How to Get Started With Yoga

The word "yoga" is derived from the Sanskrit word for "unite" as it is a series of exercises designed to united body and mind and thereby achieve a state of happiness and peace. At its purest it denotes a way of life involving strict self-discipline, and is often associated alternative lifestyles including vegetarianism, but benefits can be felt by anyone who follows the exercises that are designed to calm both body and mind.

Originally postures were known to a few yogis who shared their knowledge with a small number of students, and in fact it wasn't until the early twentieth century that the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz was founded in Mumbai, India.

The best way to start yoga is to seek a class in your area, since you will be demonstrated the yoga postures and receive guidance and advice on holding them. However, if you have difficulty finding a yoga class - perhaps you live too remotely, there is no one in your area suitable, or it just doesn't suit your timetable or lifestyle - you can get started with a book, or better still, video demonstrations.

Essential for yoga are loose fitting comfortable clothes, and any yoga session - like any other form of exercise - starts with a warm up and finishes with a cool down. What you may be surprised about though is how much emphasis is given to simply breathing, really concentrating on the air you breathe and controlling your in and out breaths.

After completing the warm up exercises, a series of postures will be repeated which you may often find to be difficult to hold - you may also be surprised at how taxing some of the postures can be, which is why it has proven for centuries to be an excellent for stretching and toning muscles. While it may seem quite simple to hold yourself and move in prescribed ways, everything is extremely controlled and rather than just moving your body you are focusing on how it is moving and how each part of the body interacts and feels while making a controlled movement.

You may initially find that you are unable to hold some of the postures and that the instructions you receive for holding them make little sense - particularly when you are trying to concentrate on several areas of the body simultaneously and that some instructions seem to counter others.

However, it really is a question of practice and as you become more used to the postures, more familiar with how it feels and much more aware of your body and how you move and hold it things will gradually fall into place - what at first makes no sense at all will suddenly work perfectly.

The benefits of yoga are tremendous and it is suitable for people of all ages. You will find that not only is it a good form of exercise that gives you a surprisingly thorough workout, but it is also highly effective at calming your mind. You will feel fitter - more importantly you will be fitter - but you will also feel much calmer and deal with stress far better than before.

Yogis will recommend that you practice yoga 4 times a week, but if you are just starting out why not dedicate an hour at the weekend if you can? There is even a free video you can download and watch on your computer screen, ideal if you travel a lot so you can even practice in the comfort of your hotel room on your notebook computer.