We store a lot of emotions in our body, the nervous system runs through our spine – back bends improve blood flow along the spine, thus flushing the whole nervous system with fresh oxygenated blood. 

If you want to meditate, have a try. Everything we plant in our daily routine, can become a habit.
It doesn’t have to be a long practice in the beginning, you can advance it gradually.
The key is patience. When we put a ritual in our day, it grows with us, it become a healthy habit.

   I assume that many people turn to religion, because they were secular and had some kind of affinity toward religion, they do it to feel something deeper and meaningful in this life.

I also turned to Buddhism from that reason.
However when I look at Buddhism (which has vary nuances and different movements) I don’t see something that I see in religion; and that something is hierarchy. Rigid Hierarchy, criticism, interpretations and prohibitions.