Yoga's benefits are becoming more and more known in the western world. A lot of people think of yoga as acrobatic poses. There's that pose that you're not sure if you're going to come out okay from. Or there's the one that just doesn't look humanly possible. How about the one that involves doing a push up which is hard enough just to do never mind hold.

Fortunately there's good news. Those poses are for when you become more flexible and stable and there's easier poses that you can begin with that anyone can do.

Yoga is not just for toning up and becoming more flexible though. Yoga is good for you physically, mentally, and spiritually. It's a tri-factor of health.

Increased energy and vitality, a calmer outlook on life, and a connection to the real you can all be expected from practicing yoga. It's really something you can't afford to not do if you are looking to be healthier and happier.

Yoga for the body

Yoga helps in many areas of physical fitness including flexibility, strength, muscle toning, and better breathing which means it creates a toned, flexible, and strong body. This obviously will help you to get up that extra flight of stairs or push yourself a little harder on the treadmill.

It improves respiration by learning how to breathe properly while doing the poses. Not a lot of people know how important breathing is but it can affect how you feel and look, your resistance to disease and even your life span.

There are poses that help your thyroid. That's right, there are several yoga postures that "massage" your thyroid and when you do these yoga postures the thyroid gland will feel relaxed, cleansed and cared-for. Your thyroid makes hormones that regulate your metabolism. So if your thyroid is not healthy, then your metabolism is not healthy. And since your metabolism is the rate at which you burn calories, when your metabolism is "off" you won't have the energy you need for a happy life and it will be almost impossible to lose weight.

You'll feel and look stronger and eventually be able to do those poses you thought were out of reach.

Increased flexibility and strength can help prevent the causes of some types of back pain. Many people who suffer from back pain spend a lot of time sitting at a computer or driving a car. That can cause tightness and spinal compression, which you can begin to help with your yoga. It also will help with your alignment which will prevent many other types of pain.

Yoga for the mind

Yoga is excellent for stress relief. If you've ever done meditation then you know that concentrating on something whether it is listening to a sound or staring at an object focuses your mind and helps you let go of all the worries and problems that can plague it. So concentrating on your pose and most importantly your breath is an excellent form of calming yourself.

Yoga also gives you a heightened awareness of your body. Not the awareness of how much fat is hanging over your shorts but the movements your body makes or the muscles used to make those movements. The reason for this is the slow transition between poses. Knowing and appreciating what your body can do leads to greater self confidence and self esteem.

Yoga for the spirit

Just as the concentration of focusing on your breathing and pose helps with calming you down, it can also help get you to another level of spirituality or connection to that area of your life.

Yoga is a Sanskrit word. It means union with God. This union is a conscious union. We are all united with God but we are not aware of it. When we practice Yoga, we become conscious of our union with God through our stillness and awareness.

Once you feel that oneness, once you connect with yourself you will begin to understand your beliefs and what feels right to you. You'll recognize truth for what it is and I can attest that there's nothing better than that.