| exercises strengthen your body and make it more | | | | postures you may see in a yoga book. A skilled |
| flexible. Yoga also calms your mind and gives you | | | | teacher can adapt most asanas by using chairs, |
| energy. In active sports or strenuous exercises, you | | | | cushions, even a wall or other props. A yoga practice |
| use up energy. In yoga classes, students report that | | | | can be tailor-made just for you. If something is really |
| they feel tranquil after a class, yet have more energy. | | | | impossible for you to do, just forget it. Never compete |
| Slow and steady motion is the key to going into or | | | | with yourself or others. Yoga is a stress-free but |
| coming out of the postures. You hold a yoga pose for | | | | powerful way to exercise. |
| several seconds or even minutes and give attention to | | | | Yoga is good for increasing your flexibility and relieving |
| full, quiet breath. Your yoga instructor will always | | | | stress, but it doesn't take the place of aerobic |
| encourage you to relax as the exercises are being | | | | exercise. You should still do regular, aerobic exercise, |
| done. | | | | which increases your cardiovascular fitness, helps you |
| You gently place your body into a yoga posture. Done | | | | lose weight, and, for people with non-insulin-dependent |
| correctly, there's very little chance of injury or muscle | | | | (type II) diabetes at least, improves blood glucose |
| stress. A particular asana is not repeated dozens of | | | | control. |
| times, nor are you ever encouraged to push yourself | | | | Proponents of yoga exercise argue that it has a |
| too much. | | | | multiplicity of techniques to counter that cause and, |
| A yoga session is designed for balance. You stretch | | | | unlike drug therapy, attack the cause, not just the |
| to the right and then to the left. You bend back and | | | | symptoms. It offers, they say, a holistic approach to |
| then forward. You learn to recognize when one side is | | | | health and fitness. Many professional athletes, looking |
| stronger or more flexible than the other. Thus harmony | | | | for the edge have turned to yoga as a supplementary |
| and balance are achieved with yoga practice. | | | | form of training. They have found that yoga aids their |
| People of all ages can practice yoga exercises. They | | | | state of mental and physical relaxation between |
| are easily modified to meet your needs and physical | | | | training sessions, and their crucial build-up to big meets, |
| condition. Don't be put off by the difficult looking | | | | where a competition is usually won or lost in the mind. |