Yoga is an ancient Indian system of movement for meditation. It is thousands of years old. The Vedic Reshi’s in India devised Yoga’s system of stretch-like movements for the sole purpose of getting their body into strong flexible shape in order to sit in a meditative posture for long periods of time. Today we use yoga as a part of an integrated program for fitness and mental clarity.

Yoga is often interpreted as "union" or a method of discipline. The Indian sage Patanjali is believed to have collated the practice of yoga into the Yoga Sutra an estimated 2,000 years ago. The Sutra is a collection of 195 statements that serves as a philosophical guidebook for most of the yoga that is practiced today. It also outlines eight limbs of yoga

Yoga is said to lift the spirit and soothe the body, it claims to remedy or at the very least ease everything from asthma, diabetes, fibromyalgia, menopause, heart disease, neurological disorders and the like. Yoga literally means “union” the merging of our body with our mind and soul, or if you like the merging of ourselves with our god.

There are eight "limbs" of Yoga:

• Yama- ethical living
• Niyama- self discipline, and spiritual observance
• Asana- physical postures
• Parnyama- breath work
• Pratyahara- with drawing the senses, going inside
• Dharana- concentration
• Dhyana- Meditation
• Samadhi- realization of connectedness (to life, each other, god)

While Asana and Pranyama are the main emphasis of yoga in the US as a therapeutic tool, all the other limbs are extremely important to help calm the body and the mind, to reduce stress.

Ideally yoga is preformed under the guide of a guru, in a private setting, and the sessions last a minimum of 75 minutes, always beginning with a meditative and breath work warm up followed by a more intense period of physical postures, and then all sessions close with “savasana” and meditation.

Today yoga is more often preformed in a group setting with many using it as a compliment to their fitness routine, but it is not uncommon to see it in more therapeutic settings, to help people manage their stress levels, and increase their flexibility.

There are three main derivatives of yoga, Bikram yoga is done in a 95 degree plus room and there are only 26 poses preformed, the heat is said to flush out toxins and cleanse the spirit, this is a highly flexible form of yoga. There is Ashtanga yoga which is done in a series of fast flowing motions, it is also coined “power yoga” and in the United States it became highly popular after the pop singer Madonna claimed it was the only way she stayed in shape. And lastly there is Iyanegar Yoga which is considered “alignment” or “posture” yoga. This system of yoga is what is most often used to rehabilitate physical issues.

For more information about how Yoga can improve your health visit www.yogaworks.com, www.yogawithlb.com, www.yogajournal.com.