A regular practice of yoga gives a fit and beautiful body, increases energy and vitality, reduces stress and increases your powers of concentration besides teaching the art of discipline.
Unlike other physical exercises, yoga is gentle. It does not involve the use of rough, intense movements that could cause injury, stiffness and fatigue. Instead, the poses or asanas stretch and tone the muscles, joints, the spine and the entire skeletal system. And, with regular practice, increased clarity is experienced along with flexibility, mental power and concentration. This is not so with other forms of physical exercise.

In yoga, the exercise massage and stimulate the internal organs, glands and nerves keeping every cell and tissue rejuvenated and making the body fit, both externally and internally. Correct breathing forms an integral part of the practice of yoga. Pranayama or the science of breath control is about using breathing techniques to control the state of the mind. It releases stress from the body, steadies the emotion and brings great serenity to the mind. Breathing exercise also improve circulation and revitalise the nervous system, with every exercise helping to gradually and systematically lose the extra weight, get the body toned and relaxed and make one feel radiant and energetic.

Yoga opposes the violent movements of the body, whereas the physical culture lays emphasis on violent movements, producing large amounts of lactic acid in the muscle fibres that cause fatigue, muscle stiffness and injury. Actually, yoga helps to awaken and strengthen the body's instinctive ability to improve on its own. Yoga creates a healthy body and healthy mind, helping to control the faculties of the mind and bring in positive thinking in our lives. Though the results are not instant, they are longer lasting and eventually become permanent.

Asana
A Yogasanas is a posture in harmony with one's inner consciousness. It aims at the attainment of a sustained and comfortable sitting posture to facilitate meditation. Asanas also help in balancing and harmonizing the basic structure of the human body, which is why they have a range of therapeutic uses too.

Functions of Yogasanas

Asanas basically perform five functions:

• Conative,
• Cognitive,
• Mental,
• Intellectual and
• Spiritual.

Conative action is the voluntary exercise of the organs of action. The asanas being the main yogic instrument of balancing the body, they consist of various physical postures, which are designed to release tension, improve flexibility and maximize the flow of vital energy. The purpose of the asanas is to create a flow of positive energy so that our concentration is directed within ourselves and the mind is able to perceive (parokshya jnana) the effects of our purposive action. That is cognitive action.

When the earlier two actions are fused, our mind's discriminative faculty guides these organs to perform the asanas more correctly. The resultant rhythmic energy flow and awareness leads to a mental state of pure joy (ananda). Physical postures, therefore, end up affecting the various interrelated channels (nadis) of the mind-body complex. And ultimately the performance of a perfect yogasana leads to the absolute intellectual absorption of the mind on a single task (dharana), which in turn leads to the fusion of the individual spirit with the Divine Self (dhyana).