percent of the respondents that never employed yoga, de veloped hypertension. Cancer and heart problemswere also half as prevalent in yoga practitioners.Nearly 1 in 10 people who practiced meditation alone reported one or more of these mental health issues.The impact, meditation, and yoga haveon mental health and employee absenteeism is much less consistent. For example, the studys findings suggest people that regularly practice yoga were actually substantially more likely to battledepression, anxiety, or some other emotional problem.According to the authors, Nearly 1 in 10 people who practiced meditation alone reported one or more of these mental health issues. Similarly, there wasnt any substantial difference in the amount of sleep received between those that practiced yoga and meditations, and those that practiced neither.In terms of days missed, the degree varies by industry, Professionals in the healthcare field, missed about three days a year, compared to the eight days annually missed for other workers in that field.However, medit ators infinance and insurance and public administration missed way more days of work than abstainers in the same field.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people