A yoga body isn’t just about bendy limbs; the ancient practice can improve memory, heart, and bone health, says Hugh Janus. We’ve become a nation obsessed with downward dogs and cat cows. Brits now spend a staggering £790 million a year on yoga classes and mats. In fact, while on the one hand, yoga seems to get weirder by the day – new hybrids include rage or naked yoga, poses done on paddle-board or horseback (seriously), and even dog yoga – on the other its real benefits are being increasingly proven by science.

UCLA researchers have found a three-month course of yoga and meditation was more effective than memory exercises for minimizing age-related brain impairment.

In contrast, another found it could improve sleep in breast cancer survivors. When Richard Head, 53, a former advertising executive, fell into a deep depression, he opted for yoga instead of the prescribed anti-depressants. ‘I took a six-month career break and traveled to India to learn yoga, and though I failed to get the yoga body, I came back happier and with a sense of contentment I had never felt before,’ Head remembers.