IL-6 is part of your body’s inflammatory response and it used to measure levels of inflammation in your body. High levels of IL-6 have been linked to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and other age-related illnesses. Reducing inflammation can lengthen lifespan so researchers decided to see if a simple life change such as doing yoga might impact inflammation. They compared a group who had done yoga once or twice week for two years to a group who had done yoga for no more than six to twelve weeks. The regular yoga practitioners had IL-6 levels that were 41 per cent lower than the yoga “novices”. The “yoga experts” also showed smaller increases in IL-6 after stressful experiences than the novices. Exactly how yoga yields this benefit is hard to say but it is not stretching it to say that regular yoga practice could lengthen your life.