Does Doing Yoga Really Make You Taller?

Yoga can help improve your physical and mental health, as well as help you establish body awareness, improve your posture, and get stronger. But all of this doesn't mean your skeletal height will get taller — after about age 20 that will remain the same (via Healthline). However, practicing yoga can help you get slightly taller by increasing the length between the discs in your spine. That can change throughout the day depending on your activities. 

Don't fret, though! There is another way yoga can make you taller, and that's through good posture. If you're slouching and have poor posture, you're going to look and feel shorter than you are. Try it right now. Straighten your back, elongate your spine, and imagine your body stretching toward the sky. How's that feel? You're already taller! Practicing yoga can strengthen your muscles, which can also help with posture. 

Another health benefit of yoga is that it can help prevent muscle degeneration, which will happen with aging, as well as if you don't exercise. You can prevent both types of muscle loss with yoga. Practicing yoga will develop your muscle strength and improve your flexibility. Even if you have kyphosis or scoliosis, yoga and other exercises can help to correct those imbalances in your spine. 

There are some yoga poses that can help improve your posture and make you feel and look taller. These poses include child's pose, standing forward bend, cat-cow, high plank, downward-facing dog, reclined pigeon, cobra, locust, crescent lunge, low lunge, seated spinal twist, supine spinal twist, and supported fish. Practice these yoga poses and keep your posture in check for a taller look and feel. 

It's natural to experience some height loss as you age, but if you experience a significant amount, you'll need to see your doctor. You could have the bone disease osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.