The word "yoga" in Sanskrit means "to yoke or harness." Hatha yoga, a series of physical postures, is the most commonly practied in the United States. "Ha" means sun and "tha" means moon. Yoga "yokes" them together. But what does that mean? As with everything in life, there is a duality. Sun and moon, hot and cold, up and down, light and dark, physical and mental. Yoga allows the practitioner to unite the dualities. In yoga, we tense a muscle and relax it. During the relaxation / meditation portion of the exercise, we relax our usually busy mind. We experience both tension and relaxation in everything we do. Unfortunately, due to our busy and stressful lifestyles, we live in a constant state of tension without experiencing much relaxation. This causes us to go out of balance. Yoga is one way of bringing us back into harmony, both in body and mind. In this way, we harness, our own inner power.

The physical benefits of yoga are that if can burn caloreis and help with weight loss. It can increase your flexibility and stamina, and relieve muscle pain and tension. The mental benefits are that also many. The meditative natur eof yoga practice can reduce anxiety, and help manage depression and stress. Hatha yoga uses controlled breathing, and this can reduce blood pressure. Yoga practice decreases catecholamines, the hormones produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It also lowers levels of dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, creating a feelings of calm.