“I feel like I’ve just had my first yoga class, “says Fran, a mom of three and a well-toned yoga practitioner of some experience. “I feel great.” Fran is sensing the immediate benefits of her yoga practice, currently based at Park Cities Yoga on Lovers Lane.

As a mother of three, Fran is like a lot of people. Working moms juggle getting their kids to school on time, meeting deadlines, business travel, soccer practice, ballet, groceries, visits to the vet and dentist . . . you know the routine. All this running around doesn’t mean simply that they’re busy; it means that their minds are racing ahead or behind nearly constantly. It means worrying about the cascade of events triggered by your first grader forgetting his lunch. It means anticipating the necessary daily care for your invalid mother. It means fighting to maintain an even keel in the face of overwhelming demands and information.

For more than 16 million Americans, yoga is their not-so-secret weapon to help them do what needs to be done. Whether you are a working mom or a working man, whether you drive a Benz or a bus, whether you perform surgery or Beethoven, yoga is a way to simplify your life. For yoga devotees, yoga is the tool to transform regret and worry into the comfort of the here and now.

Take Elaine, also a Park Cities Yoga client, as another example. “I was a triple-A personality type. Now I handle situations differently. I take a conscious breath and I focus on the moment, not the what-ifs. Yoga has helped me be gracious in stress.”

One misperception about yoga is that you already need to be flexible and athletic to do it. That is not the case. Start with what you’ve got. Can’t touch your toes? Just reach for them and breathe. Can’t do a backbend? Place a small pillow under your back and breathe. Or just start with meditation coupled with conscious breathing. You can start with easy poses progressing to challenging feats of flexibility and strength, if you so desire. No matter your level of ability and experience, conscious breathing and personal guidance from an experienced yoga instructor can help you reach your goals.

That means you can practice yoga if you’re pregnant, middle-aged, retired, sick, recovering, injured, overweight, over-stressed, overbearing, or over-easy. You can practice mornings, afternoons, or evenings. Start simply.

The best way to begin your yoga practice may not be watching a yoga video. Thousands of yoga videos collect dust. And the simplest way may not be to jump into a session that demands too much too fast. The simplest way is to find the right class and the right teacher for you. If you don’t know all about the styles of yoga, then discuss your own limitations or conditions with the instructor and ask about how you might fit in to what they offer. Ask about pace, physical demand, level of intensity, etc. Call around. In Dallas there are yoga classes for all levels, ages, and conditions. With just a little research, you’re sure to find what’s right for you.

Fran started as a weightlifter. “That’s what got me into trouble. I was in so much pain in my hips. I went to my first power yoga class. I loved it. It was letting go, a big simplification. You don’t even need shoes for yoga.”

But is yoga enough of a workout? “The power yoga was an all-inclusive workout. I got cardio, cleansing (I was sweating like a pig), stretching and strength using my entire body.

Her story with yoga changes, however, as she grows into it. Fran’s friend Vashti agrees that a person’s yoga practice changes over time. “Yoga is an amazing form of exercise, but it’s something more, too. Look, people study 80 years or more doing this. They have gone into the mountains in their pursuit of yoga. I have to be a little reverent about it.”

That being said, yoga is not a religion or belief system. Yoga is a practice of “putting yourself together” in the present moment. It’s a system of exercises that unify breath, attention, and the body. In fact, the word yoga means “to yoke, to put together, a union.” You can practice yoga as a Catholic, a born-again Baptist, a Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian, Agnostic. Whatever your spiritual orientation, yoga can enhance your life by bringing it all together.

Fran observes, “After one year it became more than a physical workout. That’s when I began to progress. I began to see yoga as applicable to something more - life! I quit making things so difficult. Yoga led me to quit drinking. Yoga put that into action.”

Fran isn’t alone. Many of the clients at Park Cities Yoga report changes in their physical health and in their overall sense of well-being - changes they attribute to their yoga practice. It’s not surprising then that this thousands-year-old tradition persists, and continues to grow here in America.

The tradition first came to Texas in 1967 when Kumar Pallana, a performer and yogi, first opened the Dallas Yoga and Health Centre. Now at age 87 he has more energy than people half his age. You might recognize Kumar as the loveable old man in films such as Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tennenbaums, and Rushmore. Most recently, he charmed Catherine Zeta-Jones as the ring-juggling Gupta in Steven Speilberg’s The Terminal. As full of stories as he is wisdom, Kumar reminds his yoga students that “yoga develops strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, health, concentration, confidence, self-satisfaction, and peace of mind.” Kumar is a walking example of yoga’s benefits. After all, how many 87-year-olds do you know that follow up a six-week film shoot with nation-wide promotion tours and yoga seminars, interspersed with trips to visit family and friends in India?

Yoga may not turn you into a movie star like Kumar (but who knows? Maybe it will). At the very least, yoga will deliver what you put into it. Best of all, yoga can simplify your life.

About the Author

Jeffrey Farrell investigates the nature of Presence via the performing arts, teaching and yoga. He owns Park Cities Yoga in Dallas Texas where he teaches daily. His investigations into Presence have carried him through the realms of elegant slapstick, tragic choruses, festive rebellions and mysterious joys. He’s married with children ages two, five, and seventeen, who keep his attention present.

Yoga is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of exercise around, and more and more people are taking it up every day. Here are five good reasons why you should join them now:

1 - It?s a low impact form of exercise.
Unlike jogging or running, yoga doesn?t put a strain on your joints, so it?s ideal for people who cannot tolerate or simply don?t like more stressful forms of exercise. You will still be able to tone up your physique, but you won?t have to push yourself to the limits to get it.

2 ? It?s relaxing.
Unlike many forms of exercise, yoga is actually extremely relaxing and enjoyable to do. Many people have said that practising yoga on a regular basis helps them to de-stress after a hard day at work (and it actually stops them from getting so stressed in the first place). It also promotes calmness and helps you to feel more grounded in life; you will feel more at peace with your mind and body.

3 ? It can help alleviate physical ailments.
Because of its low impact status, yoga is an ideal activity to try for those people who suffer from physical ailments, such as back ache. It is also thought to help reduce pain, and many doctors are now beginning to recommend yoga as a form of treatment. It can also help with weight loss, and many people believe that those who practise yoga on a regular basis are less likely to suffer from a wide range of ailments in the first place.

4 ? It helps to improve your general fitness.
If you?re looking to get fit, yoga might not be the first activity that springs to mind. But it?s actually one of the best all round fitness and wellbeing activities you could choose. Not only does it gradually improve your general fitness levels, it also helps you gain a better posture, promotes better muscle strength, and gives you a greater flexibility. It can also reduce your blood pressure, and leads to a whole host of other long term health benefits. Ultimately, it will give you bags more energy.

5 ? It promotes a healthy mental state.
Because yoga is a gentle, low impact, easy to follow activity, it has continually brought great benefits to people that suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and other mental ailments. Yoga also teaches you better breathing techniques, which stay with you even when you?re not doing it ? keeping you calmer throughout your everyday life.

Allison Whitehead is the joint owner of http://www.smoo-multimedia.co.uk which has information on Yoga for Beginners ? visit http://tinyurl.com/kp6v9 for more details.

Learning yoga is the second most in thing nowadays, next of course to doing or executing the yoga exercises itself.

There are many ways and measures how yoga is taught to different people across the world.

There are formal classes, and those that are done online. Online classes also abound. There are basic and helpful books that generally offer simple tutorial to people who want to learn yoga.

Online yoga

Relaxation and a quick in touch with the mental and spiritual aspect of one?s personality and life makes yoga a worthwhile and distinct type of exercise done by people of all ages around the world.

Yoga has previously been exclusive to the Hindu and other Indian religion. But nowadays, it is to be noted that the practice has also become very popular to everyone world wide.

That is why various and numerous health clubs and fitness membership organizations across all parts of the world are now offering yoga tutorials, sessions and exercises.

It is to be noted that the enrollees for such tutorials and classes are rising very rapidly nowadays. But because there are more people who do not have the luxury of time to spend freely on tutorials, it is imperative that yoga be offered through different venues and portal.

To cater to the numerous people who are too busy at work and only find a little time after office hours to spare for such relaxing tasks and exercise, there are a number of Web sites now that offer yoga tutorials and classes online.

Online yoga sites are so helpful and have been greatly patronized and visited. That is because some people are almost always too busy at work during daytime and cannot really rush to their gyms after work hours.

Books offering personal yoga tutorials

Because learning yoga is not always learned conveniently through formal classes, here are some recommended readings and books that would help you learn more about yoga. Help yourself and get some of these books. Be in the convenience of self-tutorial.

?Business of Teaching Yoga? by Larry Payne

This book is basically teaching readers who are aiming to teach yoga classes and activities to other people. Because holding classes and teaching yoga to others can be a tough responsibility, it is mandated that the person doing such be knowledgeable enough about the discipline.

Otherwise, the danger would be imminent to the class participants and students. Like almost all forms of exercises, yoga activities can be futile if the proper techniques, posture and form of the body throughout the process would definitely spell out the success and efficiency of the task.

The book is available on your favorite bookstand or online through the different e-shopping sites like amazon and others.

?How to Meditate? by Lawrence LeShan

The book, as the title implies will teach readers on the proper, appropriate and effective way of simple meditation and concentration.

Yoga basically involves and revolves around meditation to provide the natural and well-balance between the body?s physical, spiritual and mental faculties.

This book will greatly touch on the issues, concerns and standard practices that would provide greater condition for yoga training and exercises.

?Ashtanga Yoga—The Practice? by David Swenson

The modern yoga is a branch out of the ancient and well disciplinary Ashtanga Yoga, that is why learning it would be of great help when also learning yoga.

The book tells about the recommended practices, procedures and simple tasks when doing or attempting to meditate or do the basic yoga.

About the Author:

Jeanette Pollock is a contributing author to JustYogaBasics.com. Visit Jeanette’s website at www.justyogabasics.com to get started with yoga!