The Yoga rules

By Tom Black

Yoga is an ancient technique that promotes flexibility and health. It originated in India over 5000 years ago. The yoga positions are specifically designed to tone, stretch, and strengthen your muscles, make your body more flexible in general, help you with any weight related issues, and teach you meditation and relaxation. This is one of the most popular ways to achieve overall health - both physical and spiritual.

The equipment you will need for practicing yoga is not expensive and the yoga classes that you can sign up for are very affordable. You will need a yoga ball and a yoga mat. Some of the more popular yoga practices are - Kundalini Yoga (awakens the energy within us through easier positions that are suitable for all age groups), Hatha Yoga (the most popular yoga, it is used for finding balance and getting rid of everyday stress), Ashtanga Yoga (This is a very challenging yoga. It is for the more advanced and the people who practice it move from one challenging position to another), and Bikram Yoga (This is a more demanding version of the Hatha Yoga. It is very popular in California and it is made up of 26 positions and 22 breathing exercises).

Depending on your needs you can work on specific positions - the ones that will help you get rid of stress, manage your weight, provide you with more balance, or whatever it is that you need and want to improve. Yoga classes are great for beginners and after you start to understand the fundamentals you can practice yoga on your own.

A good site for learning more about yoga, the different types of yoga, the equipment you will need, and the poses, is the Alternative Medicines website. This site is also full of information about other alternative medicine procedures that you may find interesting.