One of the best benefits of yoga is how it helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind.

“Stress can reveal itself in many ways, including back or neck pain, sleeping problems, headaches, drug abuse, and an inability to concentrate,”
“Yoga can be very effective in developing coping skills and reaching a more positive outlook on life.”

Yoga’s incorporation of meditation and breathing can help improve a person’s mental well-being. “Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; and sharpens concentration,” says Dr. Nevins. Body- and self-awareness are particularly beneficial, she adds, “because they can help with early detection of physical problems and allow for early preventive action.”

Stress-relief: Stress is one of the biggest killers of our times and leads to a range of lifestyle and metabolic diseases.
Yoga helps you manage stress and anxiety and thereby reduces their harmful effects on your body.
The relaxation induced by yoga lowers the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, your blood pressure and heart rate.
It also improves digestion and the immune system.

Better sleep: Yoga will make you less stressed and thereby help you sleep better.
Research too has shown that yoga is a boon for people struggling with insomnia.
Relieves chronic pain: Studies have shown that doing yoga on a regular basis helps manage chronic pain in people suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, arthritis and joint pains.

More strength: Yoga gives a full workout to all the muscles of your body so, over time, you gain a lot of all-over strength.

Flexibility and mobility: Yoga makes you more flexible and that helps increase your mobility as well. Therefore you are able to do everyday movements like kneeling, bending or reaching out for something with much ease.

Detoxifies: The kind of physical activity that yoga involves, helps your internal organs perform better and do their function of detoxifying your body at optimum levels. Deep yogic breathing improves lung function, while the sweat that is produced while doing yoga rids the body of toxins

Inner peace: Is the daily grind and the constant commotion that you live in driving you crazy? Get back your inner calm by doing yoga. In fact, according to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sutra 1.2, Yoga chitta vrtti nirodha, or �Yoga is the stilling (regulation, quieting) of the turnings of the mind.�

Better breathing technique: Yoga teaches us how to breathe in the correct manner by making us aware of our breaths. It helps us identify our breathing patterns and shows us how our emotions affect it. Taming our breathing can help calm us down. Deep yogic breathing is also very good for health and studies have shown that it is beneficial for the heart, brain, digestion and immune system.

Weight management: Even though yoga is a spiritual practice, it is also a kind of exercise that can help you lose weight and maintain it in the long run. While yoga makes you burn calories, it also helps you lose weight by curtailing the production of the stress hormone cortisol that makes you put on kilos. A yoga practice strengthens your core and results in better posture and upped general fitness levels.

Founded by B.K.S. Iyengar, this form of yoga is great for those who want to work on injuries and joint problems. It focuses on correct alignment of the body and very precise moves. These postures are held while holding your breath and the duration of each pose increases with expertise. The perfect pose is achieved with the help of props like traps, blocks, and blankets. This practice great improves stability, mobility , strength and flexibility.

Kundalini yoga is one of those mysterious yoga practices that is as spiritual as it is physical. This form is physically demanding and mentally challenging and involves a lot of meditation, chanting, mudras and breathing exercises. The whole point if this style is to release the kundalini energy that is coiled in the lower spine. You have to do a lot of fast moving postures with periods of relaxation where you will be taught to pay attention to internal sensations and the flow of creative energy so that you can tap into your kundalini-shakti. This style is for those who are looking for more than a workout.

Popularised by celebrities worldwide, Ashtanga or the �eight limb path� is very physically demanding so you should not do this if you are a beginner or not in great physical shape. It involves doing multiple surynamaskars followed by standing and floor postures. There are six series of postures that have to be repeated in every class. This kind of yoga is also called Power Yoga and in this style you start with the primary series and then graduate to the next level when you have mastered it. It takes years of practice to master this form.

This is an offshoot of Ashtanga and also involves a number of athletic yoga postures and each movement is coordinated with one�s breath. This is also a very physically demanding practice. The pace is quick and you will not have to hold any one pose for too long. The key is to flow from one pose to the next so your heart rate gets pumping. Both Ashtanga and Vinyasa are great if your aim is to tone your body. It also works your core and upper body and gives you a cardio workout. This practice does not have a set structure and often depends on the teacher who might include some meditation and chanting.

Created by yoga guru Bikram Choudhury, the key feature of this practice is to do a set of poses in a room heated to 41 degrees centigrade and 40 percent humidity. In a 90-minute sequence there are 26 basic postures that are done twice and two breathing exercises. The heat makes you sweat excessively thereby getting your body rid of toxins while the postures work every part of your body and bring oxygenated blood to all your internal organs. Drink plenty of fluids to rehydrate.

Yoga is not just a workout but a deeply spiritual experience and if you want to know this practice in its totality then you should try the Jivamukti style. Founded in 1984 by Sharon Ganon and David Life, Jivamukti incorporates Vinyasa style postures and sequences accompanied with chanting, meditation, deep relaxation and pranayama. There is also some emphasis on philosophy, poetry and music. Jivamukti centres also offer courses in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit and kirtans. Jivamukti proponents are also expected to be vegetarian.

In this version of Hatha yoga, Anusara yoga has postures that are used in a Vinyasa practice and here too there is a lot of focus on alignment. However, in Anusara the mind-body-heart connection is key and you will be encouraged to uplift yourself, find inner peace and the �light within yourself.� This style uses props to help you reach the perfect pose.

Don't start any workout because it is a fad. Get into it because of all the benefits it offers you. Here's what you will achieve if you practice yoga seriously.