The quality of our breath reflects how we are feeling. When we are upset, the breath tends to be fast and shallow. When we are at ease, the breath is slow and deep. We can learn to manage the breath through yoga practice by maintaining deep consistent breathing through all the postures. When we can lengthen our exhale breath, there is more room to allow life in on the inhale. Creating space in the body and learning to work with the breath allows energy to flow freely throughout your system. Yoga helps you mentally unwind as well. You'll feel more energized after your very first yoga class!

Chronic stress and pressure can lead to serious illness and disease if ignored. A regular, consistent practice will most definitely calm the mind and body, boost the immune system, provide a deeper, more restful sleep, and eliminate stress.

And while yoga may not get rid of our problems, but it can help us learn how to look at our issues in a healthy, objective way and not become reactive. Through the yoga practice, we learn how to breathe and calmly work through any discomfort. We learn not to run away from our issues, but to let them arise and dissipate. We don't feed into them. We also learn to back off if a situation is painful.

Often you will find that whatever was bothering you before class, has become less of an issue after class. Meditation also serves as an effective stress reducer.

In addition, yoga may help you fall asleep easier and sleep more soundly. In yoga, we learn how to tune out distracting thoughts. Focusing on your breath calms the mind and lowers the heart rate. Strengthening and stretching the body promotes a restful state afterwards.

Whether you can touch your toes or not, with a continuous and consistent practice, yoga can transform your body and mind and improve your overall health. Yoga postures lengthen the body's connective tissues through physical postures called asanas that have been practiced for thousands of years.

Circulation is the ability to bring oxygen rich blood to all areas of our body. It gives life to every cell in the body, healing wounds, killing germs, and ensuring vitality to our tissue. Yoga is a wonderful vehicle to heal the immune system by boosting blood circulation to vital organs and tissue and lower our blood pressure.

A regular yoga practice is an extremely effective method of detoxifying, not only the physical body (skin, organs, and blood), but on the deeper, emotional layer as well. Yoga allows us to release and clean out old thinking. It sharpens are mental clarity and enhances our creativity.

Learning yoga postures creates an enormous sense of pride that you will carry with you in your daily life. When we can feel good in our physical bodies, standing upright, it boosts our self esteem and self confidence.

A regular yoga practice may reduce your appetite and will encourage better food choices. Yoga cleanses the body, increases metabolism, stimulates waste elimination, and reduces cravings.