Tae Bo, Kung Fu, ab rollers and fitness balls. Yoga offers many fitness benefits, some of which you might not find anywhere else. Rounding out the list of benefits is gaining an incredible connection with your body and an understanding of all its wonderful capabilities and potential. A few thousand years ago, the active component of yoga, or the asana, was developed in order to achieve a more meditative state, improve health and longevity, become more in touch with the body s limitations and the mind s ability to overcome them. Other forms of yoga combine some or all of these elements.
Some people are concerned that yoga is a religion.
This isn't so. Spiritual individuals seeking enlightenment created the physical movements, but yoga classes do not ask anything more of the practitioner than to move and breathe. Practicing yogis and yoginis are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc. When picking a yoga class, choose one that fits your current fitness level. Most gyms and videos will list whether a class is for beginners or more advanced students.