by Rosannie Murillo

Created on: October 03, 2008   Last Updated: October 10, 2008

While many of us may think that yoga may only consist of stretching our body, it goes a lot deeper than that, penetrating into the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives. The practice of yoga originates in the land of India with the purpose of a "union" between the mind, body and spirit according to its Sanskrit language meaning in India by the practice of physical postures or poses.

Yoga consists of the creation of balance through our body by stimulating strength and flexibility in it performing each of the poses that yoga includes. All of these poses contain physical benefits and vary by their level of difficulty. They can be done quickly to heat the body by moving or slowly to increase our level of stamina.

The practice of yoga is a very individual and personal one, creating in each person a different effect throughout each and every one of the poses. At first it may seem we are not adequately prepared to begin our yoga experience physically but with yoga the view you have of yourself changes over time, teaching us to let go of our ego and understand that we are no better than anybody else, this being one of its primordial spiritual and mental benefits.

Besides the performance of poses, yoga also includes breathing methods, meditation and motivational readings. Normally the practice of yoga is taught inside a gymnasium, and because of its nature only focus on the physical aspects of it but by practicing in the comfort and privacy of our own homes, we ourselves can focus on its mental and spiritual aspects. We can focus on these aspects specially to work with stress management, or to elongate our health and longevity through life.

There are many types of yoga styles to fit the purposes for which we use it; traditional styles like Ashtanga, Integral and Kripalu, originated in India; and the more contemporary styles like Bikram and Hatha yoga. Bikram yoga is a series of yoga poses performed in side a heated room promoting the liberation of toxins through the body's sweat and warming and allowing tour body to be more flexible. Hatha yoga focuses more on the mental and spiritual aspects trying to create a balance between the two by the physical poses.

Currently, there are many ways we can perform the practice of yoga on the market. We have videos, DVDs, CDs and books, equipment such as balls and mats and also we could purchase clothing apparel as well; all to help us achieve faster results through this beneficial practice.

Yoga is a wonderful practice that enables us to learn many things about ourselves, our body and our spirit. More and more people should begin the practice of yoga to be able to maintain a balance within themselves and their lives elongating it and keeping it in a relaxing state

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