by OML

Created on: March 19, 2009   Last Updated: March 30, 2009

One of today's biggest fads is one of the world's oldest practices: the ancient art of yoga. Yoga is unlike other fitness activities as it is not just physical but spiritual as well. If done correctly, it forms a unification of an emotional, spiritual and physical exercise. It tones and strengthens the body as well as tones and strengthens the mind.

Full advantage of the poses comes only with proper breathing, while many poses can be done only if you are completely focused on the exercise. Deep and steady breath circulation during yoga helps you extend more fully into the poses and thus gain greater benefit from the stretch resulting equally in calming and energizing.

Remember that the body is like a machine. You need to activate it in order for it to be operational at all time. Hence, when you start practicing yoga you might feel pains in the beginning, but shortly it will contribute to your flexibility dramatically. In fact, yoga and flexibility goes together and have many benefits upon your body along with mood and one of the nice things about it is that as you practice along, you will notice that your body gets lighter and more at ease. You can forget that you ever had stiff and tensed muscles. I know people that simply addicted to yoga unlike any other physical activities because it is also add to their spiritual practice. Through yoga, they are able to release different blocked flows that lodge in various parts of the body and restore it back to normal circulation. Some common examples would be tensions, pains, aches, tight shoulders, cramped legs, knotted belly etc.

Therefore, the more flexible and healthier your body is, the fewer problems it poses upon you, the higher in spirit you are.

At the beginning, it may appear simple to some individuals who have never practices yoga poses that it will require great concentration. But the concentration itself is the one that increases your focus and keep you in present time plus surprisingly it is effective in stretching and strengthening muscles. Let's take a simple sitting pose such as employee pose, for example, require you to tighten and lengthen stomach, back and arm muscles as you stretch your legs out in front of you and place your hands by your side. Poses that are more difficult require you to balance on one leg and hold a pose that strengthens leg, back and stomach muscles.

The physical release is the spiritual release. It brings a calming feeling after doing yoga, reconnecting to the body and reconnected to the inner self.

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