‘Can Yoga Make You Taller’? It’s a question that comes up and most people do wonder about it.
The answer is YES, yoga can definitely make you taller.
Why?
Why A Regular Yoga Practice Can Make You Taller
Most people are ‘shorter’ then they really are because of postural issues. Sitting at a desk gives you a rounded upper back and shoulders for example. Yoga helps with this by creating more awareness of your spine, which really begins with awareness of your feet. Being able to root into the earth with your feet to create that sense of ‘rooting and rebounding’. Your core will engage to stabilize the spine. The shoulders will move away from the ears and help to open your chest and breathe more deeply. A lesser-known reason why people get shorter is a weak Transverse Abdominis or TVA muscle.
The Muscle I’m Obsessed About…
The Transverse Abdominis is a wide thin muscle. It wraps around your torso like a corset and lies underneath the visible abdominal muscles. Below is an image that shows where the TVA is. See where it is in relation to the bottom of the rib cage and the top of your hip bones.
As people get older and they start to become more sedentary, their waistline starts to thicken. A big reason why (besides a slowing metabolism) is that the TVA expands when it gets weaker. Eventually, if that person remains sedentary, their posture starts to degrade. The space between the bottom of the ribcage and the top of the hip bones gets less. Over time, they may touch in very old people.
The awareness you build in yoga will help you to feel that space between the bottom of the rib cage and the hip bones. Also do targeted TVA strengtheners like L-sits where you’re sitting between two blocks with legs outstretched, lifting up and pulling the hips back. When the TVA muscle gets stronger it CONTRACTS. So as you get taller, you’ll also decrease your waistline, sometimes by up to 2 inches.
A less mentioned reason why yoga makes you taller is that your awareness of your breath, mind and body increases. You can start to consciously regulate your breath when it gets short. This leads to stress relief. The body moves towards homeostasis with regular practice. and you can start ‘grow’ from the inside outwards.
You start to hold less tension naturally which will help you to stand taller.
So I would definitely recommend starting a yoga practice if you want to improve your posture, relieve stress and have more resilience in you body and mind.
