Anyone joining a yoga class for the first time is impressed by the large number of yoga poses needed for the beginning level alone. Surely, things are taken progressively, with the instructor starting by naming the yoga poses and explaining them one by one while also giving a personal example. The benefits that result from the full practice are manifold, from body mobility and health improvement to superior stress management and the ability to control and understand the inner workings of the self. Yoga exercise gives great results when practiced regularly, particularly if it implies body and mind harmony.

The yoga poses or postures are also called asanas, and each of them has a physical and mental dimension to it. Instructions for the execution of various yoga poses are given in books, e-guides, on Internet sites and magazines. Asanas work for almost all the parts of the body, and most often the instructor will indicate the most intense point of physical stress. For further clarification consider the fact that depending on the yoga variant practiced, the performance of the asanas varies, particularly since some postures are specific to one school or another.

Besides the physical capacity to perform yoga poses, one also needs to grow the balance and the concentration ability, since the physical is just one side of the practice that gets complete by the spiritual dimension only. Tension release, breathing techniques as well as the ability to ignore the difficulty of a posture improve the level of success allowing one to carry on with the asana for the required exercise completion. The idea is not only to reach the yoga poses but to also be able to hold them for a determined period of time.

The practice of yoga poses without professional guidance and assistance could turn into a threat to one’s physical and spiritual health and could result in injuries. Therefore, starting yoga practice with the instructions from books or Internet sites is dangerous and should therefore be avoided. Beginners should remain under the direct supervision of a trainer, particularly since you are still an apprentice even after you have evolved a bit on the yoga path. The complexity of the yoga poses will increase with every advance you make on the way, but progress remains slow on the average as one learns to push the limits of body and mind.