Yoga is therapy for the body, mind and spirit. It is an ancient science developed in India to keep the body clean, flexible and easeful. It is a tool to develop intimacy with life, and to help restore balance in all that you experience.
Often the first basic lesson of a yoga class is deep, rhythmic breathing, which practitioners say can help to relieve respiratory complaints including asthma, as well as feeding more oxygen to the muscles to boost their strength.
It also helps to improve posture by teaching relaxation of the neck, shoulders and upper back, easing tension that can trigger aches and pains in the back.
Yoga practitioners also claim that specific postures such as abdominal twists gently massage internal organs including the kidneys to improve their efficiency while forward bends can stimulate the digestive processes to help ease indigestion problems.
The inverted postures such as the head and shoulder stands, boost blood circulation and therefore improve skin tone.
The deep relaxation exercises normally practised at the end of a class can also relieve stress and anxiety, they claim.
