The Basic Forms of Yoga and Yoga Exercises That Beginners Should Know About

Somebody who is considering yoga for the first time will probably not be aware there is more than one type of yoga, and each has its own group of yoga exercises. While most people will have a vision of yoga practitioners stretching into all sorts of complex postions, the truth is much more varied, with some yoga exercises being very simple.

Yoga is not just about getting into difficult positions, there is much more to it than that. Somebody can benefit from yoga who is not at all supple, a reason why some health organisations use yoga as a health aid, and encourage sick and elderly with restricted movement to go to yoga classes. In fact, my own yoga experience comes from attending classes run by the local health district in Southern England where I lived. I was much younger than most in the class, which I was able to join as I had restricted movement in my spine and hip joints, caused by ankylosing spondylitis. Others in the class had more serious conditions such as Parkinson's Disease.

Although there are several types of yoga, all are based on meditation, breathing and poses. Being a holistic system rather than just isolated exercises, yoga has a number of aspects to it which may appear separate, but in fact merge together to improve overall health and well being, both physical and mental. The aim is to keep the physical body supple, but when combined with the breathing regime, a complete yoga system, such as the Hatha yoga mostly adopted in the West, can stimulate blood circulation, nervous system, endocrine and digestive system.

For those who want to learn about yoga in depth, it can require many years of study and practice. This is probably why the rushed Western lifestyle has largely adopted a simplified form of hatha yoga. However, for those who want to look deeper into the vaults of yoga, there is a rich array of exercises and approaches to be found, which has evolved over thousands of years.

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