The word Yoga comes from Indian philosophy, it literally means union, and in this context refers to the union of the individual's soul with the universal.
Yoga is an ancient philosophy of life as well as a system of exercises that encourages the union of mind, body, and spirit. In the words of Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, "yoga is the ability to focus the mind on a single point without distraction." Yoga is a physical discipline; it uses the body and breathing to develop self-awareness and mental clarity.
The benefits of yoga are extensive. Not only does yoga affect the physical aspect of the body, it addresses the mind and spirit as well. Daily exercises are a great way to help relieve the stress of your day and can bring a sense of well-being to your life. Here are the top ten benefits of yoga.

  Stress Relief
Yoga can help reduce the effects of stress on your body. One of the benefits of yoga is that it encourages relaxation and can lower the amount of cortisol in your body.

  Pain Relief
Daily exercises of yoga can help ease the aches and pains of the body. Many people with very serious diseases have reported less pain after these daily exercises, such as asanas or meditation.

  Better Breathing
You will learn to take deeper, slower breaths with daily exercises of yoga. It will help to increase your lung function and set off the body''s relaxation response. This can be one of the most powerful benefits of yoga.

   Flexibility
You will notice your level of flexibility will increase, which will help with your range of motion. Sometimes in the yoga daily exercises, people cannot even touch their toes. The benefits of yoga will include lengthening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your body to help you become more flexible.

  Increased Strength
Yoga poses use all the muscles in your body and help you increase your strength level from head to toe. The benefits of yoga and daily exercises will help you strengthen your muscles close to the bones, which increase the support of your skeletal system as well.

  Weight Management
You will see the benefits of yoga begin to affect your scale. Daily exercises are always recommended, but yoga helps reduce the level of cortisol in your body. This aids in weight loss and fat burning.

  Improved Circulation
Yoga will help improve your body''s circulation. In turn, with daily exercises, you will see the benefits of yoga with lowered blood pressure and pulse rates.

  Cardiovascular Conditioning
Even the most gentle style of yoga will help to lower your resting heart reate and increase your overall endurance. This is one of the important benefits of yoga to help improve the amount of oxygen taken in during the daily exercises.

  Focus on the Present
You can have greater coordination, memory skills, reaction times, and improved concentration skills by utilizing yoga for daily exercises. These benefits of yoga will extend far out of the yoga center.

   Inner Peace
What more could you want. This is one of the primary reasons that people do daily exercises of yoga. This is one of the most important benefits of yoga and is also one of the more easy ones to attain.

The benefits of yoga are very far reaching indeed. There is no one other exercise avenue you can take that will address all of these issues in one simple session. For those of you that think yoga is too easy, I encourage you to try one class. You may find it is just what you are looking for.